NASHVILLE, TN. (Sawyer Brown Website) - It's been almost 4 years since
Sawyer Brown played the Grand Ole Opry - and now fans nationwide can watch "the hardest working band in country music" play the legendary institution on Great American Country Dec. 4th. The show - which airs live at 8 pm EST and re-runs at 11 the same night - marks SB's first return with new music after a 3 year break from recording.
"What better way to kick off a record than the Opry?" asks leader Mark Miller. "I guess being able to do it on cable, so even the fans who can't get there can be part of it. Playing the Opry with this new music was cool enough, being able to share it with our friends across the country is awesome."
No doubt the CMA - and ACM - winners perform their brand new "Mission Temple Fireworks Stand" - which debuted at No 55 on Billboard's Country Singles chart, after leaking to radio this week - on the longstanding country music tradition. The Paul Thorn/Billy Maddox song features sacred steel player Robert Randolph on the single, though the Grammy-nominee will be unable to appear at the Opry due to a prior commitment.
The 5 man band, known for hits "Some Girls Do," "This Thing Called Wanting (& Having It All)," "The Race Is On," "All These Years," "Six Days On The Road" and "The Walk," will no doubt revisit a few of their classics as part of Dec. 4th's appearance. In addition, they will drop in for a quick chat as part of GAC's "Opry Backstage" segment to catch fans up with what's been going on.
With a spread in the current Country Weekly, capturing their highly combustive video shoot with the revival tent, Fisk Jubilee Singers, Randolph and $40,000 worth of fireworks, the boys from Apopka, Florida are back full tilt and ready to go. With a full slate of shows for next year, they will no doubt retain their mantle of country's hardest working band - and on Dec. 16th, after two decades of blowing it up and making it happen, Sawyer Brown will make their debut on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."
"Sometimes you take time to think about what you really want to say and do and you focus," says the man who wrote "The Walk," "The Dirt Road," "Step That Step" and "Hard To Say" among others.
"There's always a risk that when you step out of line, there won't be a place for you when you come back... But if it's about music and you just feel like you need the break and you don't take it, then that's not good, either.
"We kept seeing all those fans at the shows, even when we weren't giving them new music, they were coming back, bringing their friends; we were even seeing younger brothers and sisters and kids of our fans - and they all said they were coming 'cause they loved the songs and the fun they had at our shows. I think it fired us up, and now based on what's happening at radio, with everything else, it makes us feel like we made the right decision. It's pretty exciting... the new music is awesome; the studio was maybe the best it's been since the first couple of albums - and the response tells me we absolutely did the right thing."
See for yourself Dec 4 on GAC, in Country Weekly or "The Tonight Show" - with Robert Randolph - Dec. 16.
