Of MoonPies, muffins, peach cobblers and bluegrass
I guess it should serve as no surprise that the dynamic bluegrass band The Grascals has just picked up a sponsor, Mayberry’s Finest, a food line that features baking mixes for peach cobbler, cinnamon toast, chocolate chunk cookie dough and blueberry muffins.
It’s not enough today to just play bluegrass music. Historically, there seems always to have been sponsors in the wings for several bands.
Sponsors help the bands to stay afloat and sometimes provide the transportation as they tour the country. Though audiences are subject to the brief occasional pitch from the bluegrass stage, sometimes they get a treat for listening. Carrie Hassler & Hard Rain doles out free MoonPies from their CD booth at festivals.
One of the biggest sponsors of bluegrass has been Martha White. The company has supported bluegrass music since 1948, when it began its advertising on the Grand Ole Opry radio show (it still does).
One popular group even named itself after Martha White’s secret ingredient, called Hot Rize. (I do not believe that Martha White sponsored the band, but the group played the Martha White theme song on stage nonetheless.) Hot Rize will be performing at the upcoming Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival (July 17-20).
Martha White has sponsored Tennessee Ernie Ford, who became their spokesman. They also supported famed bluegrass group Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys and currently the very popular Rhonda Vincent & The Rage. In both cases, Martha White provided the bus, adorned in Martha White logos and the name of the group. Rhonda tosses out Martha White T-Shirts at her shows.
Someone captured Rhonda in action at Merlefest in 2008
The Martha White bus backed into its back-stage location at the Strawberry Park Bluegrass Festival in Connecticut, broadcasting Rhonda Vincent singing the Martha White theme song.
Of course, sponsorship takes other forms besides food groups. Companies like Gibson and Taylor often provide some of their best instruments for bands to play on stage. String makers get on board as well. Even makers of electronic pickups, instrument case makers, and others provide sponsorship dollars or equipment to groups, and have for many years. By extension, music festivals also rely on sponsors, not just their ticket prices, to keep their venues afloat.
The Grascals, 2006 and 2007 International Bluegrass Music Association Entertainers of the Year, will begin featuring the Mayberry’s Finest brand on stage. The brand refers back to the kinds of foods featured in “The Andy Griffith Show.” In addition to baked good mixes, it includes canned vegetables, stews and other products.
The brand is regional (North Carolina and Tennessee), so folks here in the Northeast are unlikely to be able to buy any of Mayberry’s Finest. The same is true for Martha White.
It’s all a bit over the top. But if that’s what it takes to keep bluegrass music going, the bands touring, the banjos twanging, come hither the baking-mix pitches!
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