PENDLETON, Ore. – Chart-topping country star and 90s hitmaker Clay Walker will headline the Pendleton Round-Up and Happy Canyon Kick-Off Concert at the Happy Canyon Arena on Saturday, Sept. 7, along with special guest Eddie Montgomery of Montgomery Gentry. Tickets go on sale April 17.
While Walker is known for his string of smash hits like “Live Until I Die,” “Hypnotize the Moon,” “Rumor Has It,” “Then What,” and “She Won’t Be Lonely Long,” he’s seeing a resurgence and comeback thanks to the country fans behind the almost 20 million on-demand and video streams for his latest single, “Need a Bar Sometimes.” Walker recently released his debut album with Show Dog Nashville, Texas to Tennessee, and the realities of place are as central as this comeback album's name implies: Nashville busily working toward the next fresh hit; Texas moving at its inimitable and familiar pace. There's also a mix of songwriting and production
approaches, evident and more nuanced relationships between the songs themselves, and the overarching presence of a naturally gifted vocalist who relentlessly pursues his own development as a singer.
Walker has also become known for his battle against Multiple Sclerosis (MS), with which he was diagnosed in 1996. Since then he’s become a passionate advocate and fundraiser for others with the disease through his Band Against MS. Among his efforts are the annual Clay Walker Charity Classic at Pebble Beach. The golf event highlights the highly active way Walker has approached MS, continuing to perform and raise a growing family while showing no signs of slowing down.
You might catch Eddie Montgomery taking a quick glance at an empty space beside him when he and The Wild Bunch take the stage to play the expected duet hits as well as tunes from his brand-new and mostly raucous solo debut “Ain’t No Closing Me Down.” The man who is always “with” Montgomery on stage and immersed in the soul of his first solo album is his long-time partner, Troy Gentry, who died Sept. 8, 2017, in a helicopter crash that could have put a tragic end to Montgomery Gentry sound. Except Montgomery made a promise that the MG sound would go on: Which, at its heart, is what this new album is all about.
Rowdily honed in honky-tonks and at parties in their Kentucky homeland, Montgomery Gentry rocked to stardom in 1999 with their propulsive collection Tattoos & Scars. Over the next 18 years, the duo had 20-plus charted singles, collected CMA, ACM and Grammy nominations and awards with No. 1s including “If You Ever Stop Loving Me,” “Something to be Proud Of,” “Lucky Man,” “Back When I Knew It All” and “Roll With Me.” “We are thrilled to have Clay Walker and Eddie Montgomery take the stage at the Happy Canyon Arena in September,” said Happy Canyon President Kipp Curtis. “Last year’s concert with Craig Morgan and Clint Black showed our fans crave those 90s country superstars, and we’re sure that Clay Walker and Eddie
Montgomery will bring some of that 90s nostalgia along with some great new hits.”
Round-Up President Tiah DeGrofft agreed. “This concert is going to be a fantastic way to kick off the week for Round-Up and Happy Canyon,” DeGrofft said. “We can’t wait for everyone to see this show and have some fun.”