It "hurt so good" -- that slap upside the head delivered by "Hillbilly Shoes," the first single release from new country music duo Montgomery Gentry.

It seems only fitting that words from a rock 'n’ roll song be used to describe the music offered up by this Kentucky duo for they draw heavily from the southern rock genre in putting their sound together. And, just as rock music once threatened the very existence of country music, Montgomery Gentry’s self-described "pure whup-ass" music now threatens to shake country listeners from the lethargy induced by the soporific radio-friendly tunes cranked out in Nashville. Heck, some of us might even be moved to punch up the local country music station and give it another shot.

Beginnings

Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry hail from Lancaster and Lexington, Kentucky, respectively. Montgomery first began performing in his parents’ band, Harold Montgomery & Kentucky River Express, at the age of five. As Montgomery noted, "Where I started out, mama was a drummer, daddy was a guitar player and bartenders were our babysitters."

In their early years, Montgomery and younger brother, John Michael, formed, then dissolved, a local band called Early Tymz. After high school, the two brothers met Troy Gentry, and at the urging of a club owner, put together a new act which they called John Michael Montgomery and Young Country. "Troy left after a couple years because his dad opened up a bar called the Grapevine (in Lexington, Kentucky)," Montgomery said. When John Michael signed a recording contract and moved to Nashville, drummer Eddie moved with him. Meanwhile, Gentry, multi-talented in his own right, won the 1994 Jim Beam National Talent Search in Nashville and for a time pursued a solo recording contract. However...

"Anytime we’d come home, all three of us were always hanging out at the Grapevine, playing shows, Montgomery said. When Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry kept ending up on the same stage together, they decided to team up. " I quit playing drums with John because I basically wanted to do our own thing. We went after it."

A New Country Music Duo is Born

So, what are they like, these men who share not only a musical past but a well-defined vision of what their sound should be today? There’s a rapport and easy friendliness between them. After long years of working side by side, they’ve learned to play off each other with an engaging give-and-take. When asked why they make a good pair, Montgomery laughed, "We’ve got pictures. We’ll give them out to the world."

During this interview, their banter back and forth when asked to describe each other was alternately funny and illuminating. Warned by Gentry that he’d have a chance to retaliate later, Montgomery described his partner, "I’d say the dude is a great friend. He looks great. He always has women chasing him. Women love him. He's the best friend in the world."

"Am I getting there brother?" Montgomery laughed, looking at Gentry before continuing. "He’s is just like a brother. He’s always thinking of other people. That’s the cool thing about him. That’s one of the reasons, a big reason, we hooked up. We were doing a lot of benefit work back home and we were always on the same stage together doing it."

Gentry, the quieter, more serious of the two, then took his turn. Describing Montgomery, he said, "Outspoken. A comedian. Very honest. Caring - in a hidden way. He’s just a great dude. Loves to party. Loves to be around people. Funny. Intelligent...for the most part."

"Handsome," prodded Montgomery, opening up his wallet for a payout.

"Handsome. Sparkly blue eyes...," Gentry responded agreeably, ready to run with the idea until road manager, Jeff Little, feigning worry about where the conversation was going, interjected, "Hey, I’ve got to stop it right there."

Their playfulness in conversation also extends to the stage. At the Greeley Independence Stampede, Gentry’s antics started the audience laughing as he mimicked Montgomery’s motions during a serious solo. Gentry later chided his partner for, "leaving me hanging out here" when Montgomery sauntered to the back of the stage for a beer as a Merle Haggard song started.

Music - The Montgomery Gentry Way

Though funny and fun-loving, Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry are serious about their music. Signed by Columbia Records in 1997, it was April of 1999 before their first CD, Tattoos and Scars was released.

"We weren’t sure if it was going to happen or not," Gentry said. "They (Columbia Records) had other acts. We were new to the process. Once we signed it took maybe three or four months before we even started looking for songs. Then, we never thought we would get in the studio. We started making those phone calls, ‘Are we still a go?’ Eventually...everything started coming around."

Montgomery Gentry have described their sound as hillbilly honky-tonk. A blend of southern rock, the outlaw style of Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson and the traditional honky-tonk of Merle Haggard and GeorgeJones.

Reduced to simplest terms, Montgomery Gentry is heading down a path similar to the ones chosen by modern-day country music predecessors, Hank Williams, Jr. and Travis Tritt, as well as, arguably, the most "country" of the southern rock groups, the Marshall Tucker Band, and The Charlie Daniels Band. All the above acts continually crossed the line between country and rock, writing and choosing songs that not only blurred the lines between the two styles but often swung decidely one way or another.

The southern rock influence is especially notable in Montgomery Gentry’s music and stage act. Southern rock included bands such as the Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Atlanta Rhythm Section, The Marshall Tucker Band, and The Charlie Daniels Band. Though they had a different sound, all were rooted in the blues. These groups delivered political and social anthems, as well as songs embracing themes of defiant independence, hardscrabble living, and no-holds-barred raucous celebration. Above all, southern rockers sang songs about life as they had lived and experienced it.

When talking to Montgomery and Gentry about their music, the same recurrent theme was evident. They, too, were insistent upon compiling an album of songs that not only reflected the sound they wanted but their lives and experiences as well.

