The Grascals photo by Joe Hardwick

Nashville, Tenn. –The Grascals, IBMA’s reigning Entertainers of the Year, are taking advantage of some rare time off the road to begin recording new songs for their next Rounder release, coming in 2008.

“We’re having a great time in the studio; it’s been very relaxed,” said Grascals lead vocalist and guitarist Jamie Johnson. “We’ve been listening to songs since the last album came out, and we’re thrilled with what we found. We’ve been playing some of these songs on the road, and the crowds seem to love them.”

The group also launched a completely revamped version of their Web site, http://www.grascals.com/, featuring greater interactivity and quicker access to new photos, tour dates, the latest news, and audio files.

The year 2007 brought many career achievements and new experiences for The Grascals. They received two SPBGMA Bluegrass Awards-Bluegrass Band of the Year and Instrumental Group of the Year-and earned their first Dove Award nomination for Bluegrass Recorded Song of the Year for “Did You Forget God Today,” which they recorded with the Jordanaires. They performed at the first Stagecoach Festival in Indio, California, and participated in CMA Music Festival for the fourth straight year. The group watched Long List of Heartaches, their Grammy^®-nominated 2006 release, top the Billboard Bluegrass Albums chart in September, shortly before winning their second consecutive IBMA Entertainer of the Year Award.

In August The Grascals locked in a sponsorship agreement with Mayberry’s Finest, a line of Southern-seasoned stews, chilis, vegetables and baking mixes inspired by The Andy Griffith Show. They wrote and recorded the Mayberry’s Finest jingle and have recorded radio and Web commercials for the product line, with television spots to follow. They travel to the shows on their Mayberry’s Finest tour in a Prevost XL2 bus wrapped with the brand’s logo. As part of their relationship with Mayberry’s Finest, the band performed at the Mayberry Days festival in Mt. Airy, North Carolina, and made their debut guest appearance on the nationally syndicated John Boy & Billy Big Show.

Throughout the year The Grascals continued to make regular guest appearances on the Grand Ole Opry and also made their first foray into late-night television, performing “Prodigal Son’s Prayer” with Dierks Bentley on The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson in February. The song is on Bentley’s Long Trip Alone CD, which was recently nominated for a Grammy for Best Country Album. Finally, the band was honored to film a performance for the latest Gaither Homecoming DVD from Bill Gaither and friends, which will be released in the fall of 2008.