Southern rock artist Montgomery Gentry, featuring Eddie Montgomery, will round out the 2026 Linn County Fair main stage entertainment lineup, performing at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, July 17, the Linn County Fair Board announced last week.
Montgomery Gentry, featuring Eddie Montgomery, joins a lineup that includes Frankie Ballard, who will perform on Thursday, July 16, and The Band Perry, which will take the stage on Saturday, July 18.
“The origins of much of Montgomery Gentry’s music relates to agriculture and rural America,” said Roger Nyquist, a Linn County commissioner and Fair Board member. “We think fairgoers are going to enjoy this show.”
Montgomery Gentry has a long history of making hit music, starting in the 1990s, when Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry — both Kentucky natives — teamed up to take country music by storm.
In 2017, Troy Gentry died in a helicopter crash, but Montgomery Gentry lives on because the duo promised each other they would continue their musical legacy even if something happened to one of them.
Montgomery Gentry performed at the Oregon Jamboree in 2002 and 2009.
Today, Eddie Montgomery continues to entertain audiences with southern rock hits and has collaborated with Charlie Daniels, Toby Keith, Five for Fighting and The Allman Brothers Band.
As one of the most recognizable voices in a generation of country singers, Eddie Montgomery continues to tour coast-to-coast behind a time-tested collection of rowdy and heartfelt songs.
That collection grows with the new release – “Home Run,” a six-song EP that includes hard-working stories, fatherly wisdom, brotherly appreciation and a boot-stomping reworking of Montgomery Gentry’s first single “Hillbilly Shoes.”
With five No. 1 country radio hits, a Grand Ole Opry membership and a Kentucky Music Hall of Fame induction under his belt as part of Montgomery Gentry, the man in the hat shows no signs of slowing down.
After all, why would anyone walk away from a dream-come-true?
“I’m livin’ life,” Montgomery said. “I’m so happy that I gotta sit on my hands to keep ‘em from wavin’ at everybody.”
“Home Run” debuted Nov. 1 via Average Joes Entertainment.
Ahead of the release, Montgomery unleashed a 25th anniversary edition of “Hillbilly Shoes,” a signature country-rocker originally released as Montgomery Gentry’s first single and the opening track of the duo’s debut album Tattoos & Scars.
General admission to all three concerts is free. Reserved seating is available at https://www.linncountyfair.com/concerts.
The Linn County Fair & Expo Center is at 3700 Knox Butte Road East, Albany.