RETURN TO THE NORTH
Oak Ridge Boys love Canadian fans
The Oak Ridge Boys are country music legends but they’re not about to take their Canadian fans for granted.
Scheduled to play the Casino Regina Show Lounge on Sept. 28, the Oak Ridge Boys are looking forward to coming back up North.
“The people up there have always been good to us,” explained member Joe Bonsall during a recent telephone interview from Nashville. “We’ve got a long history of playing many dates, all the way through that whole area up there. People are always very kind to the Oak Ridge Boys whenever we come up there. It’s a long ride, so we don’t get up there as often really as we’d probably would even like, but when we do go — it’s always a good time, it’s always a good show.
"There’s a lot of people up there who have loved the Oak Ridge Boys for a lot of years, passed us down into their families. They come out to hear us sing, Granny comes, they bring the kids — it’s usually a good show!”
Comprised of Bonsall, Richard Sterban, Duane Allen and William Lee, the Oak Ridge Boys have fashioned a remarkably successful career over the past 44 years. The numbers speak for themselves — 17 No. 1 singles, 33 Top 10 singles, 12 gold albums, three platinum albums, and one double platinum album. Add five Grammy Awards and induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame and it gets easier to comprehend the scope
of the Oak Ridge Boys’ success.
“We have been passed down, kinda like an old shirt I guess,” Bonsall said fondly. “We’ve been passed down through generations and I think that’s one of the reasons we’re still around today. It’s like, ‘Mom and Daddy like the Oak Ridge Boys, we like the Oak Ridge Boys and we’re bringing our kids up on the Oak Ridge Boys.’ It’s a really cool to be a part of something like that, to be honest.
“I wrote a book on this a while back called On The Road with the Oak Ridge Boys and I try to attack that subject of longevity, and I just mentioned jokingly about being passed down, but it’s kinda true. Sometimes we’ll see these young kids out in the audience singing songs like Leaving Louisiana In The Broad Daylight or Sail Away, and I say, ‘Man oh man, you guys weren’t born back then how do you know those words?’ And they answer, ‘Well, Grandpa’s eight track, man.’ ”
If you’ve never been to an Oak Ridge Boys show, you’re in for quite the treat. What can you expect?
“A fast-paced, clean show with a lot of music,” explained Bonsall. “We’ll be singing a lot of the big hits we’ve had over the years, we’ll sing a little gospel — we love to sing some gospel, because that’s our roots, so they’ll hear a few gospel songs, they’ll hear a lot of big hits — just one after another. We don’t do a whole lot of talking on stage, pretty much let them know we’re glad to be there, but here’s the music. It’s four guys, singing four-part harmony with a six-piece kickin’ band and I think folks out there always enjoy it. I understand our show is sold out, so that’s awfully nice — that’s a high compliment.”
“One of the purposes of the show is to take people away from their daily worries, or their daily grind, or their job, or the politics or whatever the heck is going on in their lives, that they can get away for just a little while, sit back and listen to some good music.”