GKB Reviews
From Bluegrass Unlimited (March 2005 Issue)
 Hailing from Texas, the Grassy Knoll Boys (GKB) join the ranks of young traditional bands today that search out and arrange old material and write good new songs of their own. Their freshman release, "Buckeyed Rabbit," makes for good listening. It offers four original songs by members of the band interspersed among traditional but relatively obscure numbers, styled to suit the Grassy Knoll sound.
The GKB kick off the CD with the rollicking title cut, which quickly establishes both their instrumental chops and their spirited musical aesthetic. Two a cappella songs, "Old Hannah" and "Jerusalem Moan" showcase the strong trio of Will Walden (guitar), who sings most of the leads; David Hamburger (resonator guitar); and Alex Rueb (mandolin). Three instrumentals feature the tasteful picking of Rueb on "Rebecca," Hamburger on his original "Smokeshire Blues," and banjoist Mark Cavage with his tune "Panther's Bluff." Vance Hazen holds down the low end on bass.
A nice duet arrangement of "You Won't Be Satisfied That Way" deserves special mention, as well as the stark resonator guitar and vocal duet on "Pretty Saro." A bit of a morbid streak runs through some of these songs. Two songs about dying ("See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" and "Send Me To The Electric Chair") contain the lines: My heart it stops and my hands are cold (death from a firstperson point of view) and I caught her with Gamblin' Joe/I drew my knife and slit her throat/Good kind judge send me to the 'lectric chair (a murderer with a death wish).
The GKB are a great discovery. They will be a band to listen for in the future and this fine album will help spread their name beyond their Texas home base.
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Review from the Roots Music Report
Outstanding is a word that comes to mind when trying to describe The Grassy Knoll Boys. This album is produced, engineered and mastered as well as any CD we have heard here at RMR. It just proves you don’t need to go north to make great records. But you do need a great band and the kind of talent this group skillfully presents. Buckeyed Rabbit consists of 13 tracks that present some of the most splendid bluegrass music to be released in 2005. Bluegrass radio and fans just watch and see if these boys don’t engrave their music into the bluegrass music genre for generations to come.
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BY JIM CALIGIURI
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The Grassy Knoll Boys - Buckeyed Rabbit
Of the new bands in the burgeoning Central Texas bluegrass scene the Grassy Knoll Boys appear to be the most musically accomplished. Leading the way on Buckeyed Rabbit, their self-released debut, is Dobro player David Hamburger, a transplant from the Northeast, who's worked with Freedy Johnston and a long line of New England folkies. While he's not yet in the same league as the acknowledged master of the Dobro, Jerry Douglas, Hamburger is still comparatively young. The rest of the Boys, guitarist/singer Will Walden, mandolin player Alex Rueb, banjo picker Mark Cavage, and bassist Vance Hazen, follow Hamburger's lead with some solid jams on a set of mostly traditional tunes. Of the originals, Walden's "Darling Our Love" features sweet harmonies, while Hamburger's instrumental "Smokeshire Blues" shows off his obvious talent. The rest are an eclectic mix of old-time, blues, and gospel numbers ("See That My Grave Is Kept Clean," "Send Me to the Electric Chair," "Pretty Saro," "Jerusalem Moan"), each done in a way that sounds contemporary while remaining respectful to the music's roots. Surprisingly, Buckeyed Rabbit is sonically equivalent to that of any recording on a major bluegrass label. The combination of refined chops and a well-executed mix makes it a disc bluegrass fans will want to seek out.
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Review from the Austin Chronicle (November 5, 2004)
Grassy Knoll Boys
What's in a name? If it's local quintet the Grassy Knoll Boys, quite a bit. Singer/guitarist Will Walden says it's both an obvious reference to the JFK assassination and a play on the frequency with which "Boys" finds its way into the names of bluegrass ensembles. In a broader sense, he hopes the slightly macabre moniker taps into the "Faulknerian" elements of the genre. 
"It's sort of a joke, but not really a joke," he explains.
Walden, Dobro player David Hamburger, mandolinist Alex Rueb, banjoist Mark Cavage, and bassist Vance Hazen have been together about a year. Instead of trotting out the same old standards by Bill Monroe, the Stanley Brothers, and Flatt & Scruggs, they've folded everything from minstrel blues to field hollers into the bluegrass idiom.
On their debut, Buckeyed Rabbit, just picked up by local label Genuine Recordings, the Boys give a bluegrass spin to traditional Texas tunes like the Brazos Valley work song "Old Hannah" and Deep Ellum blues "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean." Meanwhile, originals like Hamburger's "Chickens" and Walden's "Darling Our Love" reflect a more contemporary outlook.
"It's Americana," Walden affirms, "but not gingham and overalls and square dancing."
After months of playing Threadgill's, Momos, and the Cactus Cafe, the Boys' biggest gig to date looms Friday, opening for the Del McCoury Band at the Texas Union Ballroom. Walden previously crossed paths with McCoury's outfit at an upstate New York festival back in college.
"Believe it or not, it was the same band," the Uvalde native says. "His hair was still black."
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