Montgomery Gentry celebrates their induction into the Grand Ole Opry on June 23, 2009. (l-r) Pete Fisher, VP and GM Grand Ole Opry, Little Jimmy Dickens, Marty Stuart, Eddie Montgomery, Troy Gentry. Photo courtesy of the Grand Ole Opry.
June 24, 2009 — Celebrating 10 years since first appearing on the national charts, Montgomery Gentry joined the Grand Ole Opry Tuesday night with what's likely the edgiest sound to ever commemorate a membership ceremony in the radio show's 83 years.
Immediately after joining the hallowed cast, Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry launched into "Hillbilly Shoes," their initial 1999 hit, with buzzing power chords and a blistering guitar riff, adding second-generation Southern rock to the wide musical net that represents the Opry. Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives bolstered the sound, which included six electric and acoustic guitars as well as a steel, the kind of power more associated with arena rockers such as Lynyrd Skynyrd than with Opry stalwarts such as Jim Ed Brown or Jeannie Seely.
Every generation of country folds in outside influences, and Montgomery Gentry has — as overtly as any act in the genre — managed to blend the sound and fury of the duo's teen years with the classic honky-tonk music that fellow Opry member Alan Jackson continues to ply. The duo was aware of the change it stood for, particularly since Troy spent part of Tuesday afternoon boning up on his Opry history on his laptop.
"It wasn't 'til the '80s where the big transition of music between the traditional country music and the new wave of what was coming to town, it started to swing through the Opry," Troy told reporters before their induction took place. "I think we're part of that transition. One of the things I love about the Opry is the tradition of the Opry and the traditional music and the way it's embracing the new curve, and I think the way music is going these days, it's going to continue to curve, and that's the great thing about the Opry, that it has no boundaries. It keeps embracing what's coming ahead, and I hope that [just] as we look back on the people that influenced us as part of the Opry, that we will be a part of the group of that decade that future country artists will look back and embrace as well."
The scope of the Opry was well-represented during their induction show. Marty threaded rockabilly into "Hillbilly Rock" and pure honky-tonk into "The Whiskey Ain't Workin'." The Del McCoury Band offered a handful of bluegrass songs, and Jimmy C. Newman threw some Cajun into the mix. Perhaps telling even more about the Opry's embrace of non-country sounds, Jimmy C. delivered his 1957 hit "A Fallen Star," marked by the piano triplets that marked the doo-wop of that era.
Marty and Little Jimmy Dickens jointly inducted the duo, stamping their approval on Troy and Eddie. Marty — whose music is steeped in country, rock, gospel and the blues — is the ultimate Opry genre-buster. Little Jimmy, at age 88, is the only remaining Opry star whose membership extends to the era in which Hank Williams was a member.
"I know these two men here on stage and off stage," Little Jimmy told the Opry House audience. "I find them to be gentlemen in every respect."
"Welcome," he told the duo, "to our family of entertainers. We're delighted to have you."
Montgomery Gentry received a 14-inch trophy that replicates a microphone from WSM Radio, which has broadcast the show since its inception in 1925. The duo and the presenters — including Opry General Manager Pete Fisher — fanned around a circle of wood in the stage taken from the Ryman Auditorium, a section of flooring on which the likes of Roy Acuff, Minnie Pearl, Hank and Patsy Cline stood long ago.
"Your legacy stands right here," Marty said. "This is a big part of Montgomery Gentry's legacy. This is the ultimat e fraternity to be part of, and the closer you get to the heart, soul and spirit of country music in this circle, it is the Mother Church of Country Music."
Marty ticked off the names of other Kentucky-bred performers who've preceded the duo in the Opry: Loretta Lynn, Patty Loveless, Bill Monroe, John Conlee, comedian Stringbean, Skeeter Davis, Grandpa Jones.
"The legacy is mighty," Marty told them, "and you guys have that same legacy."
Montgomery Gentry might be doing the music a little differently than their stylistic ancestors, but they had the same sense of pride in their induction. Eddie wiped back tears as he recalled sitting in "an old junky station wagon" with his father, listening to the Opry on a static-riddled AM radio. His dad told him that no matter what a person accomplished in country music, they hadn't really made it until they became an Opry member.
