Richie McDonald joins Country Rat Pack

By Dean Poling

VALDOSTA — Richie McDonald may have felt like he was already there as a country performer, but going from frontman of Lonestar to a solo career, he’s learned that everything’s changed.

“I do feel like a new artist,” McDonald says in a recent phone interview with The Valdosta Daily Times. “I have to prove what I’m doing. But people still know who I am, and know my voice. Still, to be honest, it’s been tougher than I thought.”

On Thursday evening, Richie McDonald is scheduled to play Wild Adventures as part of the Country Rat Pack Tour. He will be joined by fellow country stars Tracy Byrd and Tracy Lawrence.

“We’ve done about 10 to 15 of these shows,” McDonald says of the Country Rat Pack Tour. “It’s an intimate setting. The three of us share the stage with our guitars. We tell the stories behind the songs. Fans don’t get to hear that side of it.”

McDonald and the two Tracys have developed a solid rapport on stage. They banter back and forth while singing and playing back-up on each other’s hits. Each musician takes a turn sharing a story and performing one of his respective songs.

“We’ve had some high-energy shows in our careers,” McDonald says, “but this is more of a story-telling setting. Not as high energy.”

In one show, the promoters arranged couches, tables and lamps on the stage. “I was playing ‘Amazed,’” McDonald says, “and Tracy Lawrence was asleep on a couch.”

While McDonald enjoys working with the two Tracys and has been learning the ropes of a solo career with the release of his album, “I Turn to You,” earlier this year, he’s adjusting to no longer being part of Lonestar.

“I’ll look over while playing on stage and miss the other guys at times,” he says, referring to his former bandmates in Lonestar.

Missing them is reasonable. McDonald and Lonestar members, such as Dean Sams, Keech Rainwater and Michael Britt, performed hundreds of shows together annually for years. With McDonald as primary vocalist and an involved songwriter, Lonestar rose up the country charts with hits like “Amazed,” “I’m Already There,” “What About Now,” “No News,” “Tell Her,” “Smile,” “Everything’s Changed,” “Come Cryin’ To Me,” “My Front Porch Looking In.”

About two years ago, McDonald was ready for a change. He wanted a solo career, one which wouldn’t keep him on the road as much, McDonald says. “I wanted to watch my children grow up,” he gave as a reason for leaving Lonestar when speaking to The Valdosta Daily Times.

Lonestar has continued recording and touring without McDonald. Lonestar refers to its current tour with its new line-up as “The Future.”

As for Richie McDonald, he sees his performances as a bit of the past, the future, the here and now. Or as McDonald puts it, his shows are “something old, something new, something borrowed ... I don’t know what the blue would be.”

In other words, along with new songs, such as “Six Foot Teddy Bear,” McDonald sings the hits he made famous with Lonestar.

“Lots of those songs I wrote, and I’ll do them until I can’t do them,” McDonald says. “They’re a part of me. I’ll do them until I die.”



SHOWTIME

The Country Rat Pack Tour features Richie McDonald, Tracy Byrd and Tracy Lawrence.

When: 8 p.m. Thursday.

Where: Wild Adventures, Old Clyattville Road.

Admission: The concert is included in the park’s regular admission price. NOTE: One pair of free reserved concert seats will be given per passholder for this concert. Guests must have their season pass to receive reserved seats on a first-come, first-serve basis, the day of the concert (July 23), beginning when the park opens at 10 a.m. No reservations can be made.

More information: Call (229) 219-7080; or visit wildadventures.com



THE HITS

RICHIE McDONALD (with Lonestar): “Amazed,” “I’m Already There,” “What About Now,” “No News,” “Tell Her,” “Smile,” “Everything’s Changed,” “Come Cryin’ To Me,” “My Front Porch Looking In.”



TRACY LAWRENCE: “Used to the Pain,” “Paint Me a Birmingham,” “If the World Had a Front Porch,” “Sticks and Stones,” “Is That a Tear,” “Time Marches On,” “How a Cowgirl Says Goodbye,” “Alibis,” “Texas Tornado,” “My Second Home.”



TRACY BYRD: “The Truth About Men,” “Just Let Me Be In Love,” “Drinkin’ Bone,” “Watermelon Crawl,” “Keeper Of The Stars,” “A Good Way To Get On My Bad Side,” “Ten Rounds With Jose Cuervo,” “Put Your Hand In Mine,” “I’m From The Country,” “Tiny Town,” “Johnny Cash,” “Revenge of a Middle Aged Woman.”

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