It isn’t often I walk away from a concert and think to myself, “Oh my word, I have to write about this”.  Last night was one of those “What do I do next” shows.  Shenandoah took to the stage, performed for 90 minutes…when they left, it left me speechless. This was the best concert I have been to in the last three years.  Oh, I remember why – it was three years ago at this same fair when I last saw this still awesome band perform.

  

 

Taking the stage behind their infamous frontman, Marty Raybon (lead vocals, acoustic guitar) were: Mike McGuire (drums, backing vocals), Donnie Allen (fiddle, acoustic guitar), Paul Sanders (bass guitar, backing vocals), Bradley Cooper (keyboard) and Austin Brown (lead guitar). Can’t forget the front of house – Greg Withrow and William Northrup (Monitor Board). This awesome band took me back in time.  They had fun on stage.  They worked together without thinking about what comes next.  Marty took a few minutes here and there to talk to his audience.  Which is always interesting, usually funny, and definitely a ‘get to know you all’ better moment.  He talks to his audience as if he knows each of them by name.  He spoke about his love for God, when an artist does that it always makes me smile.

With 16 songs and a Medley of hits by various Muscle Shoals, Ala. recording studio. . Over the years, artists who recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio included Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Etta James, Percy Sledge, Willie Nelson, Duane Allman, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Joe Cocker, Levon Helm, Paul Simon, Bob Seger, Rod Stewart, Cat Stevens, Jimmy Cliff, Cher, George Michael, and the Black Keys.  The crowd enjoyed Marty as he sang pieces of many of the songs made famous by these artists. Not surprising that as much as the audience was singing to the Shenandoah songs, they were also singing along to the medley of older ‘not country’ songs.

The band seemed to know exactly what the crowd wanted to hear.  They had a great assortment of up-tempo and slow songs.  “Ghost In This House” has always been a persona favorite.  According to the reaction of the fans, I wasn’t alone.  “The Moon Over Georgia”, “If Bubba Can Dance”, “Sunday In The South”, “Church on Cumberland Road”, “I Want to Be Loved Like that”, “Mama Knows”, “Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart”, “Rock My Baby” and “Darned If I Don’t” are just a few of the songs that took us from our fair seats straight back to 1990.

In all that isn’t enough, Marty and his band members all seemed to take their time when they were talking to fans.  The show was over around 9:30 p.m.  While Marty did a brief Meet & Greet before the show – he also stayed after the show, posed for pictures and signed autographs for what appeared to be a line of 300+ fans.  He told everyone he would stay until they all got what they wanted.  Wonderful attitude.  Longevity.  And doing what he has done his entire career – keeping his fans close.

One family from Pennsylvania came to Tennessee to see Shenandoah.  It was their 14th time at a Shenandoah show.  They travel all across the US to see them.  They were recently in Iowa came to Tennessee last night and are heading to Pennsylvania for another show tomorrow (I believe they said).  Pictured with Marty Raybon above are Kevin L. Keller, Joann Patton, Kevin W. Keller and Marty Baker.  It was a joy meeting them all, and so many other Shenandoah fans.  This band not only has a huge fan base, but they also have a polite, friendly and really happy group of fans.

We did a brief interview with Marty before the show. Following the interview below, we have pictures.  Lots and lots of pictures.  I’ll see how many I can fit here.  Please feel free to copy any of the photos you may want to keep for your own.

INTERVIEW

CC: We have seen you on television a lot recently.  You did Fox & Friends in July, Fox News on Jessie Watters Primetime and several others.  In addition to the television time, you have performed at Alabama’s June Jam and are currently about mid-way through your 50-City Tour THE EXTRA MILE TOUR 2025.  Is there any town, or are there any television personalities you have talked to who have become favorites?

MARTY: To tell you the truth we enjoy meeting everybody, we really do. For about the last two and a half years the blessings have been coming out.  There are a lot of acts that don’t have an opportunity to have A career. We have had a career but since the resurgence of 90’s country music, we are slap dab in the middle of another one. And because of programs like you have, podcasts, and literally social media and all that other stuff – we are bigger than we’ve ever been. We had our first career and now we have a second, so it’s like Shenandoah 2.0. We’re excited about that.

CC:  When you chose Luke Combs for the “Two Dozen Roses” re-release, what made you choose Luke?

MARTY: Luke sounded like he was the one to do it.  The thing about it is Luke has been doing” Two Dozen Roses” in his show.  Before he would record it and honestly people would think it was his, we thought the smart thing to do would be to get him in.   We had just recorded “Two Dozen Roses” again and we had some fresh cuts on it, so we used him to be a part of it. Glory to God, he accepted it.  And that’s a wonderful thing. We appreciate our fans.  He’s a big fan and we are fans of his.  So, it really worked out well.

CC: Do you have any idea how many shows you are doing a year?

MARTY: We’re doing somewhere around 90-95 shows a year. For an act like us to be doing what we’re doing at the stage ware, it’s been pretty good.

CC: Are there any comments you would like to make, about anything?

MARTY: It’s always good to come back to the Appalachian Fair.  Anytime we get around East Tennessee, we meet some awfully good people around here.  The hospitality is always the best and we’re grateful to be here.  It aways turns out to be a good crowd and we appreciate that.  We’re going to have a house full tonight, we’re going to do what we do, and see what  we can’t do about trying to shake shaking the cobwebs loose and shake some monkeys out of the trees, and have a good time had by all.

CC: You love your fans and it shows.

MARTY: We wouldn’t have a job if it wasn’t for the fans.  We play with each other, we practice, and we rehearse.  When we play alone it isn’t any fun, but when we play with people it makes it real interesting and a whole lot more fun.

APPALACHIAN FAIR, GRAY, TENNESSEE — AUG. 19, 2025

 

PHOTO CREDIT:  Country’s Chatter by Donna Rea, Brittany Johnson and Stephanie Hoilman
PRINCIPLE WRITER:  Donna Rea

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countryConcert InfoInterviewReviewToursAustin Brown,Bradley Cooper,Donnie Allen,Greg Withrow,Marty Raybon,Mike McGuire,Paul Sanders,Shenandoah,William Northrup
It isn't often I walk away from a concert and think to myself, 'Oh my word, I have to write about this'.  Last night was one of those 'What do I do next' shows.  Shenandoah took to the stage, performed for 90 minutes...when they left, it left me speechless....