Gene Watson’s Peers within the country music industry believe in the sheer talent of this unassuming man from east Texas, so much so that Gene is regarded by many of them as ‘the singer’s singer’ – and rightly so!
All of Gene Watson’s Peers, who were contacted by The Gene Watson Fan Site, during 2006, were most gracious with their time and words.
It is here, within this special part of The Gene Watson Fan Site, that you have an opportunity to read a quote from Kevin Montgomery, which he submitted to this site on Tuesday 29 August 2006.
Sean Brady would like to take this opportunity to say ‘thank you’ to Kevin Montgomery who has made a special contribution to a unique part of this online ‘celebration of a Lone Star Hero’.
Kevin Montgomery
This quote was submitted on Tuesday 29 August 2006.
‘Gene Watson is one of the true greats of country music.
And he is still rockin’!’
Thank you, Kevin Montgomery, for your support of Gene Watson.
About Kevin Montgomery…
Kevin Montgomery was born on Friday 21 June 1968 in Nashville and is a singer-songwriter who is renowned for his high lonesome voice and heartfelt lyrics.
Kevin Montgomery was born to parents Bob Montgomery (Wednesday 12 May 1937 – Thursday 4 December 2014), who was a song-writing partner and best friend of Buddy Holly (Monday 7 September 1936 – Tuesday 3 February 1959), performing together as the duo ‘Buddy & Bob’ while teenagers in high school, and Carol Montgomery, who was a session singer for a number of artists, including Elvis Presley (Tuesday 8 January 1935 – Tuesday 16 August 1977) and Bob Dylan.
Kevin Montgomery’s recording career began with the release, on Tuesday 5 October 1993, of his debut album, ‘Fear Nothing’ (A&M Records, 1993), which included the following tracks:
‘Red-Blooded American Boy’ (written by Larry Gottlieb and Kevin Montgomery)
‘Everybody’s Girl’ (written by Larry Gottlieb and Kevin Montgomery)
‘Code of Honor’ (written by Larry Gottlieb, Stan Lynch and Kevin Montgomery)
‘I Won’t Close My Eyes’ (written by Larry Gottlieb and Kevin Montgomery)
‘Which Way is it Gonna Be’ (written by Larry Gottlieb and Kevin Montgomery)
‘I Want You’ (written by Larry Gottlieb and Kevin Montgomery)
‘Fear Nothing’ (written by Larry Gottlieb and Kevin Montgomery)
‘Josie’s Getting Stronger’ (written by Kevin Montgomery)
‘Softer Years’ (written by Larry Gottlieb and Kevin Montgomery)
‘Don’t Make Me Hate the Things I Love’ (written by Larry Gottlieb and Kevin Montgomery)
In February 1996, MCA Records released ‘Not Fade Away (Remembering Buddy Holly)’ (MCA Records, 1996), a tribute album to Buddy Holly (Monday 7 September 1936 – Tuesday 3 February 1959), which reached No.19 on the Billboard Top Country Albums Chart in 1996.
One of the included tracks was ‘Wishing’, which was written by Buddy Holly (Monday 7 September 1936 – Tuesday 3 February 1959), Norman Petty (Wednesday 25 May 1927 – Wednesday 15 August 1984), Bill Tilghman and Sonny West, and featured vocals from Kevin Montgomery and Mary Chapin Carpenter.
It was also in 1996 when Kevin Montgomery toured the United States with artists including Sheryl Crow and David Crosby.
Building his profile as a songwriter, Kevin Montgomery’s ‘I Won’t Close My Eyes’ (co-written with Larry B. Gottlieb) was recorded by Martina McBride, who included the track on her double platinum selling album, ‘Evolution’ (RCA Records, 1997).
Juice Newton recorded Kevin Montgomery’s ‘Red Blooded American Boy’ (changing the gender reference to ‘girl’) and included the track on ‘American Girl’ (Renaissance Records, 1999).
