‘Good run’ continues for hit-making Montgomery Gentry
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Friday, November 21, 2008
Montgomery Gentry is the Pepsi to Brooks & Dunn’s Coke. The duo hit it big a few years after Brooks & Dunn but could never quite steal their thunder.
Fortunately, country music has plenty of space for good duos. (See Sugarland.) Over the past nine years, Montgomery Gentry has generated six hit albums, four No. 1 songs and eight top 10 hits in a row, including the current single “Roll With Me.”
ED RODE/Associated Press
Troy Gentry (left) and Eddie Montgomery of the country music duo Montgomery Gentry.
Montgomery Gentry performs at 9 Friday night at Wild Bill's, 2075 Market St., Duluth. Tickets $28 to $100. 404-249-6400, www.ticketmaster.com.
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“We’ve had a really good run,” said Troy Gentry, who along with Eddie Montgomery, will be pumping out fan favorites Friday night at Wild Bill’s in Duluth. “Funny that one of our most requested songs live is one that bottomed out on the charts, ‘Daddy Won’t Sell the Farm.’ “
In fact, the pair now have enough hits in their arsenal to perform an entire 90-minute set without an iota of filler. Four songs are gimmes every night, he notes: “Hell Yeah,” “My Town,” “Something to Be Proud Of” and their first hit “Hillbilly Shoes.”
” ‘Hell Yeah’ has always been big with the kids,” Gentry said. ” ‘Gone’ is another song the younger generation requests and sings along to. You’ve got the ‘bang bang’ part the kids really get into. There’s something catchy about the phrasing.”
So does he get annoyed when fans mistake them for Brooks & Dunn? “I’m fine with it. We’ve had people say, ‘We really like your song ‘Boot Scootin’ Boogie.’ But even odder, someone at a meet and greet a couple of days ago said, ‘I can’t wait to hear your song ‘Home.’ I was confused. That’s a Blake Shelton song! I don’t know how I could be mistaken for Blake!”
There’s no mistaking the chemistry the two men exude on stage. “We started out as friends first,” Gentry explained. “We hung out before forming our own band. We were never forced together. And we’ve always been able to talk things out.
“Even after 10 years, we’re clicking,” he added. “I don’t look to go anywhere else. I can’t picture myself doing it without him.”
The pair recently signed to new management, the same company that handles Alpharetta’s Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the Cable Guy. “They’ve been able to get us on different outlets we hadn’t been on before,” he said. “We did the Larry the Cable Guy Christmas special. We scored a spot in People magazine. We’ve been more involved with CMT’s reality shows. I just did a CMT Cribs!”
And getting back to the soda analogy, Montgomery Gentry is actually working with Atlanta-based Coke’s Vault drink and the USO to get 1 million postcards to troops by Christmas.
“I think a handwritten note is more personal than an e-mail,” he said. “This is just a way as Americans to show your patriotism and appreciation for our soldiers.”