"My daddy loved what it stood for and what it's about," Eddie said. Then he looked toward the ceiling and clutched the Opry trophy even tighter. "Oh, my gosh. Dad, we made it!"
Toby Keith Sets First Euro Dates
Toby Keith photo courtesy of Show Dog Nashville.
June 24, 2009 — In the aftermath of his recent return from a USO tour in the Middle East, Toby Keith plans to head back overseas in November for his first public tour of Europe.
The schedule kicks off with a Nov. 9 date in Glasgow, Scotland, as he winds his way through the United Kingdom and Ireland before moving on to five dates in Scandinavia, closing with a Nov. 22 show in Bergen, Norway. That would give him four days to make it back to the U.S. in time to celebrate the very-American Thanksgiving holiday.
Toby becomes just the latest in a string of artists who've taken their show overseas this year. Sugarland, Tracy Byrd and Pam Tillis have found their way to Europe, while Alan Jackson is set to tour Scandinavia in August. Dierks Bentley, Deana Carter, Joe Nichols, Taylor Swift and Brooks & Dunn have all played Australia thus far.
Back in the U.S.S.A., Toby and Trace Adkins are in the middle of America's Toughest Tour, tho ugh it's been left up to the imagination to decide whether Toby or Trace is the toughest of the two.
"My toughness has been documented — I've got the scars and surgeries to prove it!" Trace told Dial-Global. "We come from that same cut of cloth, you know. We both came out of the oil field, that whole mentality — to both of our detriments at times. But I don't know. I wouldn't want to find out which one of us was the toughest, and I hope he don't either!"
The tour is concentrated in Florida this coming weekend with dates in Tampa, West Palm Beach and Jacksonville.
Dates for Toby's Euro trek include:
• Nov. 9 Glasgow, Scotland
• Nov. 10 London, England
• Nov. 12 Dublin, Ireland
• Nov. 13 Belfast, Northern Ireland
• Nov. 15 Copenhagen, Denmark
• Nov. 16 Stockholm, Sweden
• Nov. 18 Helsinki, Finland
• Nov. 21 Oslo, Norway
• Nov. 22 Bergen, Norway
• Nov. 10 London, England
• Nov. 12 Dublin, Ireland
• Nov. 13 Belfast, Northern Ireland
• Nov. 15 Copenhagen, Denmark
• Nov. 16 Stockholm, Sweden
• Nov. 18 Helsinki, Finland
• Nov. 21 Oslo, Norway
• Nov. 22 Bergen, Norway
Willie Nelson, Peace-ful Maverick
Willie Nelson photo by Paul Natkin.
June 24, 2009 — Willie Nelson was honored last weekend with the Maverick Award during the 10th annual Maui Film Festival the same day that the movie One Peace At A Time made its world premiere.
Directed by Turk Pipkin, who co-authored the book The Tao Of Willie, the picture takes a look at many of the issues that face the globe and offers solutions. The movie, in which Willie makes an appearance, took two years to make as Turk visited five of the seven continents in an effort to search for answers to one pointed question: "Can we provide basic rights — water, nutrition, education, healthcare and a sustainable and peaceful environment — to every child on earth?"
"Right and wrong is not that hard," Willie says in materials about the movie on the website for the Willie Nelson Peace Research Institute. "It's just what you choose to do."
Willie, who co-wrote a song with Mariah Carey for the recently released movie Tennessee, has been doggedly involved in efforts involving peace and the environment for some time. He authored the song "Whatever Happened To Peace On Earth?" on Christmas 2003, founded his own brand of bio-diesel fuel and performed at the Nobel Peace Prize concert in Oslo, Norway, in 2002.
"Johnny Cash" Paid Tribute Once More
Country legend Johnny Cash
June 24, 2009 — When Johnny Cash died in September 2003, the loss was followed by a wave of commercial efforts — many of which had already been in the works — that included several books about the Man In Black, new albums and the movie Walk The Line. Not to mention such recordings as Jason Aldean's "Johnny Cash," Heidi Newfield's "Johnny And June" and the George Strait/Patty Loveless duet "House Of Cash."
