GRASCALS HIT #1 DEBUT ON BILLBOARD

CRACKER BARREL AND THE GRASCALS CELEBRATE #1 DEBUT ON BILLBOARD BLUEGRASS CHART Exclusive CD "The Grascals & Friends - Country Classics with a Bluegrass Spin" also lands on five other charts including Country, Heatseekers, and Billboard Top 200  The Grascals are pleased to celebrate the #1 debut of The Grascals & Friends - Country Classics with a Bluegrass Spin on the Billboard Top Bluegrass Albums chart (issue date January 29, 2011). The album also entered the Billboard Top Country Albums chart at #26, the Heatseekers chart at #2, the Independent chart at #15, the Billboard 200 at #113, and the Top Current Billboard 200 at #108.

The Grascals bring their own bluegrass style to 13 of Country Music's best tunes and bring the different tracks to life with eight of their friends, including Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley, Charlie Daniels and Dolly Parton.  The track, "I Am Strong," (Video Below) was written by Grascals band member Jamie Johnson and his wife Susanne Mumpower-Johnson along with Jenee Fleenor after The Grascals visited the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital® and were inspired by the stories and power of the children being treated there. "I Am Strong" is powerful in its message and in its artistic vision and brings together vocals from all of the artists who also appear separately with the Grascals on other tracks on this CD. In honor of the children and this song, Cracker Barrel is donating a percentage of the proceeds. The CD is now available exclusively at Cracker Barrel Old Country Store® and online at crackerbarrel.com. "This is just icing on the cake ... like Cracker Barrel gravy on the biscuit!" said bass player Terry Smith. He added, "The relationship has been so great thus far.  Hopefully the sales and great partnership will continue in kind". __________________________________________ "This is something we've looked forward to for so long," said mandolin player Danny Roberts. He added, "It's doing so well, so quickly. The added bonus of it benefiting St. Jude makes it all the better." __________________________________________ "This is a great achievement and we congratulate The Grascals," said Chris Ciavarra, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Cracker Barrel. "We are very pleased to see the strength of this CD's debut and think that it speaks to the quality of the music, the authenticity of the musicians, and it shows what a good fit this is with our guests."   The Grascals, fresh off of a year packed with over 150 shows, are in the running for 10 of the 37th Annual SPBGMA Awards including Instrumental Group of the Year, Vocal Group of the Year, Bluegrass Band of the Year, and Entertaining Group of the Year.  In addition, the Grascals' new video, "I Am Strong" featuring Dolly Parton, premiered in mid-December on AOL. The Grascals & Friends - Country Classics With A Bluegrass Spin is the latest in Cracker Barrel's exclusive music program, which features numerous projects.