The Grascals Strike ‘Black Gold’

"We're the Jed Clampetts of bluegrass. We've struck black gold, Texas tea," the Grascals' Jamie Johnson told The Boot, as the band announced their sponsorship deal with ExxonMobil during a Monday afternoon lunch in Nashville.

The event helped launch the International Bluegrass Music Association's annual gathering. Following the lunch, attendees got their first look at the Grascals' bus, sponsored by ExxonMobil's Mobil Delvac brand of heavy duty diesel engine oils.

"We played a truckers convention up in Louisville, Ky., and Marci got on the bus and was interviewing us," Grascals guitarist Terry Eldredge says of their first meeting with Exxon Mobil's Marci Crigger. "That's really where it started, and it just bloomed from there."

Jamie says the deal with Mobil Delvac is a good fit for the six-piece band. "Truckers love bluegrass music," says Jamie. "It's just a perfect fit for us. A lot of our fans out there are truck drivers, bus drivers, maybe a dump truck driver, tractors or whatever that would use this particular oil. They are our fan base, so it's a pretty easy fit."

"A lot of the folks we play to are rural folks, and they have to put a can of oil in that tractor and a can of oil in their lawn mower," says Terry. "So this is going to be good for both of us."

This is a busy week for the Grascals, who are nominated in five categories at Thursday night's International Bluegrass Music Association Awards, including Album and Entertainer of the Year. "It is a great honor to be mentioned, not only by your fans, but your peers too. It's just really nice," says Terry. "Whoever wins it doesn't matter, we're all still out there doing this because we love this music and we want to promote it."