Bluegrass artists are having an increasingly difficult time finding retail outlets for their recorded works. Wal-mart is all but inaccessable, and the brick and morter record shops are closing faster than a lick from Johnny Butten’s banjo.

Could Cracker Barrel become a viable retail outlet? One group of artists thinks so. Bob Everhart, president of the National Traditional Country Music Association, recently announced an opportunity for upper midewest country and bluegrass artists to place their music for sale in area Cracker Barrel Restaurants.

July 12, 2008 will see the kickoff to Cracker Barrel’s Rural Roots Music Fest. From 10am to 7pm area artists will perform on the front porch of the Crackerbarrel store at the Lake Manawa Shopping Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

The 9-hour show is a means of ’supporting’ the Cracker Barrel’s decision to place local recorded product in-house. The ‘impetus’ of this first-time approach to independent recording artists, from Cracker Barrel’s point of view, is ‘great down-home country food in the dining room,’ and ‘great down-home country music on the front porch.’ This same theme will be hopefully carried through with ‘great down-home music CD’s in the store.’

If successful, this may lead to an expansion of the program to other stores. Cracker Barrel has had an interest in country and bluegrass music for some time, even starting their own label. This program will provide Cracker Barrel with music to sell and no overhead to produce it, and provide a much needed retail outlet for smaller independent groups. It sounds like a win-win situation.

More information is available on the NTCMA website.

Ricky Skaggs has covered bluegrass heroes Bill Monroe and the Stanley Brothers. Now, he has covered himself.

Skaggs, who had a dozen #1 hits as a country singer before returning to his bluegrass roots in 1997, re-recorded his country hits to give them a bluegrass spin for a new project with Cracker Barrel restaurants.

The CD, The High Notes, will be released exclusively through Cracker Barrel on July 1. Among the songs he reworks are Crying My Heart Out Over You, Honey (Open That Door), Cajun Moon and Highway 40 Blues. All were originally from his illustrious Epic Records period and nine were #1 hits on the Billboard charts.

Skaggs said he has been wanting to do this for a while. “This was the perfect time and the perfect audience for it. It’s so great to sing these hit songs again. Many of these I haven’t sung since the 1990s,” he said in a statement. “I think many of the tracks came out better than the originals,” Skaggs added.

The complete track listing is as follows ..

1. Crying My Heart Out Over You
2. Heartbroke
3. Highway 40 Blues
4. I Wouldn’t Change You If I Could
5. You’ve Got A Lover
6. Cajun Moon
7. Honey (Open That Door)
8. Cat’s In The Cradle
9. Uncle Pen
10. Country Boy
    
11. Lovin’ Only Me
12. Somebody’s Prayin’

Skaggs, 53, has won several awards for his country and bluegrass recordings, including 13 Grammy Awards. His most recent album, Honoring The Fathers of Bluegrass: Tribute to 1946 and 1947, is currently No. 4 on the Billboard chart.

Based in Lebanon, Tennessee, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store operates 577 restaurants in 41 states. The chain has offered exclusive recordings from Alison Krauss & Union Station, Stony Point Quartet, Merle Haggard and others.

We just received our summer (July/August) issue of Bluegrass Music Profiles and found, in addition to a cover feature on Longview, that the magazine has graduated to a full color, glossy stock publication.

BMP debuted in the spring of 2003 as black & white on newsprint, with spot color, and remained as such until the Nov/Dec ‘07 issue where the cover went full color. They went to gloss stock for the March/April ‘08 cover, and now the entire magazine is color on gloss.

Congratulations to publishers Kevin and Lori Kerfoot for finding a niche for this new publication during a time of declining print circulation. It seems that their catalog of personality-based features on bluegrass artists and industry figures has found favor with bluegrass readers.

You can find subscription, single and back issue information on the BMP web site.