By Deborah Evans Price Deborah Evans Price – Fri Feb 26, 9:50 pm ET
NASHVILLE (Billboard) –
Not content to court just one crowd, bluegrass band the Grascals will try to expand their fan base on Hank Williams Jr.'s upcoming Rowdy Friends tour.
But the tour is only the first step; in addition to releasing a new album, "The Famous Lefty Flynn's," March 30 on Rounder Records, the act has a sponsorship deal with Mobil Delvac and an ongoing licensing agreement with an Alabama RV park.
"This is about longevity," Grascals vocalist Jamie Johnson says. "Bluegrass is where we're from, so that's where we're always going to call home, but one of our goals is to be nominated for the (Country Music Assn.) or (Academy of Country Music) vocal group of the year."
That's not an impossible goal for a group that has accrued plenty of awards since its founding in 2004 and stint as Dolly Parton's band. The Grascals' current lineup is Johnson, vocalist/bassist Terry Smith, guitarist/vocalist Terry Eldredge, fiddler Jeremy Abshire, banjo player Kristin Scott Benson and mandolin player Danny Roberts. They've become one of the most successful bluegrass acts, winning the International Bluegrass Music Association's entertainer of the year honor in 2006 and 2007, the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America's overall bluegrass band of the year in 2008 and 2010, and numerous other accolades. Full story in Billboard...
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