The Frontmen w/ Special Guest BlackHawk

They have 30 No. 1 hits, have sold 30 million albums and are the soundtrack to every Friday night honkytonk, first kiss and broken heart for the last 30 years. Fans sing the words to every song in every set – and while many people have yet to know their name, just about everybody can sing their songs.

THE FRONTMEN – comprised of 3 former lead singers, Larry Stewart (Restless Heart), Richie McDonald (Lonestar) and Tim Rushlow (Little Texas) – is country music's hottest new supergroup. The men have already mastered the stage, succeeded on radio and nightly take sold-out audiences on a rollercoaster of 90’s nostalgic smash hits then transcend their past hit parade with fresh new & original songs that are unmistakably THE FRONTMEN today! 

The group recently put their massive catalog of hits to work, including "The Bluest Eyes in Texas," "Amazed" and "God Blessed Texas," on tour with Alabama and kick-started the Harley-Davidson crowd in Deadwood, South Dakota, at the 81st Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

"The thing about the three of us is we are better together than each of us was by ourselves," McDonald said. "The beauty of the show is that people can come and just sit there for two hours and go, "I sang along with every single song. I loved every one of them."

“There is a common thread that runs through the songs we have all recorded over the years that just fits like a glove,” Rushlow added. “It is quite powerful and certainly is the soundtrack to all of our lives”.

THE FRONTMEN's magic formula harkens back to some of the biggest Rock groups of the 60’s and 70’s like The Doobie Brothers, Fleetwood Mac and The Eagles where multiple lead singers like Joe Walsh, Glenn Frey and Don Henley have separate careers but join to together to create a sum bigger than its parts. They are a new act
with a fresh sound but also an arsenal of hits.

Tony Conway, manager of ALABAMA, had this comment about the group: “The Frontmen is a group of some of the best voices in the history of Country Music. Larry, Tim, Richie have each been responsible for some of the greatest songs ever released. When you take their stellar vocals on hits from Restless Heart, Little Texas and
Lonestar and put them together on one stage, you have the originals along with being the best of the best, and a new supergroup in the world of country music.”

"We have a great time," Larry Stewart says. "There's no egos. We just enjoy doing it. It's easy for us to work together. We know what to expect. It must've been meant to be."

Stewart's Restless Heart launched in 1984 with their self-titled debut album and went on to collect eight No. 1 hits and sing-along favorites, including "The Bluest Eyes in Texas," "I'll Still Be Loving You," "Why Does It Have to Be (Wrong or Right)," "Wheels," "Fast Movin' Train" and "A Tender Lie." They were named Top Vocal Group by the
Academy of Country Music in 1989.

Rushlow's Little Texas kicked o in 1991 with Top 10 hits "Some Guys Have All the Love" and "First Time for Everything," then followed up with its debut album of the same name. Subsequent hits include "God Blessed Texas," "Kick a Little," "My Love," "What Might Have Been" and "Amy's Back in Austin." Little Texas won the Academy of Country Music's Top Vocal Group in 1993.

McDonald joined Lonestar in 1992, and the group achieved nine No. 1 songs, including: "No News," "Come Cryin' to Me," "What About Now," "I'm Already There," "My Front Porch Looking In," "Mr. Mom" and "Amazed" -- an eight-week No. 1 song and the most popular country song of 1999. "Amazed" was the Academy
of Country Music's Single and Song of the Year in 1999, and Lonestar was the Top Vocal Group for the ACM and the Country Music Association in 2001.

During periods of downtime over the years, and THE FRONTMEN organically built a concept they've been working toward for more than a decade. McDonald and Stewart rst connected when they played a radio show in Louisiana. McDonald broached the idea with Stewart: three lead singers, one band and nothing but hits. Rushlow
joined soon after, and the trio went on an extended international tour of military bases. The soldiers' reaction armed what they already thought – people want to hear their songs.

"It's these iconic songs that have been a part of people's lives over the past 20 or 30 years, and we saw the effect that it had on these men and women fighting for our freedom," McDonald said. "We knew we had to do it."

THE FRONTMEN played sporadic shows together over the years while each continued with their various bands. When the pandemic struck, McDonald reevaluated how he wanted to spend his time. Stewart had recently stepped away from Restless Heart, and Rushlow shifted focus to THE FRONTMEN. With that, their side project
became their main gig.

"We jumped in with both feet," McDonald said. "I always tease Larry during the show and tell him, 'I grew up listening to your music.' He'll laugh and say, 'Man, you make me feel really old.' Larry and Restless Heart really opened the door for Lonestar and Little Texas. We really respect one another. It's just a blast to be on stage every
night to sing our hits and, and to harmonize with one another."

Each man has a turn in the spotlight splitting vocal duties but all three sing non-stop throughout the entire set showcasing harmonies that only this combination of talent could achieve. "Splitting the lead singing up keeps our vocal chords in tip top shape for all the harmonies in the set" Stewart said. Audiences receive a night of
boot-scootin,' heart-popping nostalgia. Stewart, McDonald, and Rushlow all major hit songwriters are currently working on the debut album as THE FRONTMEN with multi-genre musical heavyweight producer Mickey Jack Cones, expecting new music on the radio and streaming in early 2022.