On Tuesday 23 May 2000, Lee Ann Womack saw the release of ‘I Hope You Dance’ (MCA Records, 2000); one of the included tracks was ‘I Know Why The River Runs’ (written by Julie Miller), which featured background vocals from Kevin Montgomery.
It was also in 2000 when Kevin Montgomery recorded ‘Another Long Story’ (Road Trip Records, 2000), which was released on his own independent record label, Road Trip Records, with production credits including Frank Liddell and Dusty Wakeman and musicians including Matt Rollings and Doug Pettibone.
Kevin Montgomery’s ‘Another Long Story’ (Road Trip Records, 2000), which was released by Syren Records on Tuesday 26 August 2003, included the following tracks:
‘Another Long Story’ (written by Kevin Montgomery)
‘Let’s All Go to California’ (written by Jeff Finlin and Kevin Montgomery) / the video for this track was featured, in the United Kingdom, on BBC television’s ‘Top of The Pops 2’ and on many worldwide radio stations and video channels, as was the title track
‘Visions of White’ (written by Kevin Montgomery)
‘I Wish I Were Blind’ (written by Bruce Springsteen)
‘Lookin’ Out for No.1′ (written by Kevin Montgomery and Rick Neigher)
‘Angel Tonight’ (written by Jeff Finlin and Kevin Montgomery)
‘Stumbled’ (written by Kevin Montgomery)
‘Your Kind of Love’ (written by Kevin Montgomery)
‘Broken’ (written by Kevin Montgomery, Matt Rollings and Anna Wilson)
‘At Our Best’ (written by Kevin Montgomery and Rick Neigher)
‘Another Long Story’ (written by Kevin Montgomery)
In September 2001, Kevin Montgomery saw the release of ‘Kevin Montgomery Live’ (Road Trip Records, 2001), a ‘live’ acoustic album featuring Robert Reynolds from The Mavericks and Trish Murphy on harmonies, which was recorded at Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe.
Kevin Montgomery’s ‘Kevin Montgomery Live’ (Road Trip Records, 2001) included the following tracks:
‘Another Long Story’
‘Your Kind of Love’
‘Wishing’
‘I Don’t Even Know Your Name’
‘Stumbled’
‘Visions of White’
‘At Our Best’
‘I Can’t Drive You from My Mind’
‘I Wish I Were Blind’
‘Fear Nothing’
‘The Cajun Song’
‘Red-Blooded American Boy’
‘Tennessee Girl’
Touring in the United Kingdom extensively, with both a full band line-up, including musicians Robert Reynolds, Paul Deakin and Mike McAdam, and also acoustically with another band member, Grammy Award-winner Al Perkins, led to the release of ‘Bootleg’ (Road Trip Records, 2002) in December 2002, which was recorded ‘live’ at London’s 12 Bar Club on Tuesday 4 September 2001.
The album, which was a collaboration between Kevin Montgomery and Al Perkins, featuring Al Perkins’ tremendous Dobro work, included the following tracks:
‘Another Long Story’
‘Red-Blooded American Boy’
‘I Don’t Even Know Your Name’
‘Lookin’ Out For No.1’
‘At Our Best’
‘Tennessee Girl’
‘I Can’t Drive You From My Mind’
‘Let’s All Go To California’
‘I Won’t Close My Eyes’
‘I Wish I Were Blind’
‘Fear Nothing’
‘Melrose’
Building on the success of his touring, which was by now worldwide, 2004 brought the release of Kevin Montgomery’s third studio album; ‘2:30am’ (Syren Records, 2004) featured both Lee Ann Womack and Trisha Yearwood on harmony vocals and included Kevin Montgomery’s touring band with added musicians Chad Cromwell, Glenn Worf, Bob Britt, Matt Rollings, Chris Carmichael and Jerry Dale McFadden.
