John Michael Montgomery will be the headliner for the Orange County River Festival coming up Saturday night at the Orange Boat Ramp. He is expected to take the stage around 8pm. Local musician and songwriter Britt Godwin will open evening festivities with his band at 5:30.
Montgomery, 53, from Kentucky, was a mainstay on the country music charts in the early to mid-90’s. In 1994 and 1995 Billboard magazine selected two Montgomery songs as the top songs of the year.
In 1994 the ballad “I Swear” was named the top song of the year and in 1995 the up tempo “Sold (The Grundy County Auction Incident)” was named top country song of the year.
He’s had five other songs that reached number one on the charts including “I love the way you love me,” “Be my baby tonight,” “If you got love,” “I can love you like that,” and “The Little Girl.”
Other hits include “Life’s a dance,” Rope the Moon,” and “Letters from Home.”
Montgomery has had three albums go multi-platinum meaning he sold more than two million of each and those albums were “Life’s a dance,” “Kickin’ It Up,” and his self titled album “John Michael Montgomery.”
Montgomery is also the younger brother of Eddie Montgomery, who along with the late Troy Gentry, made up the successful country music duo Montgomery Gentry.
KOGT Radio has played JMM’s music since the beginning of his career and will be featuring more of his music this week as we await his concert Saturday night.
On Friday night at the OCRF, Tony Faulk and Chaos will take the stage at 5:30pm, followed by Dustin Sonnier at 8pm. Sonnier is a Louisiana product who has played in Orange several times and always puts on a great show with a variety of music. The release of his single “Whiskey Makes Her Miss Me” in 2016 was a really big hit for him and will surely get a big ovation when he plays it Friday.
Faulk is from the other side of the Rainbow Bridge and has an unusual but very effective guitar playing style. Faulk and the two members of his band that create Chaos play mostly rock and blues music.
If you’ve heard Godwin’s weekly show on KOGT every Wednesday afternoon you know his country roots run deep. His traditional country sound is awesome and always a crowd pleaser. His covers of a Marty Robbins or a George Jones song will make you think you’re at the Ryman Auditorium. He’s a pretty good picker as well.
So make plans to stay after the weigh-in Friday and Saturday for some great music in downtown Orange!
Robert Sims says
Thank you City of Orange, Chamber of Orange, Orange County & many others who bring this event to Orange! You will miss something if you don’t attend this event!