The latest tribute comes with "Johnny Cash Is Dead (And His House Burned Down)," a searing, rockabilly groove written by his longtime friend Larry Gatlin. Released to radio Tuesday, the song infuses new lyrics with the melody from Johnny Cash's "Big River" to document some of the well-defined artists who helped to build country's foundation: Cash, Waylon Jennings, Patsy Cline, Chet Atkins and Marty Robbins.
"I got nothin' against the young country stars," Larry sings. "But I could use more fiddle and steel guitars."
"There are few who could sing these words and get away with it," writes John Carter Cash, the son of Johnny and June Carter. "It is not a song about a man dying and a house burning. It is about a time passing, a certain quality of artist and entertainer just not being there. It reminds me that though there are many inspired and dedicated artists alive today, there will never be another Johnny Cash, another Roy Orbison or another Waylon Jennings."
Larry is uniquely able to write about Johnny in such a manner and still be appropriate. When he first moved from Texas to Nashville in the early-1970s, Larry was literally fired from a job as a janitor at a TV station on a Friday, sang a song called "Help Me" on Sunday at church, then was asked by Johnny — who happened to be in the pews — to come by the studio the next day so he could record it. They were important steps for Larry, who notched the first of 17 Top 10 hits three years later and remained a friend of the Cashes for life.
Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers Band, including Steve and Rudy Gatlin, went into semi-retirement for 17 years, but now plan to include "Johnny Cash Is Dead" when they release a new album, The Pilgrimage, this fall. There's a full-circle element to it.
"My first album was The Pilgrim, and Johnny Cash wrote the liner notes for it," Larry told The Las Vegas Sun. "His son, John Cash, wrote the liner notes for this one."
Look for the Gatlins Saturday on the FOX-TV show "Huckabee."
The Obama White House Goes Country
Martina Mcbride photo by Kristin Barlowe, courtesy of RCA Nashville.
June 24, 2009 — Washington will get a dose of Nashville next month when President Barack Obama hosts a country show.
Earlier this week, trumpet player Wynton Marsalis performed jazz at the White House. And the president also hosted an R&B show with Earth, Wind & Fire. He may not be as big a country fan as his predecessor, but Barack and Michelle Obama still have an appreciation for the genre.
"They like all kinds of music," the administration's social secretary, Desiree Rogers, told The New York Daily News.
The country event is slated for July 21, though it's unclear how many artists might perform. It's part of Obama's mission to embrace the whole of American culture.
"The President wants the White House to be a stage," Desiree said. "We want Americans feeling they're part of the house."
Country stars have already interacted with the Obama administration on several oc casions. Garth Brooks and Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles took part in an inaugural event on the steps of the Lincoln Monument. Faith Hill, Tim McGraw and Billy Ray and Miley Cyrus were among the artists who appeared at other inaugural festivities; Martina McBride performed at the White House during a Stevie Wonder concert that aired on PBS; and Mark Wills joined kids from the Children's Miracle Network when they met the prez.
When next month's event takes place, it will merely add to a very long history that country music has enjoyed at the White House. Just a few of the highlights from that history:
• Rodney Atkins sang "If You're Going Through Hell (Before The Devil Even Knows)" for George W. Bush during National Adoption Month.
• Kenny Chesney sang the national anthem for a tee ball game on the White House lawn last July.
• Dolly Parton received the National Medal of Arts from W.
• Twelve-year-old Billy Gilman met President Bill Clinton at the White House after performing at a concert that became the PBS special "Christmas In Washington."
• Jimmy Buffett sang for Clinton on his birthday.
• Lee Greenwood joined President George H.W. Bush at a barbecue on the White House lawn.
• Eddie Rabbitt performed at the White House Easter egg hunt during Ronald Reagan's eight-year residence.
• Willie Nelson smoked marijuana on the White House ro of in a visit during Jimmy Carter's administration.
• Tammy Wynette sang "Stand By Your Man" for President Gerald Ford just weeks after the nation's Bicentennial.
• Johnny Cash refused President Richard Nixon's request to do Merle Haggard's "Okie From Muskogee." He did deliver an unrequested anti-Vietnam War song, "What Is Truth."
• Eddy Arnold got stuck in the elevator when President Lyndon Johnson's wife requested that he attend a White House dinner.
• The Coon Creek Girls became the first country act to play at the First Family's home, in 1939 when Franklin D. Roosevelt lived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
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