Interview with Marty Raybon Shenandoah lead singer

This week, I was fortunate to get to interview Marty Raybon, the lead singer of the famous country band, Shenandoah, who are still touring after 35 years.

They will be performing here in Sulphur Springs on Friday the 11th of February. For those of you who think you don’t know Shenandoah or their music, you might know them and be surprised when you hear one of their five number one hits, which were, “The Church on Cumberland Road”, “Sunday in the South”, “Two Dozen Roses”, “Next to You, Next to Me” and “If Bubba Can Dance (I Can Too)”. They also put out some very entertaining videos back then.

Marty Raybon started performing at the age of eight years old at his 3rd grade talent show. He performed the Johnny Horton classic, “Battle of New Orleans,” and told his mother when he finished, “Mama, I want to sing to people the rest of my life.” He told me, “And glory to God, I’ve been able to do that my entire life and I’m so grateful.” Raybon said it was his father that really helped him acquire his love of music. “My Daddy played fiddle and guitar and he not only loved playing music, he loved music. Watching him play inspired me to do what I do.” I asked Marty, age 62, whether his father lived long enough to see his success. “Yes, he was tickled to see our success, the awards, the gold albums and he loved seeing us live and listening to the crowds roar.”

After 35 years of playing with Shenandoah, I asked him what were some of the things that he really enjoyed about doing what he does, and he replied, “Getting people happy and excited. We strive to make sure that everyone never leaves our show thinking, ‘I couldn’t wait for that to end.’ If we’ve entertained you and made you happy, then we’ve done our jobs.”

When you’ve toured for 35 years and lived the life Marty and the band have lived, you would think it would be hard to come up with an answer to my next question, which was, “Do you have a particular interaction with a fan that really stands out in your mind.” He said, “I remember a young lady shared with me that at one point in her life, she was thinking about killing herself and the radio was on in her car and their song “Mama Knows” came on. She said she got to thinking that if she did something like that and her Mama knew, it would break her heart, so she didn’t do it.” I have to admit, “Mama Knows,” wasn’t one of the Shenandoah songs I remembered, so I went to YouTube and watched it and I could see how those lyrics could stop someone from hurting themselves, especially if they loved their mother. Raybon continued, “it shows just how powerful music is. When we cut that song, stopping someone from doing that was not our intent, but music can make you laugh, or cry and it has to move you emotionally.”

I always like to ask people if they have a “secret skill” that no one knows about, so asking a successful, professional singer what his secret skill might be, left me curious as to what he’d say. “Well, I’m a brick block layer by trade. My Daddy was a masonry contractor. I also love doing woodwork and I built our dining room table.” Raybon said he has no intention of retiring anytime soon. “I don’t see myself quitting. I see myself continuing to do the things that still are enjoyable to me, and we love people and being around people.” “Most people say they want to travel when they retire”, Raybon said with a chuckle, but he’s been traveling for 35 years, so I’m sure once he does retire, he’ll be content with staying home and enjoying his wife of 36 years, who he describes as, “the woman I’m still desperately in love with,” their three grown sons and five grandchildren. Shenandoah consists of:

Marty Raybon, lead singer and acoustic guitar, Austin Crum, lead guitar, Paul Sanders, bass guitar, Travis Mobley, piano, Donnie Allen, Fiddle and acoustic guitar and Mike McGuire on drums.

I can’t wait to see them on the 11th and I hope everyone comes out to Sulphur Springs High School to watch them perform.