2024 Round-Up: Kick-off concert rocks with Clay Walker, Eddie Montgomery
Published 5:00 am Monday, August 12, 2024
- Lights illuminate the crowd during the Pendleton Round-Up and Happy Canyon Kick-Off Concert. Country star and ’90s hitmaker Clay Walker headlines the 2024 event Sept. 9 at the Happy Canyon Arena, Pendleton.
Chart-topping country star and ’90s hitmaker Clay Walker will headline the Pendleton Round-Up and Happy Canyon Kick-Off Concert on Sept. 7 at the Happy Canyon Arena. In addition, the special guest is Eddie Montgomery of Montgomery Gentry.
To reserve tickets, visit www.pendletonroundup.com or call 541-276-2553.
According to a press release, while Walker is known for his string of smash hits like “Live Until I Die,” “Hypnotize the Moon,” “Rumor Has It,” “Then What” and “She Won’t Be Lonely Long,” he’s seeing a resurgence and comeback thanks to the country fans behind the almost 20 million on-demand and video streams for his latest single, “Need a Bar Sometimes.” Walker released his 11th studio album — his first with Show Dog Nashville, “Texas to Tennessee,” in July 2021.
The realities of place are as central as this comeback album’s name implies: Nashville busily working toward the next fresh hit; Texas moving at its inimitable and familiar pace. There’s also a mix of songwriting and production approaches, evident and more nuanced relationships between the songs themselves, and the overarching presence of a naturally gifted vocalist who relentlessly pursues his own development as a singer.
Walker has also become known for his battle against multiple sclerosis, which he was diagnosed in 1996. Since then, he’s become a passionate advocate and fundraiser for others with the disease through his Band Against MS. Among his efforts are the annual Clay Walker Charity Classic at Pebble Beach. The golf event highlights the highly active way Walker has approached the disease, continuing to perform and raise a growing family while showing no signs of slowing down.
You might catch Eddie Montgomery taking a quick glance at an empty space beside him when he and The Wild Bunch take the stage to play the expected duet hits as well as tunes from his mostly raucous solo debut “Ain’t No Closing Me Down,” which was released in 2022.
The man who is always “with” Montgomery on stage and immersed in the soul of his first solo album is his longtime partner, Troy Gentry, who died Sept. 8, 2017, in a helicopter crash that could have put a tragic end to Montgomery Gentry sound. However, Montgomery made a promise that the MG sound would go on — which, at its heart, is what this new album is all about.
Rowdily honed in honky-tonks and at parties in their Kentucky homeland, Montgomery Gentry rocked to stardom in 1999 with their propulsive collection “Tattoos & Scars.” Over the next 18 years, the duo had 20-plus charted singles, collected Country Music Association, Academy of Country Music and Grammy nominations and awards with No. 1s including “If You Ever Stop Loving Me,” “Something to be Proud Of,” “Lucky Man,” “Back When I Knew It All” and “Roll With Me.”
“We are thrilled to have Clay Walker and Eddie Montgomery take the stage at the Happy Canyon Arena in September,” said Happy Canyon President Kipp Curtis. “Last year’s concert with Craig Morgan and Clint Black showed our fans crave those ’90s country superstars, and we’re sure that Clay Walker and Eddie Montgomery will bring some of that ’90s nostalgia along with some great new hits.”