Music INSIGHT
at the Oxford Performing Arts Center
Shenandoah…
When Mike McGuire and guitarist Jim Seales started a
band in the clubs of Muscle
Shoals, Alabama in 1984 they
never dreamed their dedication to great music would
lead them down such a long
and illustrious road. By late
1985 they had added bassist Ralph Ezell, keyboardist
Stan Thorn, and a struggling
bluegrass singer named
Marty Raybon to the mix and
were confident they had the
winning combination they’d been looking
for, and the Grammy award winning group
Shenandoah was born.
Within their first two years on CBS records,
the band scored 5 number one records including “Church on Cumberland Road”, “Two
Dozen Roses”, “Sunday in the South”, and
22
“Next to You Next to Me”. But after a lengthy
legal battle over the name ‘Shenandoah’
they moved to RCA records. In no time at
all they hit again with 4 more number ones
including “If Bubba Can Dance, I Can Too”,
written by drummer Mike McGuire and lead
singer Marty Raybon, and the heartfelt “I
Want to Be Loved Like That.” Also during this
time their friendship with Dallas Cowboy
Superbowl quarterback Troy Aikman lead to
January 2015
INSIGHT