Band's lead singer still going strong

Sunday, June 26, 2011

By MIKE SMITH -

Doug Gray doesn’t understand the big deal … he thinks it is perfectly normal to be spending more than 200 days a year on the road playing rock-and-roll music when you’re 62 years old.

The fact is, though, that is what keeps the front man for The Marshall Tucker Band young.

“How in the world can you say you don’t want to continue something that has given so much to you, something you’ve done successfully for so long and are still doing successfully,” said Gray, who will be leading The Marshall Tucker Band when it headlines Celebration 2011 at Martinsville Speedway on July 4. “It’s a part of my life, an important part of my life. Somebody still cares, and that keeps me young.”

It’s been an important part of his life since 1972. Forty years and 33 albums later, Gray and The Marshall Tucker Band remain wide open when the spotlights are turned up.

“We like to say that we activate the crowd,” he said. “We were playing in Albany, N.Y., recently and I made the mayor of the city get up on the stage and play the tambourine with us. We’re not like some bands that are living in the old days, all laidback and easy. We get into it and we want the audience into it, too. It’s like momma’s soup … you have to have all the key ingredients, and we do.

“Our shows are kind of like what a lot of people would call a family reunion. We still do it because it’s fun and exciting.”

The Marshall Tucker Band will take the Celebration 2011 stage at about 8 p.m. July 4, following Mountain Heart, which will open the show at 7 p.m. The carnival midway, with more than 15 rides and games, will be open from 5 p.m. until 11:30 p.m. All of Celebration 2011 is free to the public.

The sound of The Marshall Tucker Band has been described as everything from rock to country to country rock. One thing is for certain, though, most everyone has heard and tapped a toe to one of the many hits the group as enjoyed. It has sold more than 17 million albums, including seven gold and three platinum albums, behind familiar tunes such as “Heard It In A Love Song,” “Fire On The Mountain,” “Can’t You See” and “Take The Highway.”

In addition to touring the United States, Gray and his fellow band members travel abroad as often as possible to entertain members of the United States Armed Forces.

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