The Frontmen are in the studio now with superstar hit machine record producer Mickey Jack Cones who had this to say about the group: “Larry, Richie and Tim are icons in the industry whose voices helped shape country music as we know it. Not only are they three of the most phenomenal vocalists in the genre, they are even better humans. I couldn’t be more honored and enamored to be working with them.”

Brand new fresh music, combined with a massive catalog of hits, and THE FRONTMEN are off to the races… again!

BlackHawk

For more than 20 years, BlackHawk has shared a unique sense of harmony with their voices, their songs and their fans. It’s a harmony that has sold over 7 million albums, scored some of the most distinctive country radio hits of the ‘90s, and still draws tens of thousands of fans to their electrifying live performances.  Today BlackHawk continues to honor its past as it forges its future, and does it all with a commitment that takes their music – and the harmony – to a whole new level.

“When we started,” says BlackHawk co-founder & lead vocalist Henry Paul, “our individual careers as writers and performers gave us somewhat of a more creative sensibility. We were three guys whose goal was to approach country with smart songs and unique harmonies for people who may not automatically like country.” Paul had previously co-founded Southern Rock legends The Outlaws, as well as leading the popular ‘80s rockers The Henry Paul Band. Van Stephenson had mainstream pop success as an ‘80s singer-songwriter-guitarist (“Modern Day Delilah”). And Dave Robbins had written hits for Eric Clapton and Kenny Rogers while partnering with Stephenson to write a series of classic #1 hits for Restless Heart, including “The Bluest Eyes In Texas” and “Big Dreams In A Small Town”.

“Even though the three of us had a love and appreciation for traditional country music,” says Dave, “we knew we weren’t going to be that. Henry was coming from Southern Rock, Van & I were in Nashville, but were writing country songs with pop sensibilities. When it came to our vocals, we wanted the three of us to be up front in the choruses like Crosby, Stills & Nash or The Eagles. What set us apart from the very beginning musically was being true to who we were individually.”

BlackHawk’s 1993 self-titled Arista debut album launched with the smash single “Goodbye Says It All”, followed by the Top 5 hits "Every Once in a While", "I Sure Can Smell the Rain", "Down in Flames" and "That's Just About Right". The album soon certified Double-Platinum, and the band received an ACM nomination as Best New Vocal Group Of The Year. BlackHawk followed up with the hit albums Strong Enough, Love & Gravity and Sky’s The Limit, which collectively featured such hits as “I’m Not Strong Enough To Say No”, “Like There Ain’t No Yesterday”, “Big Guitar”, “Almost A Memory Now”, “There You Have It” and “Postmarked Birmingham”. It was an unprecedented run of hits for a band that never quite fit the standard country mold. “Getting a BlackHawk record on the radio was often a tough sell,” explains Henry, “for the same reason country radio rejected bands like The Mavericks, The Dixie Chicks and Alison Krauss. But we were committed to smart, strong songs whether they fit the format or not. And the fans responded.”

But at the height of the trio’s success in 1999, Van Stephenson was diagnosed with an aggressive form of melanoma. “Van’s contribution to the group was enormous,” Henry says. “He could be a tremendously gifted songwriter and a deeply spiritual guy. We found ourselves at a crossroads as a band, and it would have been an easy time for country music to count us out.”

“Two days before Van passed away, Henry and I went to visit him,” Dave remembers. “Van was in a wheelchair at this point, and we took him for a stroll around his neighborhood. We spent the morning just talking, reminiscing about our career and good times together. Towards the end of our visit, Van said ‘I’ve got two things to ask of you guys. First, do what you can to help raise awareness and find a cure for this thing. The other is, don’t quit. There’s still a lot of great music left in BlackHawk.’” Since Van’s death on April 8th, 2001, the band and its fans have raised nearly a quarter of a million dollars for The Van Stephenson Memorial Cancer Fund at Nashville’s Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.

Henry and Dave regrouped and soon returned to the album charts with their Greatest Hits – dedicated to Van and featuring his final track “Ships Of Heaven” – as well as 2002’s Spirit Dancer and 2011’s Down From The Mountain, along with a touring schedule that brought the music to fans like never before. “Our audiences today are often full of 18 to 30 years olds,” says Dave. “They listened to us as kids, and still have a love for the music we made. That’s a big part of what propels us to keep creating as writers and performers.”

For the fans, for the music and for the brotherhood of Henry and Dave, harmony remains a powerful force. BlackHawk continues to record new music – including their well-received 2015 Brothers Of The Southland album, a forthcoming Christmas record and an acoustic greatest hits album – and deliver stellar live shows, backed by an all-star band of veteran country and southern rock players. “BlackHawk has a 20-year history of a certain kind of song craft as well as a quality of performance,” Henry says with pride. “People have always come to our shows expecting a concert that is emotionally and musically engaging, and the band still sounds even better than the records, night after night, show after show. When we take the stage, we work as hard as we ever have. We owe it the music, we owe it to ourselves, and Van, and we owe it to the fans. Now more than ever, that’s the true legacy of BlackHawk.”