Montgomery Gentry has moved into elite territory. The high-powered duo is an integral part of a generation of rockers and country icons for whom music and boundaries simply don't mix. In 2004, the signs were everywhere. Troy and Eddie were part of the groundbreaking CMT Outlaws special, along with Hank Williams Jr., Kid Rock, Gretchen Wilson, Big & Rich, Tanya Tucker, Jessi Colter, Shooter Jennings, and members of Metallica and Lynyrd Skynyrd. They joined Skynyrd for a roof-shaking segment of CMT Crossroads, and spent New Year's Eve rocking a sold-out Rupp Arena with the legendary group.
In the media, they have been featured on a wide array of TV's best showcases, from the CBS Early Show and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to ESPN2 Cold Pizza, Jimmy Kimmel Live and On Air With Ryan Seacrest. On record, the signs were just as unmistakable. The duo hit #1 with "If You Ever Stop Loving Me," and the CD it came from, You Do Your Thing, quickly went gold.
Through it all, Eddie and Troy have proven themselves heirs to the mantle of Haggard, Jones, Jennings and Cash, artists whose integrity and intensity blurred the lines between life and music. With You Do Your Thing, Montgomery Gentry sing songs that strip life to the marrow, that make passion and loss, pride and heartache into palpable entities. They are singers at the peak of their form, making music that is as raw and powerful as it is compelling.
"If this new album was part of NASCAR, it would definitely have a #3 on it, 'cause its running wide open," laughs Montgomery, and the analogy is fitting. Theirs is a world where muscle cars, honky-tonks and hell-raising are the hard-earned rewards for the toil and struggle that make up the working-class landscape. It is a world they know well.
"We still look at life the same way we did when we were working two jobs and playing music at night in the clubs to make ends meet," says Gentry. "I don't think we've changed."
The upshot is that they maintain a seamless connection with their legions of fans, voicing their triumphs and frustrations, sharing their love of family, community and country, spending time with them after concerts on their "honky-tonk on wheels." It is a camaraderie that grows out of their fans' perceptions that these are not guys chasing trends or singing songs that are more craft than substance, but two men who sing the truth and let the chips fall where they may.
On You Do Your Thing, that truth includes straight-up heartache in "Gone" and "All I Know About Mexico," the redemptive power of love in "If You Ever Stop Loving Me" and "Talking To My Angel," pride and tradition in "Something To Be Proud Of," and pull-out-the-stops escapism in "I Got Drunk."
For You Do Your Thing, Montgomery Gentry expanded their growing relationship with two of modern country's songwriting titans, Jeffrey Steele ("Hell Yeah," "My Town") and Rivers Rutherford ("Real Good Man," "If You Ever Stop Loving Me"), who wrote and produced several of the CD's tracks.
"Once you get to click with somebody," says Montgomery of the pair, "it just works. You hang out and you pick up each other's vibes and get in a zone. We consider ourselves fortunate because these are two unbelievable writers."
In addition, they worked with producers Joe Scaiffe, who produced Montgomery Gentry's Carrying On and Blake Chancey, noted for his work with the Dixie Chicks and for his production of Montgomery Gentry's My Town. Executive producer was Mark Wright, the man behind some of Nashville's rootsiest music over the past two decades. The extensive collaboration gives the project a sense of community that hearkens back to an earlier time.
"If you go back and look," says Montgomery, "you had Waylon and Willie, Johnny, Kris Kristofferson, all these guys hanging out. They played music in barrooms, they'd sit around in a living room and pick all the time. There was no 'You've gotta be a certain way or play with this group or do this or that.' We're the same way."