NASHVILLE, TN. (Top40 Charts/ Rounder/ UMGD) - The nation's most popular bluegrass band is teaming up with a marketing group whose new brand honors one of the country's most beloved television shows.
Mayberry's Finest, a new line of food products featuring 36 Southern-seasoned food items inspired by 'The Andy Griffith Show,' will team up with The Grascals, the Grammy-nominated 2006 International Bluegrass Music Association Entertainers of the Year. The band will introduce and feature the line of foods at upcoming tour dates and public appearances, in print ads and radio and television commercials. The Grascals also wrote and recorded the Mayberry's Finest jingle, and they are traveling in a Prevost XL2 tour bus wrapped with the brand's logo.
Yesterday The Grascals were nominated for two IBMA Awards-Entertainer of the Year and Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year, for 'Did You Forget God Today,' which they recorded with the Jordanaires for their Rounder CD, Long List of Heartaches. They are also on the second ballot for CMA Award nominations in the categories of Vocal Group of the Year and Musical Event of the Year, with Dierks Bentley for 'Prodigal Son's Prayer,' a song on his Long Trip Alone CD.
'Without a doubt, The Grascals are absolutely thrilled to endorse such a great line of products that honor not only a memorable television show, but also what we consider a terrific part of our culture,' said Grascals vocalist Terry Eldredge. 'Mayberry's Finest offers a wide variety of foods that are similar to the kinds of foods we enjoy eating, and we think others will agree that the products live up to the name.'
Mayberry's Finest, under license with 'The Andy Griffith Show,' managed by CBS Consumer Products, is a product line that includes new baking mix flavors such as peach cobbler, cinnamon toast, chocolate chunk cookie dough and blueberry muffin. Canned vegetables offered in the brand will include cream-style corn, collard greens and turnip greens. Beef stew, chili, and chicken and dumplings round out products offered in the meat category.
Food retailers throughout the Southeastern United States, including North Carolina and Tennessee, will offer Mayberry's Finest Brand Foods beginning this fall. The product will also be available online at www.mayberrysfinest.com. Nashville-based Diversity Brands, in partnership with Choice Food of America and Allen Canning, will produce, distribute and market the products.
'The Grascals are terrific partners for our product, and we could not be happier with their enthusiasm as we roll out Mayberry's Finest,' said Marcela Gomez, president of Diversity Brands. 'Pairing a product influenced by perhaps the greatest television show of all time with one of today's most recognizable bluegrass acts is a perfect fit. They're huge fans of the show and, now, of our products, too.'
