Montgomery Gentry all about the folks

When it comes to being successful in the music industry, a big part of it is connection to the record-buying public as well as the fans who attend live shows.

That’s probably why Montgomery Gentry, who will perform on Friday, August 7 at the Fox Theater in Riverside, have been so successful.

“People can identify with our songs,” said Troy Gentry during a recent telephone interview. “They can put themselves in the situation and that’s why we’ve been able to have success.”

Gentry and Eddie Montgomery have been entertaining people for more than a decade and a half with such hits as “If You Ever Stop Loving Me,” “Something to Be Proud Of,” “Lucky Man,” “Back When I Knew It All,” and “Roll with Me,” all of which were Billboard Number 1 singles.

For Gentry, he was surrounded by country music growing up.

“My dad’s friends played country music and bluegrass, and I got into playing as well,” he said. “Few years later I was watching a country awards show and got into it. I was in awe and wanted to be on the stage like they all were.”

Gentry and Montgomery first played music together in the band Early Tymz, then in Young Country before Gentry went solo. Not long after, Gentry reunited with Montgomery and they’ve been making hits ever since.

And in keeping with their track record of music that people can relate to, their most recent album, “Folks Like Us,” was released in June, their first in three years.

“It’s great having new songs for the set list,” he said. “We’ve been doing the same one for a year and a half so it is nice to have something new.”

That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with the old ones.

“I can’t complain about the old songs because they are the reasons we are out there, and the fans still respond,” he said.

It’s their first album in three years.

“It took a while because we were touring and dealing with record labels,” he said. “Mostly all the legal stuff held it up because we had songs ready to go. So we just kept touring which is our bread and butter.”

And that will probably never stop.

“Even if we get to a point where we are not making records, we are going to be out there playing,” he said.

When it comes to writing and recording, the songs are a reflection of what they feel is good and what they think fans would like to hear.

“It is a little bit of both,” he said. “We write about the ups and downs that people are going through just like the people that inspired me like Waylon, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Merle Haggard. If people can put themselves into the song they we’ve done our job.”

Of course, their shows are well-known.

“It’s a high energy experience, and it is as much fun as the fans want to have,” he said.