August 27, 2008
Get Kenny Rogers' New Tunes -- at Cracker Barrel?!
The three-time Grammy winner is launching his new album, "Kenny Rogers: 50 Years" -- and it's being sold exclusively at Cracker Barrel restaurants, you heard us, Cracker Barrel.
"For me, the whole goal is to stay relevant as long as I can," Rogers tells AP of his career, which has spanned almost a half century. And nothing says relevance like being served up next to some hand-battered Fried Pork Chops.
The 70-year-old country crooner became a superstar in the '70s and '80s, with his hits like "Lucille" and "The Gambler."
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What is so surprising about this? Cracker Barrel has a history of selling music, and recently, they have released a host of exclusive albums, including releases from Alabama, Sara Evans, and Alison Krauss, just to name a few.
Artists these days are finding more creative outlets for their CDs rather than just releasing them to regular stores. They put their album in front of their target audience. If an album is exclusive to a store, they will do a lot of advertising for it…much more than if the album was not exclusive. The Eagles did this at Wal-Mart. Alabama and Kenny Rogers have done this with Cracker Barrel. I don’t see the shock here.
And even if someone isn’t a big fan of KR, I suggest they pick this disc up. It’s 12 bucks, which is a buck a song. It is a brief survey of KR’s hits, but the real highlight is the release of the three new tracks. This is the best KR has sounded in several years. They are quality tracks produced by Tony Brown, a producer KR has not worked with before. Well worth the money just for the three tracks.