Montgomery Gentry and Avery Anna

In a market as obviously over-saturated as the American country music scene, you’re always going to need something a little bit different about your sound to guarantee that you stand out - that’s exactly what Montgomery and Gentry found back in the nineties, when they first collaborated by playing together in the backing band for Montgomery’s brother, John Michael Montgomery. Neither could find a record deal for some time, and when they did sign to the Nashville division of Columbia Records in 1999, it was the way in which they blended the standard country palette with clear southern rock influences that won over record executives.

It proved to be a wise decision from whoever offered them the contract, too, because they’ve gone from strength to strength since releasing their debut full-length, ‘Tattoos & Scars’. That was the first of three records for the pair to go platinum in the U.S., alongside 2002’s ‘My Town’ and 2004’s ‘You Do Your Thing’, and they would tour throughout the noughties with the likes of Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney, Trace Adkins and Keith Urban. Like the latter two of those, they’ve become the poster boys for a style of country rock with a little more edge to it than usual, something that’s earned them praise and criticism in equal measure; one reviewer felt that ‘Carrying On’, released in 2001, was “trying too hard to be macho.”