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Who's
Who in Jessamine County - Past and Present
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As hard as it may be to believe when you see John Michael Montgomery on stage in the spotlight, singing any one of his many hit songs, the truth is that he's just a regular guy. Sure, he has the talent, drive, and charisma that has enabled him to sell millions of albums and play hundreds of sold-out concerts. But for all his success, John Michael is really no different than he was when Atlantic Records discovered him singing in the Austin CitySaloon in Lexington, Kentucky back in 1991. |
| Jessamine County native and Nashville superstar John Michael Montgomery |
"Pretty much what you see is what you get with me," he explains. "I'm too boring to make any headlines in the Enquirer. My life is simple. I don't get in trouble. I have good morals and values. I consider myself a good family man, and I love to make good country music. There's not a lot of surprises in my life."
In fact, the biggest surprise in his life was probably his immediate success on the release of his first album, Life's A Dance, in 1992. "1 didn't expect my first single 'Life's A Dance,' to go to number four," he recalls. "And then my very second single went to number one for four weeks. I was expected to be on a prop plane, and found myself on a jet," he recalls.
But even after scoring 14 number one singles, selling over 14 million albums and receiving numerous industry and fan-voted awards, including the Country Music Association's prestigious Horizon Award in 1994, John Michael remains the good ole Kentucky boy who grew up playing guitar and singing in his parent's country music band. "1 always wanted to just get on stage and sing and make music, and entertain people," he says. "Everybody who does that would like to be able to make hit records and be on radio. But music still provided me a way of life even when I was in the nightclubs."
"Of course, if you get successful at it and become a country music star, life gets even better. But my number one goal is still to make music, and get on stage and see those crowds pile in there to see me sing. I try not to get wrapped up in the hype and the money and all that stuff. It's easy to be consumed by that. But I try to stay focused on the music, and the people out there who are buying my records and coming to my concerts."
Unlike so many other country stars who make Nashville home, John Michael still lives outside of Lexington in Nicholasville, near where he was raised, spending quality time with his wife Crystal, daughter Madison Caroline, and Walker Carl. It's a life that keeps his feet on the solid ground of reality. "I like it around here, and I grew up around here, and I know every little crack in the road and fence row," he notes. "I drive by some places, and I remember helping tear the fences down and putting 'em up. I get to reminisce a lot about back when I was young, and I was building swimming pools and cutting tobacco, all kinds of stuff. A lot of times I'll just get in my vehicle and drive around and see some of the places that haven't changed. They're the same way as when I was a kid."
By keeping the home fires burning brightly, John Michael stays in touch not only with his working-class roots, but also those of his fans. And it's also a way of life that enables him to appreciate even further how lucky he is to have scaled the pinnacle of country music success. "There's times that I'll go for days, and I'll forget what I do for a living," he says with a chuckle. "I'm over in the garage messing with my remote-control airplanes, or out on the golf course, or I'm in the woods hunting, and then all of the sudden, I'll just stop and go, wow -all those things that I can do, and the things I have are because of everything that's happened to me. And when I'm back in the house, and I'm eating dinner with my wife and kids, I think about how that's really what It's all about. So I wake up every day just humbled that I have life so good," he concludes. "I work very hard to try to keep my life balanced and level, and make it the same way for my family. I never forget where I came from, and what I have will never go unappreciated."
Fan
Club:
John Michael Montgomery Fan Club
P.O. Box 227
Springfield, KY 40069
