Walker Montgomery

He was born in Nicholasville, KY and still considers that home, even though his father John Michael Montgomery was one of the biggest names in Nashville right around the time Walker was born. In fact, just a few years before Walker was born, his father’s “Life’s a Dance,” “I Swear,” “I Can Love You Like That,” “Be My Baby Tonight,” and “Sold (The Grundy County Auction Incident)” had all made it to the top of the charts. 

That said, his father didn’t raise him to be a country singer. He just simply raised him. “Our relationship isn’t a musical one. It’s just an ordinary father-son relationship,” he says. Then there’s the rest of his country music family tree: his Uncle Eddie is half of the duo Montgomery Gentry, his cousin Dillon Carmichael is an up-and-coming country artist, and his sister Madison is about to marry another country artist, which will make Travis Denning a brother-in-law to Walker. 

Before he had his own music to share with an live audience, he did what so many newcomers do: cover songs. “I did a lot of Luke Bryan songs in the beginning. The girls in the crowd always liked the Luke Bryan covers, and they’d put a little more in the tip jar when you played those. But I also played a bunch of Randy Travis, Tracy Lawrence, and obviously a lot of my dad’s songs. ‘Sold’ always got everyone on their feet.” 

Montgomery’s earlier songs have made a quantifiable impact on his day one fans and his brand new ones. “Simple Town” has already surpassed 3.6 million streams on Spotify, and follow-up tunes “Like My Daddy Done It” and “Saving for a Rainy Night” continue to boost Montgomery’s fanbase across all of the social media and music platforms, and more importantly, in real life.  

And now that he’s on the verge of releasing Rust, a six-song EP he produced with prolific hitmaker Dallas Davidson, Montgomery shares his thoughts on letting the best song win. “If I write a song, great. If I don’t write it, great. I just want the most relatable song to reach people out there,” he says. So when it came time to choose the right songs to cut – ones that would fit his voice and the classic feel of the project — Montgomery said that he and Davidson (and the other two Peach Pickers, Rhett Akins and Ben Hayslip) had a group text thread going and would all share music with each other that way.  

The EP’s last song – the title track “Rust” — fit the bill for Montgomery and his deep love of his Kentucky roots.  Fellow Kentuckian Ashley Gorley co-wrote the song, making it even more special for Montgomery. “Ashley is insane. He’s a wizard. I’ve never seen anyone like him.” 

Rust is due out on March 11, and Montgomery says he cannot wait to play it live for the fans who’ve been waiting so long for the post-pandemic return of live country music. 

Direct Support: Blake Tyler

Doors: 4pm

Show: 8pm

For more details or tickets, visit lrhlive.com