Oak Ridge Boys will bring their rhythm and harmony to McGregor Hall

Dec. 22—HENDERSON — They've been making music for more than half a century. They've inspired audiences around the globe. They've garnered awards aplenty.

And they're still going strong.

They're the Oak Ridge Boys.

Duane Allen, Richard Sterban, Joe Bonsall and William Lee Golden will bring their music to McGregor Hall Performing Arts Center to jumpstart the second half of the 2022-23 concert season.

At 7 p.m. on Jan. 28, they will burst into song on the stage of the 1,000-seat McGregor Hall auditorium, giving the audience the best of their unique mix of country and gospel hits.

That mixture of music first found its voice when four guys from Knoxville, Tennessee, began singing in Oak Ridge when the atomic bomb was being perfected there. They were soon performing regularly on the Grand Ole Opry and at festivals, theaters and fairs across the country.

Their recordings have produced 12 gold albums, three platinum albums, one double platinum album plus one double platinum single. They have had more than a dozen national No. 1 singles and over 30 Top Ten hits.

The current edition of the Oak Ridge Boys features lead singer Duane Allen, bass singer Richard Sterban, tenor Joe Bonsall and baritone William Lee Golden. They'll be unpacking some of those hits for the McGregor Hall audience —songs like "Elvira," "Dream On" and "Just a Little Talk With Jesus."

In a telephone interview with The Dispatch, Sterban commented on his long tenure with the group.

"The third week in October I celebrated my 50th year with the Oak Ridge Boys," he said.

He described several milestones the group reached during that half century. But the No. 1 highlight, he said, was being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, joining such notables as Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton.

A close second is being a member of the Grand Ole Opry. "We've sung there many times, but were not members," he said. "You have to be invited." He told how Little Jimmy Dickens came on stage while they were performing and said, "You guys are about to become members of the Grand Ole Opry."

The Oak Ridge Boys have lent their voices to support some of the great names in the industry. They backed up Paul Simon on his hit "Slip Slidin' Away." And they have collaborated with George Jones, Brenda Lee, Johnny Cash, Roy Rogers, Billy Ray Cyrus, Bill Monroe, Merle Haggard and Ray Charles, to name a few.

Sterban said he was singing backup for Elvis when William Lee Golden of the Oak Ridge Boys called and asked him if he would be interested in joining the group. He said "yes," a choice he now says was a "pretty good decision." It led to the Country Music Hall of Fame as well as to the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.

Sterban said he thinks the main reason for the longevity of the Oak Ridge Boys is their commitment to performing music before live audiences. "We love what we do," he said. "We look forward to getting on stage and bringing our music to the audience."

It's also because of the relationship between the four men. "We're the best of friends," he said. "Each guy brings something different to the table. We learned to respect our differences."

And their music has a positive emphasis, which he said is inspirational, gives people hope and is "good family entertainment."

The Oak Ridge Boys' "stage" spans continents. Their 1977 video "Easy" reached the No. 3 slot in Australia. They participated in the first American popular music headline tour in the former Soviet Union. And the beat continues as they perform some 150 dates each year at theaters, fairs and festivals across the U.S. and Canada.

Now they are bringing their music to Henderson, with the Jan. 28 concert at McGregor Hall.

The cost of a ticket is $42.70 for this one-time performance. Tickets can be purchased at the box office Monday through Friday from 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. or online at mcgregorhall.org. The box office is at 201 Breckenridge St. in Henderson. The telephone number is 252-598-0662.