The Grascals “Keep on Walkin’” (Rounder)

The Grascals’ new CD, “Keep on Walkin‘” has everything on it one would expect from this band.

There’s the blistering-fast instrumental work this group is famous for, tight harmonies with centerpiece vocalists Terry Eldridge and Jamie Johnson a couple of dandy Harley Allen-penned tunes and lots of cover songs.

Now in their fourth year, the Rounder Records artists have garnered legions of fans, plenty of critical acclaim and a booking schedule that would be the envy of any bluegrass band.

Some real gems are included on this CD. “Remembering,” one of the Harley Allen tunes, makes quite the statement about the horrors of war, told through a grandson’s eyes as he remembers how serving in World War II changed the old man’s life — and not for the better. “Indiana,” co-written by Allen and Jamie Johnson, is one of those familiar odes to growing up in a wonderful, simple place that one leaves in body but seldom in spirit.

Another outstanding track is the old public domain gospel, “Farther Along,” which starts with Jimmy Mattingly’s droning and haunting fiddle and ends with an a capella rendition of the chorus. It’s a fresh treatment of this old hymn.

The CD has everything that Grascal followers would expect, including a fair share of cover songs. For my taste, I wish the Grascals would give me a bit more of what I couldn’t begin to expect or anticipate — and that would be more fresh material.

Mattingly, incidentally, played all the fiddle tracks on the CD, and even though he’s a founding member of The Grascals, gets listed here as a guest artist since he’s left the group to re-enter the world of commercial country music, where he earned his living prior to The Grascals’ birth. Jeremy Abshire now plays fiddle for the band. And, speaking of personnel moves, this is the first Grascals CD to feature banjo player Aaron “Boo” McDaris, who was hired after David Talbot, the group’s original banjo player, left.

The CD opens with a traditional-sounding, hard-driving romp, “Feeling Blue,” one of three Aubrey Holt numbers on the CD. It gives an opening volley about where the band will lead the listener on the rest of the tracks.

As I said at the beginning, the CD has everything that Grascal followers would expect, including a fair share of cover songs. For my taste, I wish the Grascals would give me a bit more of what I couldn’t begin to expect or anticipate — and that would be more fresh material.

On the liner notes and on the band’s Web site, www.grascals.com, the group almost seems to put up a defense over getting some critical barbs about recording all the covers. They talk about saluting their musical heroes and the fellow artists they admire — not to mention that these are the songs their fans love to hear them perform.

I’ll concede that if I can’t hear Merle Haggard’s version of “Today I Started Loving You Again,” I’d hand-pick Terry Eldridge to sing the classic country tune. But “The Only Daddy That Will Walk the Line” falls flat. I much prefer Waylon Jennings’ take on that one — and I’ll leave it at that. Despite the nice story about taking the recording of “Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms” over to Earl Scruggs’ house and seeing Earl smile when McDaris’s banjo intro kicked in, it’s a wasted track that could have been better filled with another obscure number written by Holt or Allen — or a tune written by one of The Grascals.

It’s certainly tough to argue with a winner, so I won’t assail the CD’s cover of “Choices,” a one-time George Jones hit that’s been riding high for The Grascals in various bluegrass charts and playlists.

Despite my bickering from the sidelines, I’m sure “Keep on Walkin‘” is going to be another huge success for this band. And I give them all the credit in the world for their dedication and hard work — and their collective talents.

After all, it’s tough to argue with success.