‘It’s a euphoric feeling’: Harmonies of the Oak Ridge Boys to fill First Interstate Center for the Arts
Country-gospel quartet the Oak Ridge Boys may be in the midst of the “American Made: Farewell Tour,” but with a new record and member igniting a fire within the group, they aren’t done just yet.
Late last year, the group released “Mama’s Boys,” their first record in over three years. The 10-track project was the brainchild of not only one of the hottest producers in Nashville, but the entire music industry.
That man is Dave Cobb, who has produced a plethora of Grammy-nominated and -winning records for artists like Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell and Sturgill Simpson. He has also produced the past five Oak Ridge Boys albums.
Cobb wanted the group to release a record focused on mothers and commissioned some of the best writers in the music meca of Nashville to do so. Two of those writers include David Lee Murphy, known for his own hits like “Dust on the Bottle,” and Aaron Raitiere, who co-wrote the recent Ella Langley hit “You Look Like You Love Me” as well as “I’ll Never Love Again” with Lady Gaga for the acclaimed film “A Star is Born.” The two wrote the record’s most popular tune, “Come on Home.”
The record also includes a classic Willie Nelson tune, “I Thought About You, Lord.” The Oak Ridge Boys have shared multiple bills with Nelson throughout the years, but had somehow never managed to share a track with the American icon.
“He’s recorded with everybody in the world, seems like we have too, but it was just a real special thrill,” said baritone William Lee Golden.
Even though the group and Nelson had to record their parts separately, a classic Oak Ridge Boys harmony alongside Nelson’s wise voice and lyricism finally exists.
“Mama’s Boys” revisits the classic country-gospel sound they have become so beloved for, featuring their distinct four-part harmonies, descriptive narratives, and instruments of Americana, such as the harmonica and piano.
“It’s who we are,” Golden said. “It’s a three-minute story, it takes you on a journey … When we’re out there singing and harmonizing, and when it locks in together and the feeling is there, it makes you forget how old you are.”
That nearly indescribable magic of classic harmony is one thing that has kept Golden on the road for all these years, including a performance at the First Interstate Center for the Arts on Monday. There’s something about the goosebumps-evoking, timeless vocal symmetry that takes a hold and refuses to let go.
“When you’re singing together and everyone is in unison, and then all at once we spread that harmony out, you can feel the chills on your arm and it makes the hair stand up,” Golden said. “You can feel it all over … it’s a euphoric feeling, is what it is.”
But perhaps the most crucial piece of the recent Oak Ridge Boys puzzle is a tenor with a bluegrass background, Ben James.
The Oak Ridge Boys longtime tenor, Joe Bonsall, passed due to complications of ALS last year. He continued to perform with the group through 2023, but did so on a stool and often needed assistance getting on and off the stage.
As much more than a fellow vocalist, but closer to a member of the family, Bonsall’s experience and his passing was difficult for Golden and the group to go through.
“For a few years there, it was heart-wrenching watching our longtime, 50-year partner struggle with ALS,” Golden said.
Since joining the group, James has not only brought a “high lonesome” tenor that Golden compares to Vince Gill, but a new sense of energy, feeling and life to the group.
“It was like bringing a beautiful rainbow at midnight when Ben James showed up,” Golden said. “To bring us out of that was getting back together and singing our songs and harmonizing together, we have no one else to lean on, other than each other, after losing someone like that.”