Montgomery Gentry Looks To Build

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.

Aug. 20, 2009 — Earlier this year, Montgomery Gentry marked the 10th anniversary of its first album, and the duo has ramped things up during the summer by joining the Grand Ole Opry and by playing stadium dates on Kenny Chesney’s Sun City Carnival Tour.

Admittedly, they’ve not been big winners on the awards circuit — usually blocked in the Vocal Duo categories by Brooks & Dunn or Sugarland. Nevertheless, Troy Gentry and Eddie Montgomery finish their first decade in the limelight with a solid string of hits behind them, and they’re convinced that an even bigger presence is still within their grasp.

"You look at like Toby Keith and Kenny Chesney," Troy told The Weekender in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. "It took them 10 years before they got to the headlining status and they got to be the big names that they are today. So if that’s the case, Eddie and I, next year hopefully we’ll be there."

To be sure, things are pretty good as they are. The duo has five gold albums to its credit, and three of those have gone platinum. Their current CD, Back When I Knew It All, brought them back-to-back No. 1 singles for the first time in their career, and they’ve collected a trophy each from the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association.

"Eddie and I have no problems with where we’re at now," Troy said. "Would we have liked to have been bigger than we are now? Of course, as anybody would be, but the one thing that Eddie and I can say is being out here for nine years, we do have a career, that we’re a mainstay. We’ll be able to play, and we’re going to be around for longevity."

The duo is around Saturday at another of Kenny’s stadium shows. Booked at Detroit’s Ford Field, it also features Sugarland, Miranda Lambert and Lady Antebellum.