Montgomery Gentry's 2011 CD, Rebels On The Run.

Divorce…cancer…that’s a lot to deal with since November 2010. Yet Eddie Montgomery, half of the hard country duo Montgomery Gentry, could tell you a few things about having to face those new realities over the past year.  His perseverance (the cancer is now in remission) seems to have translated into a renewed focus on music as Rebels On The Run, the seventh studio album from Eddie and partner Troy Gentry, gets back to the basics and what matters most on their best collection since 2004’s You Do Your Thing.

Produced by Michael Knox (Jason Aldean, Justin Moore), Montgomery Gentry shed some of the sleek production of their most recent efforts in favor of a looser, raw feel on the eleven-song set. The first single “Where I Come From,” a mid-tempo, hometown proclamation, features acoustic/electric guitars and pedal steel as the duo employs their trademark handoff from Eddie singing the verse to Troy taking the chorus. See that door right there, it ain’t never been locked/ and I guarantee it never will, Eddie sings on the verse as the song recalls past hits like “My Town.”

Pride in one’s upbringing and where one is from have always been themes close to Montgomery Gentry. “Damn Right I Am,” the album’s opening track, is an up-tempo country rocker infused with patriotism. Over a thick rhythm section, Troy leans into each line of the chorus, singing, Am I proud that all I see is black and white, wrong or right and there ain’t no changing me?/ Am I proud of where I stand?, before Eddie adds with patient, emphasized timing, You damn right I am.

Eddie again shows his knack for timing on “Damn Baby,” an 80s rock-tinged track in which he eases into the first verse with a wink. After a steady bass drum and building guitars, he slyly sings the title words as the music cuts out from underneath his vocal. The result is like being part of a good natured, inside joke when the storyteller immediately grabs the listener’s attention with a friendly jab.

Troy takes the lead on “Missing You,” a slow, acoustic piece featuring one of the album’s finest melodies. Continue Reading

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Trace Adkins on the set of Day Jobs.

Before the hit songs, awards and thousands of screaming fans, country stars held day jobs just like those who love their music. In Day Jobs, an original series premiering on Sunday, October 2 at 8 PM/ET, several of today’s top stars step away from the stage lights and put in a full day’s work the way they did before they made it big.

Each one-hour episode of Day Jobs follows three stars as they work a shift in a variety of jobs ranging from offshore oil rig roughneck to cattle rancher, women’s shoe salesman, pilot and waitress. As they work, they realize just how far they’ve come and how those early jobs helped shaped their life today.

Every participant agreed to put in a full eight-hour day and some had to undergo additional training. Before Trace Adkins returned to his former job as a roughneck on an offshore oil rig, he had to spend a day in safety training. Joe Nichols had to become certified to drive a forklift before spending a day loading pallets and filling orders in a warehouse. Continue Reading

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Montgomery Gentry on the set of their new video for "Where I Come From" with director Potsy Poncirili

The new music video from Montgomery Gentry for their latest single, “Where I Come From,” was directed by “Potsy” Ponciroli and produced by Chris Connor for Team Genius Productions.  It’s one of the most intense, impactful videos ever done by the duo.

Eddie and Troy worked with Potsy and came up with the concept of having the video tell the story from a deployed soldier’s viewpoint.  Continue Reading

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Montgomery Gentry with Average Joe's Entertainment staff. L-R: Dennis Entertainment's Alicia Lanier Jones, AVJ's CEO Shannon Houchins, Troy Gentry, Eddie Montgomery, AVJ's President Tom Badrica, and Dennis Entertainment's John Dennis. Photo courtesy of Essential Broadcast Media. Photo Credit: Randi Radcliff

Montgomery Gentry has a new musical home. They’ve signed with Average Joe Entertainment after parting ways with Sony Music last year. The multiplatinum duo is excited about the move and plan to release their first single on the label in the spring.

“We couldn’t be happier to be signing with Shannon [Houchins] and Tom [Baldrica] and the guys at Average Joe’s,” Eddie Montgomery said.  “Those guys are cut from the same cloth we are and man, they are so creative.  We can’t wait to get this new project out there to our fans!”

“Eddie and I are really excited about this new partnership with Average Joe’s,” Troy Gentry said. “We love the team they have in place and the passion and excitement that they bring.  We look forward to going in and making a project we’re all proud of.” Continue Reading

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Eddie Montgomery (center) & Heidi Newfield (right) jam during some downtime on the Country Throwdown Tour. Photo by Beth Brinker.

As The Country Throwdown tour makes its way up the east coast, each stop continues to serve up memorable performances and behind the scenes action with country’s hottest stars.

North Carolina stops included Charlotte and Raleigh, where I got to hang with Little Big Town and hear all about how much fun they are having with their “Little White Church” Country Throwdown weddings. Getting to know these four and their adorable families, who are out on the road with them, has been a tour highlight!

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was a hot one! In between sets, artists could be found hitting golf balls into a lake behind the amphitheater. Nice swing, Little Big Towners!

My favorite stop of the week was Saratoga Springs, New York. Not only was the venue beautiful, the musical collaborations were epic. That’s a fancy word, but it was a fancy day at The Country Throwdown, people. Continue Reading

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(l-r): Little Big Town's Phillip Sweet, Kimberly Schlapman, Anne & Josh York, Statt with WUBE, and Little Big Town's Karen Fairchild & Jimi Westbrook.

We are now officially seven stops into The Country Throwdown Tour! As this traveling music circus makes its way across the country, everyone is finding their groove out here on the road and really get to know each other. This past week we hit Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and Indianapolis – rain or shine, The Country Throwdown was a party all day. What you may not know is that the party continues all night.

After the lights go down on the main stage, the grill is cranked up backstage thanks to Tyler Reeve. Affectionately called “The BBQ Band,” Tyler and his crew cook up a feast every night after the show, and the music starts up again. You never know who’s going to play together, what they will sing, or how many shakers Sarah Buxton will pass out (and whether or not the recipients have rhythm.) In Cleveland, Cory Branan sang an Irish song that had Emily West, Sarah Buxton and Country Throwdown creator Kevin Lyman doing a jig that earned him the nickname “Crazy Legs.”

In Cincinnati, I spent most of the day soaking wet and my Texas hair was getting curlier by the minute.  Some fans were covered in brown slime from head to toe after going down the mudslide. You could even catch members of The Eli Young Band out there throwing down with fans. This was the day that Mike Eli told me I had “Wal-Mart feet.” I hate to admit that my flip-flop feet were dirty from the weather, but c’mon Mike! What do you expect “when it rains”?

Fans didn’t let rain get in the way of their good time, or even their wedding! Little Big Town’s latest single, “Little White Church,” has inspired weddings at various stops along the tour. Anne Zimmerman and Josh York were the first couple married on The Country Throwdown Tour. The members of LBT even served as their wedding party. The second wedding, held Sunday in Indianapolis, IN, was a renewal ceremony for Maggie and Adam Clark. Continue Reading

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Vince Gill photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.

Nashville Mayor Karl Dean has estimated the total damages from this week’s flood could top $1 billion, though Music City is still digging out.

Many of country’s stars — including Vince Gill, Darius Rucker and Kenny Chesney — have stepped forward to raise money or put a public face on the tragedy for the nation. Others, including Brad Paisley and LeAnn Rimes, are still waiting to see how much equipment they might have lost when the Cumberland River swelled over its bank.

Among the ongoing flood-related stories:

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Montgomery Gentry photo courtesy of Sony Nashville.

Country Throwdown 2010, a multi-act outdoor tour produced by the same company that created rock’s annual Vans Warped Tour, has enlisted Montgomery Gentry, Jamey Johnson, Little Big Town and Jack Ingram among the initial acts for a five-week, GAC-sponsored series of concerts next spring. Specific markets and the entire lineup have yet to be revealed, though the Throwdown will feature 21 total acts on an itinerary from May 13-June 20.

“When Eddie [Montgomery] and I were approached about doing the Country Throwdown Tour we immediately said yes,” Montgomery Gentry’s Troy Gentry said. “We loved the idea of it being like a big festival, a big party. I mean, that’s what Montgomery Gentry is all about. We’re keeping the ticket prices low because we know it’s hard out there. Fans are going to get a lot of entertainment for their money. This tour is going to be a great experience for us, the other artists and especially the fans.”

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Montgomery Gentry photo courtesy of Sony Nashville.

The current Montgomery Gentry single “Long Line Of Losers” celebrates a colorful family tree that’s “half outlaw, half boozers.” And if it sounds like they mean it, that might be because Eddie Montgomery in particular can relate to the song firsthand.

“I really was raised with a shot glass in my hand,” Eddie says. “I ain’t gonna lie about it. You know, everybody’s like, ‘Well, I don’t know if I’d talk about it,’ or what. Hell, it does not bother me at all. You know, it never has. [Although] now I do know as an adult why none of the other parents would ever let kids come over to our house.”

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Montgomery Gentry recently took an animated form as characters in “Nancy,” one of the most beloved comics of all time. The duo’s June 23^rd induction to the legendary Grand Ole Opry became inspiration for an episode of the internationally syndicated comic strip.

Upon seeing his cartoon alter-ego in print, Troy Gentry said, “What a nice surprise in my Sunday paper! I think we might have made Nancy’s aunt’s shirt once, but to be the subject and for them to include our Opry induction is very cool. And I’ve always wondered what I’d look like as a cartoon. Very flattering.”

And just in case you missed this subtle nod to GAC, check out the T-shirt on Nancy’s Aunt Fritzi featured in the September 30th episode of the cartoon… Continue Reading

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