Hey everybody - welcome to summertime! It's Kristin again, for another installment of the latest and greatest updates from Grascals-land.

First, we wanted to wish Andy Griffith a happy birthday! You may have seen our video tweet Tuesday - but if not, you can watch the video we recorded here:

May ended up being quite the busy month for us! We travelled to East TN and up to the hallowed grounds of Gettysburg, got rained out of Louisville, and had another opportunity to play our favorite stage - The Grand Ole
Opry (104th appearance!!)

The end of May marked our yearly return to Branson, MO for Silver Dollar City's Bluegrass and BBQ festival, and even with the sub-prime weather, the turnout was great! I was especially thankful that my husband and the rest of IIIrd Tyme Out stayed safe, since they were in Branson, during the deadly storms in nearby Joplin. Our prayers are with those folks.

Next, it was back east to Big Stone Gap, VA, where we were joined by Danny's daughter, Jaelee, and Jamie's wife, Susanne Mumpower-Johnson (aka Iodine). Both sang a song and the audience was quite receptive. Jaelee is 10 years old and each time I hear her sing or play, she’s like a different musician! Kids are amazing. And Susanne’s new record is getting magnificent reviews from the likes of Music Row’s Robert K Oermann! We are very proud of our extended Grascals families. Smitty’s clan went to Branson with us…Granddaughter
Allyson may be the most agreeable baby ever.

We ended the month celebrating Memorial Day with Sirius XM - Smitty and El stopped in for a chat with Kyle Cantrell. Sorry for the company, Kyle.

Finally, we continued to remember our servicemen and women with the fine folks in Indianola, Iowa (just south of Des Moines). We played a warm set on the courthouse lawn and recorded the video greeting (above) to Andy Griffith! Did you know it's the 50th Anniversary of The Andy Griffith Show this year?

We've got some of our own birthdays coming up this month! Smitty and Jamie share the same (June 15th) and we'll celebrate with all of you coming to see us in Bean Blossom, Indiana... then we're off to Nova Scotia for a few days. We have tons of shows in Canada this year and look forward to meeting new friends.

The Grascals want to send a special shout-out to Dr. Tom Bibey, the popular bluegrass blogger and author of The Mandolin Case. He is battling a serious illness, but like his family, we are full of hope, in Christ, for a full recovery!

Don't forget Father's Day June 19th - we certainly have plans to take care of all our dads. For mine, Fred Scott – thanks for buying me banjos, banjo lessons, taking me to festivals, being my biggest fan, and mainly, for being such a fine Papa to Hogan.

- Kristin Scott Benson