WBDC Talks with Larry Stewart of The Frontmen

Afternoon DJ Amanda Tempel talked with Larry Stewart of The Frontmen ahead of their show at the French Lick Resort. As the lead singer of Restless Heart, he’s amassed worldwide success. Now, teaming up with Tim Rushlow and Richie McDonald, they’ve formed The Frontmen. Learn about their backstory in this conversation by listening below. 

Full Transcript:

Amanda Tempel: We are looking forward to this show on Friday night at the French Lick Resort. Now, The Frontmen, you guys are the ultimate country super group. Along with yourself. It’s Tim Rushlow formerly of Little Texas and Richie McDonald, formerly of Lonestar. How did you guys decide to team up?

Larry Stewart: It really dates way, way back, almost 15 years ago. Honestly, me and Richie were doing a fundraiser down in Louisiana, and Richie had the idea. We were just sitting at a Marriott lobby bar having coffee before our performance. He came up with this idea. Artists are doing the songwriter thing, teaming up with three artists and hitting the stage together.

He said, “What if we put together three lead singers of three successful bands?”

And I went, “Oh gosh, I love that idea.”

Long story short, we brought Tim Rushlow in, and we started going overseas to perform for the men and women in uniform. It was just the coolest experience ever. We got along great. Our music worked with a common thread. We started doing that every winter when our bands weren’t on tour.

Fast forward, come Covid, and the three of us talked. We’re all twiddling our thumbs at home, because you couldn’t gather with people and just realized, “Hey, let’s bring this thing stateside, put together a show and some great musicians and hit the road.”

And by golly, that’s what we’ve done. And lo and behold, we’ve just signed a record deal with BMG and have a new single out. We’re just really having a great time. Really cool things are happening.

AT: We are so glad that you guys did team up! I want to go back to your time with Restless Heart. You experienced a time like no other in country music. I’m thinking about your RCA days. There were so many great emerging acts! Along with Restless Heart, you had The Judds, Keith Whitley, KT Oslin – take us back and talk about the success you experienced back then.

LS: There were such great artists coming off RCA at the time. That was a wild time for me to watch and learn. Restless Heart’s very first show in front of a paying audience was opening for Alabama. Oh gosh, I threw up before we went on stage. I was that scared. I had never really done that before. We did the show, we did 20 minutes, and next thing we knew, we were asked to open for Alabama for a yearlong tour.

When we first got started, I think there were like, three gold albums on the Billboard album charts: Hank Jr., Alabama, maybe George Strait. There was Reba coming up after that. We ended up opening for all of them. And we watched country music go from the honky tonks and big clubs around the country, to performing arts centers, then the big arenas. We just watched it grow into something huge. Then here comes Vince, Alan Jackson, and Garth Brooks to take it to the next level. I just got to watch country music grow into the coolest format in America. It just exploded. And I got to be part of that. And Restless Heart got to be a part of that. It was really cool.

AT: I want to talk about your brand new single. It involves two iconic bands. Tell us all about “Beatles and Eagles.”

LS: Tim Rushlow found that song. We just listened to the lyrics and realized, “Wow.”  We’ve been trying to write songs. Songwriters and artists have been looking for songs to honor their favorite artists for a long time, and it was just so well put together. Taking those classic titles from those two iconic bands and making a leaving song out of it, kind of a love song, so to speak, but not a very positive one. We just love the story and the way they intertwine those titles, and we recorded it, and here we have it out as a single.

AT: You can find this song on your brand-new album. This collection features some of the hits that we all know and love, but you also have a lot of new music for fans. Take us through the recording process for this album.

LS: We each wrote a couple of songs. The songwriting community was so supportive and gave us some really cool songs that we got to cut. That is so cool.

Mickey Jack Cones, who works with some of the greatest artists in the business right now, took us under his wing. We went in the studio, and we cut twelve songs, nine brand new ones. We recorded three of our classics: “God Bless Texas,” “Amazed,” and “I’ll Still Be Loving You,” from our three bands and made this album.

It was one of those things that just fell out. We didn’t have to work very hard at it. We knew which songs and who needed to sing lead. It was so fun singing harmony together and we’re just proud of the record. It’s called The Frontmen, and go check it out, because we love it!

AT: Thinking about all the hits the three of you have had – solo hits, hits with your former bands, I counted over fifty Top 40 hits. I don’t even know how you guys narrow down a setlist every night! Tell us what you can expect when you go to a Frontmen show.

LS: I’m the oldest, so I get my way. (laughs) Between the three of us, we have thirty number one hits. So, we’re not doing them all. And, you know, many of them were doing in a medley. If you want to go and bring back memories and go back through that ‘90s era, and in my case, late ‘80s, come out and enjoy a night of memory making, and hear a bunch of songs. Hit after hit, after hit. We’re three guys who love to hit the stage together and are just really honored to still be able to get out on the stage and share the music with the people. We look forward to seeing everyone!

AT: We look forward to seeing you this Friday at the French Lick resort. Larry, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me today. We sure do appreciate it.

LS: Thanks Amanda!