HARD TO BE COOL IN A MINIVAN....... OR IS IT?

May 24,2006

In January of 2006, The Oak Ridge Boys recorded 14 brand new songs for release in late summer or early fall. Another new project!

That in and of itself is, perhaps, not noteworthy. The drive to create has kept us in the studio recording new music over the entire span of our career, and we have ALWAYS poured our heart and soul into every song.

And we have always believed that “this one” is the best yet. The one that will reinvent The Oak Ridge Boys. The one that will produce the biggest HITS. Or the one that really means something! Perhaps, the one that will go down in history……. and many times, we were right on several counts.

Hard work and dedication always pay off with varying degrees of success and, that is the main reason the Boys are still around today — on stage as well as in the studio. But please, allow me to back-up for just a moment and provide a simplified history of how this all came to be…….

The original plan for 2006 was to record a new, greatest hits package. We were looking for two new songs to add to a compilation of re-recorded hits. Duane asked all of his friends on Music Row to send one or two songs. He told them he wanted tunes that were up-tempo and rockin’!

We ended up with a LOT of great songs.

January 1, 2006, was a magical day for the Oaks. On a bus ride home from a New Year’s Eve show in Minnesota, we sat in the front of the bus and listened to these new songs……. over and over again. As Duane pitched one demo CD after another to our tour director Darrick Kinslow, Darrick would slide them into the CD player and crank the volume up to ELEVEN! It was the best listening session I can ever remember. Every guy was jumping up and yelling, YES……. GREAT SONG!! A few songs went into the round file, but most ended up on our NEW project.

Yes, I said the NEW project. We were convinced we had the material to TAKE US TO ANOTHER LEVEL! Our management and label quickly agreed. We postponed the ‘HITS’ idea.

How very exciting!

So fast-forward to the end of May. It has been several months now since our producers Michael Sykes and The Ace (Duane Allen), along with engineer Pete Greene, finished the final mixes on 14 edgy, rocking songs with wonderful and poignant lyrics. We have even staged a few of the songs and, yes, they are going over very, very well. Always a great sign!

Over the last several days at my farm I have been doing two things. Taking a bunch of long grass and making it shorter. AND studying our new project. As to the latter, you know what, gang? This IS the best album we have ever recorded. I say this with humility.

A good dose of hard work, blind luck, and God’s hand has brought us to the position of having the best collection of songs — with some of the best vocals and instrumentals that you will ever hear — from The Oak Ridge Boys. This package is up-to-date and relevant in today’s market. It WILL have a huge impact on our career and lives.

There, I said it. And trust me on this...... it is TRUE!!!!

Now, here are the results of my study!

What started out to be just a collection of great songs now has a few integrated themes. Colors was a theme album, as were From The Heart and Common Thread. Obviously, Christmas Cookies and An Inconvenient Christmas had a theme. And a bluegrass-acoustic theme shaped The Journey. We never planned for this new one to have a certain theme or themes……. But it does.

(I actually just used the word theme six times in one paragraph, and I plan to use it a bit more.)

Small town. Americana. Heartland. Without being patriotic as such, one underlying theme is Middle America. Heaven Is A Small Town where the old guy who delivers my morning paper also works at Wal-Mart. Along with his wife, he is raising his daughter’s kids because she ran off. From the small town romance of

Something In The Water to being from Tupelo, I sense a ‘small town’ setting to many of these songs.

However, the main theme of this collection of songs has to do with MEN and MANHOOD. This is a MAN’S album. The ladies will dig it, too. But the heart, soul, and core of most of these songs is the AMERICAN MALE of our species.

Today’s man is not the cartoon guy guzzling beer in commercials. Nor is he that guy who is in constant touch with his feminine side. He is for the most part a hard-working type who is trying to raise a family, make good decisions, and do things right. He has respect for the flag and country and God, and he plays by the rules. From the time he was a young boy he has had all kinds of big dreams.

Someday he will find the right woman. Someday he will be successful. Someday he will really understand love and what it is all about.

It is a mature man with some years under his belt who finally comes to the realization that Heaven’s A Small Town where everybody waves and knows your name. A man whose heroes have now become his parents, the cop, the fireman and the soldier — and not the ballplayer or the famous movie star. A mature man gets tired of the rat race and just wants to go back to his roots a bit. Like the town where he was raised, he wants to make his circle, and his world, a bit Smaller. He has shaken his fist at Jesus a time or two over the course of his life, but he is now ready to be more like Jonah or Job or Moses, or even……. Noah.

He also wonders, Did I Make A Difference? Has he done all he could with the life he has led?

The man who found that wonderful Something In The Water now shouts from the hood of his Chevy that he has found Heaven On Earth and there is NOTHING that compares to HER! He, in fact, would have been Crazy Not To have followed her to the end of the earth. Although burned a few times by romance, he now has A Feeling Like That…….

He knows the joy that comes with the words, “She is having my child!” He is so secure in her kiss and loving her smile that he is willing to let her rise up to her own aspirations, as well. He will be there for her all the way. Here are the keys, Hon. I will ride shotgun……. you can lean and Dream On ME! And if I go first, I will be waiting on the sunny bank Until YOU Get There.

Yes, it is the male soul who laments, what will I do without you? How will I stand earth or heaven or even Dallas without you there?

The hopeless romantic who works his hands in wood and has never gotten along with his own family implores her to please....... let’s move on with this relationship.

So for the most part, I believe these songs are for and about MEN! (Perhaps we should ponder this a bit as we search for a title for the yet-unnamed project!)

Oh……. and the guy in the MINIVAN? He gave up a souped-up hot rod and a lot of freedom for his wife and kids. But I think most men will tell you that watching those kids sleep and being in love with an angel in tight blue jeans, whose voice sounds like peaches in her mouth, was well worth the 384 and four-on-the-floor.

It is INDEED a Heaven On Earth!

COOL, INDEED!!!

Enjoy the music!

JSB