Duo helped put rock in country

Gentry got into trouble
during a bear hunting trip
in Minnesota.

By JOHN BENSON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

There’s currently a rocking trend in country music that Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry, better known as Montgomery Gentry, are not shy about taking some credit for starting.

“I think we opened up a lot of different avenues,” said Gentry, calling from Eau Claire, Wis. “Fortunately for us, when ‘Hillbilly Shoes’ came out in 1999, radio embraced us. There are quotes that refer to us as a breath of fresh air, something that had been missing from the format, so I think it opened up the avenues to let the Big & Richs and the Gretchen Wilsons and that style of stuff, saying it’s OK to do.”

For nearly a decade, things have definitely been OK for Montgomery Gentry, which has plenty of hit singles — “Lonely And Gone,” “Daddy Won't Sell The Farm,” “She Couldn't Change Me,” “My Town,” “Gone” “If You Ever Stop Loving Me,” “Lucky Man” and more — to its credit.

However, the outfit’s latest effort, “Some People Change,” marked somewhat of a departure from the group’s raucous, twin-guitar onslaught past. 

“I think it’s just part of the growing aspect of Montgomery Gentry,” Gentry said. “‘Some People Change’ album is more of a perspective from Eddie and I of our family values and the religious and political beliefs and stuff like that. This album I think is a more mature version of what we’ve done in the past and more from the heart.

“The album is just talking about the ups and downs of life. With enough faith and support, people can overcome change.”

Hunting violation

Support is something Gentry knows about firsthand considering his recent legal troubles, which stemmed from a bear hunting trip to Minnesota. Charged with canned hunting for buying a bear and killing it on private property, at which time the animal was tagged as having been hunted in the wild, the 40-year-old Nashville resident pleaded guilty last fall to falsely registering a captive bear as killed in the wild.

“It was just one of those things, wrong place at the wrong time,” Gentry said. “Unfortunately for me, it’s one of those deals of having a little celebrity to yourself and people prey on that. It’s obvious you turn the news on every day, the Paris Hiltons and Kobe Bryants, it doesn’t matter. People like to suck on to that and people just eat it up.

“As far as my hunting ethics, I try to do everything by the law and by the book and unfortunately through some bad information that was given to me by my guide, I ended up getting in a bunch of trouble for it. I’m not an outlaw in the hunting community and didn’t want to be perceived that way.”

Suffice it to say, Gentry is happy the entire experience is behind him. He even hints a new Montgomery Gentry album is in the works with an early 2008 release date. The Kentucky native said he thinks the new album will find the duo harkening back to its roots with more of the southern rock vibe.

For now it’s back to work, which means touring, touring, touring. This includes a Country Jam performance Saturday at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds.