Marshall Tucker Band at Music City Texas; Concert fundraiser,
LINDEN, Texas— Known for classics like “Can’t You See” and “Heard It in a Love Song,” the Marshall Tucker Band has kept on trucking through the years and soon arrive at the celebrated Music City Texas Theater for a June 4 concert.
Having survived lineup changes and the passing of band members, Marshall Tucker band has found a new, younger audience at the same time it’s pleased the many longtime fans they’ve won in roughly 40 years of making music. Vocalist Doug Gray is the lone original member who still performs with the band.
Marshall Tucker Band got its start in Spartanburg, S.C., and over time honed a memorable sound that’s hard to pigeonhole.
They’re Southern rock but also play country, blues, jazz and gospel in the mix.
Now, Marshall Tucker Band comes to MCT for the first time as part of its “Searchin’ for a Rainbow” tour. With an MTB show, you’ll never get the same one twice.
“We kind of take it on the fly,” Gray said this week. “We want it to be as comfortable as it can be.”
To Gray and his bandmates, that means getting input from the audience about what songs to sing, which works out well, in general. If the crowd is ready to rock, they’ll rock it. After these four decades playing music, Gray also wants to play something that amuses him, too, knowing it’s probably going to do the same for somebody else.
Nobody has ever been able to pick and choose what type of music Marshall Tucker Band will play, says the singer. “We never really knew ourselves,” Gray quipped.
They’re consistent with the popular hits, but with other songs they perform they like to stray and pull out some surprises, keep it fresh. On the road, that’s a necessity.
“We’re out there all the time,” Gray said.
Marshall Tucker Band makes
new fans all the time, too, and the lead singer says the biggest age group downloading their material is in the 18- to 37-yearold range. The band achieved exposure through the Florida Georgia Line hit “Cruise” that mentioned them and a Nelly remix. “Can’t You See” was also sung on “American Idol” and “The Voice.”
Gray’s released his own solo material and a greatest hits compilation was recently released. The band still records new music, too.
“We’ve never taken ourselves seriously except for the music people hear,” Gray said. He wants to put a smile on the faces of people who attend their concerts.
At one time, they spent about eight years playing 300-plus shows per year, performing with the likes of the Allman Brothers and ZZ Top. They played with different sorts of acts because no one could figure out if they were country or not.
“Who’s to say where we’re going to show up next?” Gray says.
They’ll be performing at the Grand Ole Opry and the CMA Music Festival up ahead, in addition to MCT. As the singer puts it, they’re the kind of band that could perform a pre-Kentucky Derby show one day, Sturgis the next.
Sometime the newer, younger fans will come up to him and say something like, ‘Y’all have anything out?” That’s funny on one level for a band that’s recorded 22 studio albums, but on another level they’re being accepted by a new generation.
“It’s an honor, it’s truly an honor,” Gray said.
He counts himself lucky if their music touches people’s souls. He’s amazed, though, when the band is treated like movie stars. He can remember back when all they wanted to do was make enough money to buy beer for the weekend.
But when the intro to their show starts and they play those first notes, Gray recognizes why they’ve kept going and why he’s in the right place.
“We were proud to play the music that we did,” he said.
(Tickets: $50. Show starts at 8 p.m., gates open at 6:30 p.m. Music City Texas is located at 108 Legion St. For tickets or more info, visit MusicCityTexas.org or call 903-756-9934 between 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday.)