Parton found herself without a record label for the second time in a year when Decca Records closed its Nashville office in early 1999, just months after the release of Hungry Again. Throughout the 1990s, she had been losing ground with country radio, though her album sales had remained strong for much of that time. The idea for the project was brought to Parton's attention one night in July 1999 when she was having dinner with Steve Buckingham. He mentioned to her that bluegrass fans, when asked which artist they would most like to make a bluegrass album, overwhelmingly cited her. Parton told Billboard, "We were both shocked, but then I thought, since I manage myself now and have my own label and can do what I want, why not do it?" By the end of August 1999, Parton had recorded the album in Nashville with Buckingham producing and top musicians such as Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, Alison Krauss, and Rhonda Vincent accompanying. Speaking about the song selection, Parton said, "I've always loved bluegrass, having grown up in and around mountain music and bluegrass, so I chose some songs I've been singing all my life." Parton said of the recording process, "It went really fast because these are the world's best bluegrass pickers and singers, who've been doing these songs forever!"
Content
The album includes a mixture of Parton originals and folk and bluegrass standards, as well as a Billy Joel cover. "Silver Dagger", a late nineteenth century ballad, had been popularized by Joan Baez during the early 1960s. Parton had originally written "Steady as the Rain" for her younger sister Stella Parton, who had a top 40 country hit with the song in 1979. "Will He Be Waiting for Me" is an updated version of a song which Parton originally recorded for her 1972 album, Touch Your Woman. The album also includes a cover of the Blackfoot song "Train, Train".
Release and promotion
The album was announced by Sugar Hill Records on August 24, 1999. In the press release, Parton was quoted saying, Parton made several television appearances to promote the album. The day of the album's release she made an appearance on Live with Regis & Kelly. She appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno on November 2 and performed "Train, Train". Television appearances continued in February 2000 to promote the album's second single, "Silver Dagger". Parton performed the single February 28 on the Late Show with David Letterman and February 29 on Live with Regis & Kelly.
Critical reception
Upon its release, the album received much praise among music critics. James Hunter of Rolling Stone gave a positive review of the album, saying, "On recent recordings like Trio II, with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt, Parton has gone home, but not with the curled-tongue abandon she brings to The Grass Is Blue, where she re-tackles bluegrass, country and traditional songs with brio...it leaves the earth often...Without that almost punk-style independence, you can't have new legends, country or otherwise." Writing for AllMusic, Philip Van Vleck gave to album 4.5 out of 5 stars and said that Parton has "always followed her own muse; this time it has led her to a singular interpretation of bluegrass that is one of the important bluegrass releases of 1999." Jerry Renshaw reviewed the album for the Austin Chronicle and gave the album 3 stars, saying that "Parton's familiar vibrato soars over the mountain-music instruments like it was born to do just that." In addition to rejuvenating Parton's career, the album, along with the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack and the work of Alison Krauss, is credited with making bluegrass a hugely popular musical genre during the early 2000s.
Commercial performance
The album peaked at No. 24 on the US BillboardTop Country Albums chart and No. 198 on the US Billboard 200 chart. The album peaked at No. 8 on the UK OCC Country Albums chart. As of December 2003, the album has sold 195,000 copies in the United States. The first single, "A Few Old Memories", was sent to country radio stations in October 1999 and did not chart. "Silver Dagger" was sent to folk stations as the album's second single in February 2000 and did not chart.
