The Oak Ridge Boys Don't Quit

Harmonious onstage and off

The four guys are so different from one another, but we have an amazing brotherly bond. So many great songs, so much water under so many bridges, it's all drawn us closer together. When we were younger, maybe a little ego and nonsense would get in the way. But I can't remember the last time there's been a dark word on the bus. Our feeling is, “Let's go sing.”

A new album is brewing

Right now we're in the planning stages with our great producer, Dave Cobb. We're talking about a front porch attitude — picking out songs we'd sing on the front porch. It's the same approach we used for our Christmas album, Down Home Christmas, songs you'd gather around the piano to sing. Dave will provide the direction as he always does. I love the creative process. I'm excited that next fall we'll be singing songs that right now we haven't even thought of.

Connecting with the audience

I believe we uplift people with a good, clean, wholesome American show. They're not going to hear anything embarrassing. We're going to wave the flag a little bit and sing some gospel. We're good at singing about love and positive vibes. We're not good at singing beer-drinking, divorce songs. Yes, our fans skew older. We've all skewed older. But they bring in new people. We've been passed down like an old shirt.

Music as therapy and escapism

I have spent my whole life in music and I've seen what it can do. Life can be difficult. It's a joy to be at a show for two hours, having fun and elbowing your neighbor and listening to four-part harmony with a big kicking band. You go through all the emotional pulls from “Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight” to “Did I Make a Difference.”

Singing global smash “Elvira” night after night after night

I never get tired of any of our songs. Songs mark time and space like nothing else. When we sing “Elvira,” for me, it's 1981 again, with the Oak Ridge Boys going from a major country music act to a household name. “Elvira” is our biggest song, the one everyone wants to hear. Most audiences will stand, like it's the Hallelujah Chorus. How can you not gear up for that? I'll sing “Elvira” every night till the day I die and it won't bother me a bit.

The upside of downtime

We don't talk about retirement but we have learned over the years how to balance our time. I love to go sing and I love to get home. I have plenty of time to go to my farm and fish. It's a second residence, 150 acres on the Tennessee-Kentucky line. The nearest person is about 3½ miles away. It's not good if you have a heart attack, but it's great if you want to sit on the porch by yourself and pick banjo for coyotes.

Joining AARP and the DOJ to fight fraud

We jumped right in, and we're involved at a gut level. Fraud abuse is serious, period, but the elderly are especially vulnerable. They need to know about these scams. There is no fortune waiting for you in Africa. The Social Security Administration will never call and ask for your Social Security number. They know your number. If we can provide a little help along the way and make them aware of these things a little more, we're happy to do a good deed. Our country is flooded with elderly people. You're talking to one of them!

Looking ahead

It's great to be an Oak Ridge Boy. I would like to keep singing, as long as we can do it at a high level. If we couldn't sing well, it would be an embarrassment. The Oak Ridge Boys have built a heck of a mountain one stone at a time. If it started to deteriorate, then it would be time to stop.