The Center for the Arts at Monmouth University has announced that tickets are now on sale for an Nov. 13 concert featuring the one of the greatest bands in Country music, Grammy winners Shenandoah, hosted in Pollak Theatre. Part of the 2016-2017 Performing Arts Series, the 7 p.m. concert is one of several fall events presented under a special partnership between the University and the L.A.-based Grammy Museum.
When country music lovers talk about the greatest groups in the genre, Shenandoah is always at the forefront of any discussion. Fueled by Marty Raybon’s distinctive vocals and the band’s skilled musicianship, Shenandoah became well known for delivering hits such as “Two Dozen Roses,” “Church on Cumberland Road,” and “Next to You, Next to Me,” as well as such achingly beautiful classics as “I Want to be Loved Like That” and the Grammy-winning “Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart” duet with Alison Krauss.
Today that legacy continues as original members Raybon and Mike McGuire reunite to launch a new chapter in Shenandoah’s storied career. It all began when the guys got back together to perform a benefit concert for a friend battling cancer.
“We saw how folks reacted,” Raybon says of the response to their reunion. “And then Jerry Phillips, son of legendary Sun Records producer
Sam Phillips, said ‘You guys need to make a run at this. People still love what you do. You can tell by the reaction. There’s a lot of excitement in the air.’”
“It’s kind of like riding a bicycle,” McGuire says of the band reigniting that chemistry on stage. “We had done so many shows over the years together, even though we spent 17 years apart, we got back up on the stage and it was like we never stopped.”
Raybon and McGuire formed the band in 1984 in Muscle Shoals, Alabama with bassist Ralph Ezell, keyboardist Stan Thorn and guitarist Jim Seales. It was the band’s sophomore effort on Columbia Records, The Road Not Taken, that spawned their first top ten hits – “She Doesn’t Cry Anymore” and “Mama Knows.” Shenandoah followed with three consecutive No. 1 hits – “Church on Cumberland Road,” “Sunday in the South” and “Two Dozen Roses.”
Shenandoah became known for delivering songs that celebrated the importance of faith and family while reveling in the joys of small town life. “Next to You, Next to Me” topped the charts for three weeks and “Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart,” a beautiful duet with Alison Krauss, won a Country Music Association Award for Vocal Event of the Year and a Grammy for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
“Today, Shenandoah is in the top five recurrents on all the XM radio shows,” Raybon says. “That’s amazing to know that you are in the company of Alabama and George Strait. It’s hard to believe.” Though they’ve secured their place in country music history, Raybon and McGuire aren’t content to rest on their laurels and are currently working on new Shenandoah music.
“We’ve sat down and talked about reuniting before,” says Raybon, “but it wasn’t the right time for it then, but I do believe it is time for it now.”
Tickets for the Nov. 13 Shenandoah Reloaded tour are priced at $40 and $50 (with a Gold Circle seating option available for $60), and can be reserved through the Monmouth University Box Office at 732-263-6889, or online at www.monmouth.edu/arts.Tickets for other upcoming Performing Arts events — including a Nov. 11 concert starring Arlo Guthrie and his band — are also on sale now. To schedule interviews, please contact Kelly Barratt at 732-263-5114.
IMAGE COURTESY of Monmouth University Center of the Arts