Kevin Montgomery’s ‘2:30am’ (Syren Records, 2004), which was released on Tuesday 27 July 2004, included the following tracks:
‘Tennessee Girl’ (written by Kevin Montgomery) / this track, which featured guest vocals from Trisha Yearwood, was included on BBC television’s coverage, in the United Kingdom, of the Country Music Association (CMA) Awards Show; the video for the song was also shown on a number of video channels, including Great American Country (GAC) in the United States and CMC in Australia
‘Cherokee City’ (written by Kevin Montgomery and Robert Reynolds)
‘Red-Blooded American Boy’ (written by Larry Gottlieb and Kevin Montgomery)
‘I Can’t Drive You from My Mind’ (written by Kevin Montgomery and Jon Randall)
‘Melrose’ (written by Larry Gottlieb and Kevin Montgomery)
‘She Don’t Wake Me Up’ (written by Larry Gottlieb and Kevin Montgomery)
‘Wreckless’ (written by Marc Jordan and Kevin Montgomery)
‘Way Back When’ (written by Marc Jordan and Kevin Montgomery)
‘Thank You Very Much’ (written by Larry Gottlieb and Kevin Montgomery)
‘Bella Bina’ (written by Kevin Montgomery)
‘No Surrender’ (written by Bruce Springsteen)
‘I Want You’ (written by Larry Gottlieb and Kevin Montgomery)
‘Fear Nothing’ (written by Larry Gottlieb and Kevin Montgomery)
Still touring successfully to larger audiences each year, January 2005 saw the release of Kevin Montgomery & The Road Trippers’ ‘Live From Glasgow!’ (Road Trip Records, 2005), an album which captured the essence of the ‘live’ full band show sound in Glasgow’s famous King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, with The Road Trippers, including Johnny Mackinnon on keyboards.
Kevin Montgomery & The Road Trippers’ ‘Live From Glasgow!’ (Road Trip Records, 2005) included the following tracks:
‘Cherokee City’
‘Another Long Story’
‘Let’s All Go to California’
‘Tennessee Girl’
‘I Don’t Even Know Her Name’
‘I Wish I Were Blind’
‘Angel Tonight’
‘Broken’
‘Flower of My Heart’
‘Cajun Song’
‘Melrose’
‘Crossroads’ / this track featured Al Perkins
‘Ooh Las Vegas’
‘Fear Nothing’
Kevin Montgomery & The Road Trippers’ ‘Live From Glasgow!’ (Road Trip Records, 2005) featured Al Perkins, Robert Reynolds, Paul Deakin and Mike McAdam, with guest appearances by Johnny MacKinnon and Carter Wood.
In 2008, Kevin Montgomery saw the release of ‘True’ (Road Trip Records, 2008), which featured Paul Griffith on drums, Shawn Byrne on guitar and Danny White on bass. Recorded in Danny White’s 16 Ton recording studios on Music Row in Nashville, the album showed a new departure with the extensive use of strings, expertly scored and performed by Chris Carmichael.
Kevin Montgomery’s ‘True’ (Road Trip Records, 2008) included the following tracks:
‘True’ (written by Shawn Byrne)
‘Tryin’ to Fly with One Wing’
‘Back in Baby’s Arms’
‘I Will Always Love You’
‘Somewhere in Between’
‘Drive’
‘St. Kilda’
‘There She Goes’
‘Nothing’
‘Defeated’
Musicians involved in the recording of Kevin Montgomery’s ‘True’ (Road Trip Records, 2008) included Kevin Montgomery, Al Perkins, Mike McAdam, Danny White, Paul Griffith, Ashley Monroe, Jen Hicks and Matt Rollings.
Kevin Montgomery’s ‘True’ (Road Trip Records, 2008) followed the typical Kevin Montgomery mix of rockers and sensitive, heart-rending ballads, undoubtedly the most poignant of which was ‘Nothing’, which was dedicated to the memory of Kevin Montgomery’s daughter.
• Visit Kevin Montgomery’s official site at kevinmontgomery.com