2023 was a turning point for Walker Montgomery.
The Kentucky native had already released, and found plenty of success with, a lot of music in the six years prior, but it was his 2023 single, “Work to Do,” soon followed by an EP of the same name, that saw Montgomery reconnecting with his traditional country roots.
Several releases have followed to critical acclaim, including a viral cover of “I Love the Way You Love Me,” a song made popular by his hitmaking father, John Michael Montgomery, three decades prior.
We caught up with Montgomery at CMA Fest to chat about honing in on his sound, surprising his father with “I Love the Way You Love Me,” exciting new music on the way and more!
Pro Country: You’d released a lot of music prior to the Work to Do EP, but it felt like that EP was the start of really diving headfirst into a 90s-country type kind of sound. Why did you feel it was the right time to lean even further into a classic sound, and how encouraging has the response been since?
Walker Montgomery: I was 19 when I moved to Nashville, and I didn’t really know who I was as an artist. It took some time to figure it out. Once I started working with my producer, Bart Butler, we honed in on what I wanted to do musically and who I am as an artist. That’s when Work to Do came out. It’s been the most-responded to music that I’ve made, and it’s the music that I enjoy the most, so it’s been fun to see it grow and evolve over the last few years.
PC: You mentioned working with Bart Butler, who has also worked with artists like Jon Pardi and Randall King. How much do you enjoy working and collaborating with someone like Bart who thrives with traditional country sounds?
WM: It’s great. Bart is really high-strung; he’s at 100 all the time. I’m more chill in the studio, so we bring each other to a happy medium [laughs]. He’s got great ideas, and he’s got a great ear for songs and instruments, so it’s great to work with him.
PC: “Leave Your Leaving Behind” is about a year old now, and has consistently been one of your top-performing songs on streaming since its release. What do you think it is about the song that has allowed it to have the life that it’s had since its release?
WM: That song isn’t up-tempo, but it’s got a drive to it. During a live show, it can even replace an up-tempo song. The breakup songs, the love songs and ballads have been what people have gravitated towards with my music, which is good, because that’s what I want to sing. It started with “Leave Your Leaving Behind,” and then we followed it up with “I Love the Way You Love Me” and “Never Had You Anyway.”
PC: Your cover of your dad’s hit, “I Love the Way You Love Me,” has earned millions of streams across platforms and earned well over 40 million views on TikTok. What was it like to see the song blowing up, and what does that say about the song, even three-plus decades later?
WM: I didn’t release music for a year before I started working with Bart. We were trying to build things back up, and the doors flew open with “I Love the Way You Love Me.” I knew if I recorded the song, it would do something. I didn’t know it would do that well, though. That shocked me. It’s changed the trajectory of everything.
PC: You mentioned on Tracy Lawrence’s podcast that your dad didn’t know that you were cutting “I Love the Way You Love Me,” and that you sent him the song after you’d finished it. What do you remember about the way he reacted to it?
WM: He knew that I was going in to cut songs, but I never told him we were doing that one. Once it was done, I sent it to him, and he said, “Man, you’ve opened yourself up to comparisons now!” And I told him they were already doing it anyway [laughs]. It was a good surprise for him, though.
PC: The music video for “Almost, So Close, So Long, Goodbye” captures the high energy of the song perfectly. How much fun did you have shooting the video, and how fun is it to burn down the stage a bit with that song?
WM: It was great! We do our bus call in Opry Mills, so if we’re going on the road, we’ll go inside and have a beer at Music City Bar & Grill, which is where we filmed the video. It’s a fun bar, and it was fun to have the band and everyone in there to make it.
The girl in the video is an indoor football cheerleader, and she’d never done line dancing or swing dancing until a week before. She’s super talented.
PC: You just released your newest single, “Nothing Like You Nowhere,” which was written by Mitch Oglesby and Phil O’Donnell. How did you come across the song, and what drew you to cut it?
WM: I had that song in my back pocket for about three years. The right time never came to record it. The last time we were in the studio and looking for songs, I showed it to Bart. He loved it, and it turned out even better than I expected.
PC: You just announced your engagement to your girlfriend, Krista, who performs with Tigirlily Gold. Was that what helped make it the right time to release the song?
WM: I wish I could say it was strategically planned, but we’d recorded six songs, and that was the last one left, and I’d gotten engaged the week before. It was great timing, though! [laughs]
PC: How much are you looking forward to this next chapter of your life with Krista?
WM: It’s going to be great; she puts up with my ass! [laughs]. She’s a special girl; she had me from hello. We had our first date at Puttshack, and I knew I was going to marry her. I’m so excited.
PC: In the spirit of your engagement and “Nothing Like You Nowhere,” we’ll put you on the spot. Can you give us a few of your favorite country music love songs?
WM: “You Had Me From Hello” by Kenny Chesney is a good one, and Dad’s got a lot of them. “I Love the Way You Love Me,” I Can Love You Like That,” “Long as I Live” and “I Swear.” I’d say one that’s special to my heart is a James Bonamy song called “I Don’t Think I Will.” That might be my favorite of all-time.
PC: Your website mentions new music set for release later this year. What information, if any, can you give about what is to come? What can people expect to hear?
WM: We’re working on something now! I don’t know exactly when it’ll come out. I just went into the studio a few weeks ago and cut three more songs. Whether it will be an album or an EP remains to be seen. The singles are working out right now, so for the time being, we’ll probably release a few more singles and wrap it up into some kind of project.
PC: You’ve mentioned recording a song with your dad, as well as your uncle, Eddie Montgomery of Montgomery Gentry. Is there anything you can share about that?
WM: We’ve got it in the works! Dad’s got a little studio up in Kentucky at the house. We’re going to try to get the two of them on a song called “Wouldn’t Be a Country Boy” that I recorded years ago. Dad and Eddie have both always loved that song, so I said hell, we should re-cut it and see what happens!
PC: You have a pretty busy road schedule laid out for the rest of the year, including dates with Dwight Yoakam, Cody Johnson, Scotty McCreery and Dustin Lynch. How excited are you to stay busy on the road and to be a part of those packages?
WM: It’s great! The reason I do all of this is so I can go out on the road. I don’t want to be in Nashville, I want to be on a bus going to play. We’ve done a handful of shows with Cody already, and we’ve got the Scotty McCreery and Dustin Lynch shows in November, and the Dwight shows are going to be fun. It’s been a good year so far, and we’ve got a great schedule going forward.
PC: A few weeks ago, it was announced that you’d signed a publishing deal with Major Bob Music. Given the collective talent that they have signed, what does their belief in you and your talent mean to you?
WM: I’ve been out of a publishing deal for about three years. It’s amazing the songs you can write when you write with people who want to write country music. We’ve been writing some really good, traditional stuff. It’s been a great growing process.
PC: Along with your road schedule and working on new music, what do you have planned for the rest of 2025?
WM: I guess I’m planning a wedding now! [laughs]. That’ll be taking up a lot of time, but Krista is already on it. There’s a bunch of “yes dear” coming [laughs].
*Feature image by Acacia Evans*
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