"We were hunting for songs that were our style. We wanted to do the stuff we grew up playing in the honky-tonks," said Montgomery. "It’s hard to get the emotions behind a song if you haven’t been there, done that," Gentry added, "That comes out in the shows. Artists singing about drinking that don’t drink, or artists singing about relationships that are too young to have been through very many relationships...you can see it and you can hear it. When we picked our songs we wanted to make sure they were songs we could put some feelings behind."

One such song was the first single release. "'Hillbilly Shoes' was one of those songs that just reached out and said, ‘don’t judge me before you’ve walked a mile in my shoes.'" Gentry said. "Everything is being judged every day - if it’s politically correct, if it’s racist, if it’s religious...everybody makes judgements."

Montgomery and Gentry found the title cut from the album, Tattoos and Scars, when, frustrated with material shown to them by publishers, they asked for a song that nobody would cut.

"The publisher said, well, we’ve got one song here, ain’t nobody gonna cut," Montgomery said. "Even the songwriter, Tony Lane, said he didn’t think the song would ever get cut because the song was too tough, radio wouldn’t play it. The song was'Tattoos and Scars.' As soon as we heard the first two lines, we said, ‘that’s us, that’s what we’re up for.’" Gentry added, "As far as playing live, that’s one of the crowd’s favorite songs, it gets them all going."

Montgomery told a story about another of the album’s singles, a Max D. Barnes-penned number, "I’ve Loved a Lot More Than I’ve Hurt." "Randy Travis had the song on hold, and in order to get the song we bought him a $500 pistol to trade out. We traded a gun for a song."

Charlie Daniels added his vocals to Montgomery Gentry’s cover of All Night Long. Daniels is often pointed out as the heart and soul of the southern rock genre, the unofficial "godfather", whose willingness to help newcomers is legendary. Charlie Daniels Jr. heard Montgomery Gentry at an industry show in 1998 and spoke to them about how much he thought his father would like their sound. He began pitching them songs from his father’s catalog.

"'All Night Long' happened to be one of the songs on there that we liked," Gentry said. "We told him it would be really cool to get his dad in here to sing. He made a phone call and his dad called back in about 20-30 minutes and said he’d love to do a song with us. He loved our style." Daniels ended up emceeing another Montgomery Gentry showcase and eventually invited them to participate in his Volunteer Jam.

"He’s a great guy, a great mentor," Montgomery said. "I’d tell any new artist that just came to town to go watch a Charlie Daniels show. He hasn’t been around 20 years for nothing."

The Stage Show

Long before Garth Brooks made "entertainment" a rallying cry in country music, many, if not most, southern rock groups, most notably Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers built their reputation as live acts or performance bands. Montgomery Gentry is following suit with their own brand of high-octane, hard-edged country.

Attending a Montgomery Gentry concert is like jumping on a runaway train, if you aren't wanting to go where they’re going, you’d better jump off fast. The performers take you to a place where microphone stands are air-borne props, brewed beverages are the drinks of choice (often offered up in homage by concert-goers) and "heck" and "darn" and other euphemisms are banished to the sidelines. Hell, they’re having such a damn fine time up there you might as well too.

It doesn’t take long to find out that not only can these guys entertain, they can SING. BOTH of them. The voices are deep and strong, tempered by hard knocks, yet sweetened by life's pleasures. Either Montgomery or Gentry can take the lead vocals, first soloing, then backing off and joining with the other in pure, clean harmony.

At recent shows, the performances included covers and original CD cuts reflecting the varied styles that make up Montgomery Gentry music. On the southern rock side was the Allman Brothers’ "Ramblin Man" and Charlie Daniels’ "All Night Long." A true outlaw was introduced with a presentation of David Allan Coe’s "The Ride." Pure honky-tonk country was showcased in Merle Haggard 's "What Am I Gonna Do With the Rest of My Life" and a top-notch, foot-tapping album cut, "I’ve Loved a Lot More Than I’ve Hurt." Montgomery Gentry offered poignant renditions of tear-jerkers like" Lonely and Gone," and the highly emotional "Tattoos and Scars," and kept it up-tempo with "Didn't your Mama Tell You" and "Daddy Won't Sell the Farm." They closed with an incendiary, stage-melting rendition of "Hillbilly Shoes."

A little advice -- for a good part of the show you'll be hammered by a pulsing beat that leaves you exhausted yet wanting more. Use the slower numbers to catch a breath!

In It For The Long Run

"There’s a spot for us right now," Montgomery said, "That’s the great thing about country music -- it’s so wide open. People can come in with their own style and find their niche and if people are wanting to hear it, there’ll be a place for it. One of our main goals, after everything is said and done in 20 years, is to walk into a honky-tonk somewhere and see a bunch of people on stage having a ball covering one of our songs."

"We definitely don’t want to have two or three big hits and then be gone," Gentry said. "This is all we’ve done since high school. This is the only thing I know how to do. I’m in it for the long haul. We’re going to ride this horse until she falls over and when she does, we’re going to find another one to ride."

"Everybody thinks we’re on tour," a smiling Montgomery added. "Actually we’ve just got the tour bus and we’re just going around the country and if we see an empty stage we just get on it."

Admit it, Waylon, Willie, Charlie, Bocephus and all you others who’ve been marginalized by the pop-flavored tunes coming out of Nashville. Somewhere out there -- you’re smiling. Maybe the next laugh is yours.

Later Interview With Montgomery Gentry
Fan Club Party - International Country Music Fan Fair, Nashville

Mountain West Music 2002