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Montgomery Gentry\u2019s Eddie Montgomery<\/strong> is having a good time \u2013 and it shows.<\/p>\n As one of the most recognizable voices in a generation of country singers, Montgomery continues to tour coast-to-coast behind a time-tested collection of rowdy and heartfelt songs. That collection grows with the new release \u2013 Home Run, a six-song EP that includes hard-workin\u2019 stories, fatherly wisdom, brotherly appreciation and a boot-stomping reworking of Montgomery Gentry\u2019s first single \u201cHillbilly Shoes.\u201d<\/p>\n With five No. 1 country radio hits, a Grand Ole Opry membership and a Kentucky Music Hall of Fame induction under his belt as part of Montgomery Gentry, the man in the hat shows no signs of slowing down. After all, why would anyone walk away from a dream-come-true?<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m livin\u2019 life,\u201d Montgomery said. \u201cI\u2019m so happy that I gotta sit on my hands to keep \u2018em from wavin\u2019 at everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n Home Run debuted Nov. 1 via Average Joes Entertainment. Ahead of the release, Montgomery unleashed a 25th anniversary edition of \u201cHillbilly Shoes,\u201d a signature country-rocker originally released as Montgomery Gentry\u2019s first single and the opening track of the duo\u2019s debut album Tattoos & Scars.<\/p>\n The song comes as part of a promise Montgomery and his partner Troy Gentry once made to each other \u2013 if one of them ever passed away, the other would carry on the Montgomery Gentry \u00a0legacy. Sadly, Gentry died in a 2017 helicopter crash.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m keepin\u2019 it going, I\u2019m keepin\u2019 my promise,\u201d Montgomery said. \u201cA day don\u2019t go by I don\u2019t talk about him. A day don\u2019t go by I don\u2019t miss him.\u201d<\/p>\n Alongside his new take on \u201cHillbilly Shoes,\u201d the EP includes a can\u2019t-miss cast of collaborators and co-writers, such as powerhouse Music Row hitmakers Ashley Gorley and Bobby Pinson, breakout singer-songwriter Bryan Martin and his brother John Michael Montgomery, among others.<\/p>\n As a tenured vocalist and storyteller, what does Montgomery look for in a song? It\u2019s got to be real \u2013 like the stories shared sitting on a barstool after a long day.<\/p>\n \u201cI just like real country music,\u201d Montgomery said. \u201cI can\u2019t sing a song I don\u2019t really know about. It\u2019s very, very hard. [A good song], it makes you pour your soul out. It\u2019ll make you feel better. It\u2019ll get you through whatever you\u2019re going through.\u201d<\/p>\n Home Run opens with the working class anthem \u201cCost Of Being Me,\u201d which features Bryan, a labelmate that Montgomery described as being \u201ccut from the same cloth.\u201d In the down-to-earth chorus, Montgomery sings, \u201cI drink my whiskey from the well\/ My souls for loan but ain\u2019t for sale\/ I’ve had my daddy pay my bail\/ That kind of hell just don’t come cheap\/ If I had half of what I lost\/ I’d be just a little bit better off\/ I’ve paid a lot for being free \u2026 Yeah, that’s the cost of being me.\u201d The EP continues with the title track, a song about knowing how to find home when it matters most. Gorley, a fellow native of Danville, Kentucky, co-wrote the song.<\/p>\n \u201cI run into his dad at Lowe\u2019s all the time,\u201d Montgomery said, laughing. \u201cI heard \u2018Home Run\u2019 and was like, \u2018Man, this reminds me how I feel going home. When I cross that Kentucky state line, it\u2019s like, baby I\u2019m home.\u2019 I looked and said, \u2018well, hell, Ashley Gorey wrote that song.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n And Home Run includes an acoustic rendition of \u201cMy Son,\u201d a 2021 song Montgomery co-wrote for the feature film Old Henry. A reflective number that carries the weight of fatherhood, Montgomery sings, \u201cMy son, please don’t make mistakes I’ve made\/ No don’t chase the things I’ve chased\/ Don’t waste your life on the run\/ My son, go ahead and spread your wings\/ But while you’re reaching for your dreams\/ There’s one thing you can’t outrun\/ You’ll always be my son.\u201d<\/p>\n For the release, Montgomery also offers a duet that can only be shared between kin \u2013 \u201cBrotherly Love,\u201d a taste of country nostalgia featuring John Michael Montgomery, Eddie Montgomery\u2019s younger brother. The two grew up surrounded by music, from kids watching their parents gig at local nightclubs to playing in bands together as teenagers and beyond.<\/p>\n On singing with his brother \u201cJohn-boy,\u201d Montgomery said: \u201cMy dad always said, \u2018If one of us got an apple, all of us got an apple.\u2019 We always had each other\u2019s back through music.\u201d<\/p>\n Montgomery will take the new songs on the road and he doesn\u2019t plan to slow down any time soon. Why? He\u2019s having too much fun, of course. Or, in his words: \u201cI want to play until the good man upstairs goes, \u2018Well, I need ya now.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n