Interview with Eddie Montgomery

Taken from Urban Country Blog :

Not long before the celebration began at the long-awaited reopening of the Grand Ole Opry on September 28th, Eddie Montgomery (half of the country superstar duo, Montgomery Gentry), took a break from his busy schedule to talk with us. Down to earth, true to his roots, passionate about his music, life and family, Eddie shares what is most important to him. This is a man who loves his country and together with Troy Gentry, Jim Beam and Operation Homefront, Montgomery Gentry is out front and center raising money and bringing awareness to the needs of the American servicemen and women and their families. At a benefit concert on October 2nd, in San Antonio, Montgomery Gentry, on behalf of Jim Beam, will give a $50,000 check to Operation Homefront. Also, a portion of the proceeds from the concert will be donated as well.


UCB: Hi Eddie, how are you doing today?



EM: Oh, I'm doing fine; just getting ready for the Opry tonight. I'm telling ya, we are really, really excited! We went in and went over sound check and were looking around at everything, and I got lost! It's so changed, so different. I tell ya, it has come back even bigger and better. It's great!




UCB: Thank you for taking the time to talk with us today. We are very excited.




EM: Thank you for having us.




UCB: Montgomery Gentry has had quite a ride over the past 11 years, with touring, 6 studio albums, 5 #1 Singles, multiple awards and nominations (including the Home Depot Humanitarian Award) and, of course, the induction last year into the Opry. It's obvious you have hit it big time and have staying power. Given all of that, where do you go from here and what is down the road?




EM: You know, we just want to keep making music, the music that everybody comes to the honky tonks to hear ... the working class people that come in to see us play and want us to sing songs to help them feel better about something that's happened. Well, the best way to put it is: We are gonna keep singing about the good, the bad, the ugly and the party on the weekends!




UCB: What inspires you to keep on doing what you do?




EM: For me, I think it is just everybody coming out. Meeting everybody, the people that come in every day and the friendships we have known from the past and the new ones made every day. It just keeping you rocking every day.




UCB: When can your fans look forward to some new music?




EM: We are working on that right now. We've left Columbia Sony after 13 years. We're wanting a new adventure to keep rocking and keep going and kind of get back and do something similar to our first album, "Tattoos and Scars"; do a little bit of "in your face" and stuff like that.




UCB: Do you have a time frame for that music and will it be a whole new album?




EM: We're going into the studio and of course we're always hunting for the hit songs. We are looking every day and looking under every rock. There's no telling where you will find a hit song.




UCB: You do some writing as well, don't you?





EM: Yes, I do. I tell you what, any time you can sit down with a writer ... to me, I'm just a fan and I'm just a learner and to be around some of the great, great songwriters of the times, legendary songwriters ... I'm just trying to pick it up. It's just unbelievable.





UCB: Let's talk about the upcoming benefit concert this weekend in San Antonio, Texas. You guys are teamed up with Jim Beam to raise money and awareness for the military-based charity, Operation Homefront, which helps American servicemen and women and their families.




EM: The funds that we are going to give, a $50,000 check on behalf of Jim Beam, will be used to support our nation's service members and their families. That's what it is all about. That's what makes this country the greatest country in the world.




UCB: For people that can't be at the concert this weekend, what can they do to help and where can we direct them to offer their services to help with this charity?




EM: They can go to the Jim Beam website or the Operation Homefront site and it should lead you right to it. We can't thank all of our servicemen and women enough, from the bottom of our hearts, because they let us live our American dream every day.




UCB: What was it about this particular organization that caught your attention and how did you first get connected with Operation Homefront?




EM: Personally, I think we take our freedom for granted. I don't think we let our American heroes, past and present, and overseas ... I don't think we say "thank you" enough. I don't think we do enough for them. I think we ought to go out of our way to try to show them how much we do care about them and what we do think about them. To me, they are the most underpaid Americans that are on our soil.




UCB: Do you have any family members or friends in the military?




EM: I'm actually named after my great uncle (Claude Edward) who was a 5th Marine and was killed in Iwo Jima. My dad and I are both named after him. Everybody in our family, except for me and my brother (we're honky tonk musicians) and my dad ... everyone else has been in the military. We need to let more people know about it. I think a lot of times, they (servicemen and women) don't ask for anything, they just go and do their job. I think that as Americans, we need to let other Americans know how much they do.




UCB: In 2006, Montgomery Gentry went on a USO Tour....




EM: We are actually planning another one! We had one planned before, but Troy lost his mother the day before we were getting ready to leave. But (the 2006 USO tour) it was totally awesome. I encourage anybody who gets the chance to go over and do something for our heroes, go do it. It changed my life, totally. Troy and I grew up in nightclubs, and always singing about all of our American heroes - because my mom and dad were honky tonk musicians and I was a little kid and being in the nightclubs (my dad played VFW's) and I'd see these guys come in from the military and at the time, I didn't understand it and didn't know it. But as I got older, then I realized how much they do for us.




UCB: Can you tell us about the upcoming USO Tour?




EM: We're in the process of working on it right now. As far as when and where, they won't let us say anything about it. But we are working on that as we talk. Actually, we are trying to put a whole world tour together. It's a blast because it's unbelievable when you go see all of our heroes and they come up and tell you how much it means to them and you're thinking, "Man, it's changing my life!" It's humbling.




UCB: Congratulations on the opening of your new restaurant, Eddie's Montgomery's Steak House, in your hometown. How is that going?




EM: It's been unbelievable. I was born and raised in bars and I grew up in my community and I still live in Kentucky, actually. My dad always said that as you can grow up, if you can do anything, help your community. So that's what we tried to do, that's what I've always wanted to do, help my community, and be a better person.




UCB: Is there anything you haven't done, that you'd like to do?



EM: I love living life every day! The way I look at it is - if God lets me live another day, it's a great day.




UCB: Is there a particular legacy that you'd like to leave behind, either personally or professionally?



EM: I definitely want to try to be a great dad, to make sure that I've done right by my kids and when I leave this world I want everybody to know that I loved living life every day. Life is very short and I wanted to live it. And I want to teach them to go after their dreams.




UCB: Thank you for bringing attention to the needs of the military men and women and their families and letting us know about your partnership with Jim Beam for the Operation Homefront benefit concert.




EM: You don't have to thank me, it's all about them. That's our main priority. We just want to make sure that they know that we love them to death.




UCB: Have a great time tonight at the Opry and happy birthday to you on Thursday! From all of us at Urban Country Blog, we want to thank you for taking the time to talk with us today.



EM: Thank you for having us!


Through the Jim Beam website, you can find the Gratitude Campaign and learn how to say thank you in American Sign Language [here].