Diamond Rio electrifies E-Town

ELIZABETHTOWN – In 1972 Neil Diamond came out with an album entitled “Hot August Night,” but it most likely couldn’t compete with the heat that came upon the Cape Fear Vineyard & Winery, June 7.

It was a “Hot June Night” where the temps and the humidity caused a lot of pounds to be shed, but what added to the mix was the aerobic activity of a crowd so energized by the music of the opening act – Bryan Mayer with Bo Faulkner and then the nationally-known grammy-winning group Diamond Rio with their legendary lead singer Marty Roe, that they couldn’t stay seated. Their “dance and shout” was pushing the envelope.

They did stay hydrated.

By continuing to bring in top-named entertainers, Cape Fear Vineyard & Winery owner Alex Munroe has proven that he is creating a world-class venue in southeastern North Carolina that will rival southern neighbor Myrtle Beach. CFV&W provides a more intimate setting where the crowd can get an up-close and personal experience.

Grammy winners and nationally known entertainers just 30 feet away can leave an indelible memory.

By the time Mayer and Faulkner were finished, their shirts were soaked to the skin and they gave a performance in stifling heat that won’t soon be forgotten. Unlike a lot of artists who head back to the air conditioning of the bus or a motel room, these two mingled with the crowd, offered hugs and listened to the stories from the crowd after their set.

“He (Mayer) was really and literally larger than life onstage,” said Mike Kehoe who came all the way from Charlotte to see the show. “Then when he got down to talk to us, he was just like one of us. He made us feel as if WE were the special event.”

Mayer is billed as the tallest successful country singer in the world at 6’8,” and according to bryanmayermusic.com, “With his towering height and powerful voice, Bryan Mayer, has made an impact on the Country music scene. A North Carolina native, the 6’8” singer/songwriter began his journey in music when he was 13. Bryan Mayer saw a lot of the world as the son of a U.S. Marine Corps Colonel and a Navy nurse. He began his music career in the community of Oak Island, North Carolina, where he took a few years to develop his own style of performance. Today, he possesses a strong voice and style that entices you to want to hear more. He has been widely ‘praised for his great tone and strong delivery.’ As a singer song writer, Bryan has had several songs hit the national charts such as “This is Me” and “Lil’ Bit Naughty”. He was first recorded by Nashville Producer, Stokes Nielson and has since been back to Nashville multiple times to record his original songs and videos. He has been twice named CMA – Best Male Country Artist of the Year over the last five years.”

The already energized and very moist crowd literally screamed and resembled a physical education class that was in the middle of a set of jumping jacks when Diamond Rio was announced and took the stage.

According to the biography on diamondrio.com, they have “sold over 6.8 million albums and has surpassed over 1.05 billion global streams. The band has charted 20 Top 10 singles and seven No. 1 singles.”

Although the core of Diamond Rio has been performing onstage since the ‘80s, just recently their drummer Brian Prout along with Gene Johnson, their mandolin player and high range vocalist have retired. This made a way for newcomers Carson McKee who is a fiddler and provides high background vocals while Micah Schweinsberg who has been their backup drummer for eight years is now “first-chair.”

They fit well with longtime band members Jimmy Olander who plays lead guitar and banjo and Dana Williams who plays bass and adds a smooth baritone voice.

And of course, Roe who has been the lead singer since they began as The Tennessee River Boys back in 1982.

Their combination of slow ballads, light-hearted tongue in cheek songs and the occasional jump and karate kicks by Roe lit up the crowd until you didn’t know who was going to lose their voices first – the band or the crowd. Neither of which did, but the rasp from both sides was evident in the latter portions of the show.

Some people walking away after the final notes were still echoing in the muggy North Carolina sky commented that it was the best show they’ve ever seen or heard. At 64 years of age, Roe was excited to hear that. It was evident that this band does not just “phone it in” and they gave of themselves until there was no more to give.

It was interesting to hear how a kid growing up in the ‘60s in a very small town could rise to the position he has attained.

“My mother and father are both from eastern Kentucky,” Roe said. “My mother’s dad was a coal miner and my dad’s dad was a tobacco farmer. The farm was just outside of Grayson. Loretta Lynn’s daddy and my grandaddy worked together in the same coal mine. My mom and Loretta are exactly the same age.”

Growing up was innocent and simple for Roe.

“TV had three channels and up there in the hills, we were there on weekends a lot,” he said. “We were helping my grandfather farm. They didn’t get TV in them ‘hollers’ – you know? So, we played a lot of music. All of my cousins are fairly accomplished musicians which really wasn’t a profession, but was a hobby.”

In the ‘40s, Roe’s father was a musician and had his own radio show in Vanceburg, Kentucky which was located right along the Ohio River.

“Dad got his master’s degree at U.K. and he and mom moved across the river to hopefully higher ground and became a teacher while my mom worked at the bank. So, I grew up in Lebanon, (Ohio) which was just north of Cincinnati about 30 miles from the river. Oh, and I was named after Marty Robbins.”

According to Roe, his parents first heard Robbins sing in San Antonio, Texas and like most of America became a fan of his voice, music and storytelling lyrics.

“That’s what was on the radio when I was growing up,” he said. “I was force-fed or however you want to say it as a child until I was about 16 and I could drive a car and change the radio to ‘70s rock and roll.”

He was listening to so many of the songwriters that helped to influence his life and to this day, he sounds a bit like Larry Gatlin.

“I didn’t do that on purpose,” he said. “But what was interesting is that my mother brought a record home; it was Gatlin’s ‘Done Enough Dyin’, and I’d heard ‘All the Gold (in California)’ and all that kind of stuff. It was early in his career and it was about the time I was getting serious about playing guitar and singing. And my mom said, ‘this guy sounds a lot like you.’ And I heard Larry, which is ironic because now he is my neighbor.”

When his mom said that he sounded like Gatlin, Roe said that it kind of depressed him because he thought, “oh, well – they already got one of those, they don’t need another.”

“That’s kind of true about the industry,” he said. “A lot of people try to mimic other folks and I always thought that you needed to be original. I have used and stole a lot of licks from lots of people which is what great guitar players do. There’s really no original music, you know. Original music is just plagiarism cleverly disguised.”

After a while, Roe became a big Gatlin fan. He also became a student of Pure Prairie League, Steve Warner and those bands of the ‘70s and ‘80s.

“It was not ‘incredibly’ successful music, but I was really diggin’ on that stuff,” he said. “I was also getting into the technical music of The Eagles, Genesis, Yes and Rush. Not your typical 1, 4, 5 stuff. The combination between those two.”

Roe began to put together a fusion that made him highly successful and the audiences loved the things he was putting out.

“I was in a show back then with Steven Curtis Chapman and his brother Herb,” Roe said. “Then I met up with some of the guys in this band and we were on the Nashville Network and scramblin’ to come up with new material every week. It was a time for learning a lot of new stuff and that was a great experience. But then I was beginning to record myself and heard the playback which was a painful experience at first. The first time I heard myself I thought, if that’s what I sound like, I need to go and get a real job.”

Persevering though listening to himself, he was able to push through and self-improve. In everything from inflections to tonations to lyrics. He began hanging out with a lot of people who had little studios and four-track recorders.

“I could hone what I was wanting to sound like,” he said. “And then actually got it to sound that way when I heard it back. I had a couple of good vocal coaches during Opryland. Then I met up with Jimmy and Dan and then Brian came along. And then Gene and then Dana finally in the first part of ’89.”

At first after a few studio recordings, people were nice, according to Roe and gave them some good critiques which were not taken personally, but professionally. It wasn’t until the new Boutique Label began that The Tennessee Boys started to find success.

“At that time, it was Randy Travis, Clint Black and Garth Brooks,” he said. “Country was doing sales numbers like they had never seen. It became ‘the pop music’ in the ‘90s. Every label was needing a Nashville branch which is how the industry goes. They follow trends; they don’t make trends.”

A very diverse band and evolving over four decades, Diamond Rio can bring tears with their ballads, laughter with songs like “Bubba Hyde” and then absolute fascination with the instrumental work in their newest song “The Kick” which sounds a little Brubeck-esc, Grapelli-sounding, Bluegrass and Country which shows the maturity of a band who has paid their dues.

“Evolving is what we were required to do way back when we started at Opryland,” he said. “We had music that pleased the crowd from age two to 92. That is what it taught me but that is also, when we got to music row a negative as they told us we had to pick one thing. I mean – we can do anything. What do you want us to be? We were told to come up with what WE wanted, pitch it and come up with the leap of faith. That was great advice.”

The band members each take a few weeks off during the year and stand-ins are used for some concerts. Make no mistake, with the core in their 60s they show no sign of slowing down or easing up onstage – still making music like they were youngsters.

The music, the new younger members and the love for entertaining keeps this group young and fresh.

“In four or five years, we may narrow it down to maybe 50 or 60 shows a year,” he said. “I found out during COVID that slowing down is not really healthy for me. I like going out and doing shows. And there is a certain point where you are either in or you’re out of the business. To keep good players and to keep good people in your crew there’s a formula for consistency and visibility. When I get to 68, 70, 72, I may back off a little, but we’ll see what happens. I just never picture my life – never going out and playing music again. But if the Lord keeps me here and gives me the time, I am not looking for ‘the time when I can quit.’ That’s not a part of who I am.”

Watching the band perform, it is obvious that their excitement and their calling is genuine. They are not working for a paycheck. Their music is their passion – and if you are looking for Diamond Rio to go gently into that good night, you are going to go blind before it ever happens.

Pat Benetar, 72. Ozzy Osbourne, 76. James Taylor 77. Mick Jagger, 81. Bob Dylan, 84. Paul McCartney, 82. Bob Seeger 79. Willie Nelson 91. And the afore-mentioned Neil Diamond, 84. Their commonality is that they are still performing, which makes people like Marty Roe, Jimmy Olander, Dana Williams and Dan Truman… just kids.

They are simply put… having too much fun and touching the hearts of too many people to call a time of death; and if you get a chance to see “Rio” live – you ought not miss it. Some bands really exemplify that age is just a number and they realize music never grows old.

Diamond Rio is a part of that fraternity.