Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 12, 1993 TAG: 9303120295
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
STILL ON THE HUNT
It is kind of strange. The new version of the Kentucky Headhunters is really closer to the original Kentucky Headhunters than the original Kentucky Headhunters.Confused?
The Kentucky Headhunters?
I thought they split up.
Indeed, that was the word last year, after original Headhunters lead singer Ricky Phelps and his brother, bassist Doug Phelps, suddenly quit the band.
But the remaining group members - rhythm guitarist Richard Young, drummer Fred Young and lead guitarist Greg Martin - wasted little time mourning the band's demise.
Instead, they called up a pair of former musical allies who had made up the core of the Headhunters long before the Phelps brothers came along.
This was back 10 years ago, when the Headhunters had not yet become the Headhunters. Back then, the band called itself Itchy Brother.
Not surprisingly, Mark Orr and Anthony Kenney were eager to join their former Itchy Brother colleagues in a new version of the Headhunters.
The new Headhunters, with lead singer Orr and bassist Kenney on board, play tonight at the Salem Civic Center. Also on the bill is Sawyer Brown and the Charlie Daniels Band.
Orr and Kenney didn't make the original lineup for the Headhunters when the group formed in the mid-1980s after Itchy Brother had run its course.
Kenney had just gotten married, and he felt compelled to keep a steady job and stay close to home rather than go on the road.
That opened the door for Doug Phelps to join the first incarnation of the Headhunters on bass, and with him came his brother, Ricky, on vocals. That then left Orr out.
Kenney said in a telephone interview recently from Los Angeles that he worked in a hardware store, and then joined Ronnie McDowell's touring band. Orr worked at a GM parts distributorship in Nashville.
They had to watch as the Headhunters became the top band in country music without them. "I'd be a liar if I said I didn't get a little bit jealous," said Kenney, 34.
However, he said he was more happy for their success than anything. Kenney is first cousins to both the Youngs and Martin.
The Headhunters produced a string of hits, including "Walk Softly on This Heart of Mine," "Dumas Walker," "Oh Lonesome Me," "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" and "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line." The band also won a slew of awards.
Then last June, Ricky and Doug Phelps announced on "Crook and Chase," a Nashville Network talk show, that they were leaving the band to pursue a different musical direction on their own.
They later notified the Youngs and Martin by fax. "Nobody in this band really knows what happened," Kenney said.
Nor do they know what musical path the Phelps brothers plan to take. "I guess the world will find out when they get their record out," he said.
Kenney and Orr quickly signed up. Reportedly, within 45 minutes after the fax was received.
A new album was recorded, titled "Rave On," and the re-formed group has wasted no time hitting the road.
Musically, there is little difference between the old and new Headhunters. It is Cream meets Bill Monroe, but much heavier on the Cream.
Kenney said Orr is not as twangy as Phelps. "He had definitely a lot more of a country voice."
Orr's is more a cross between Paul Rogers, Roy Orbison, Michael Bolton and Johnny Winter, he said. "Mark is 10-times the singer that Ricky was."
He hopes that will translate into more success on rock radio and among rock record buyers. But Kenney said that doesn't mean the band is deserting its roots.
"Man, we're from the country. We may not sound country, but we're as country as you can get."
Kenney said it was great getting to form a rhythm section again with drummer Fred Young, whose bizarre sideburns rival only ZZ Top's long beards.
"They're still hanging out there," Kenney reported. "It won't be long before we won't need a broom on the bus. He calls them his leg-warmers."
Kenney said the group is looking forward to touring later this year with, of all unlikely people, Billy Ray Cyrus.
"I know it sounds weird," he said.
But he said the band recently shared the bill with Cyrus for a Detroit show and he was impressed all around - by the crowd and by Billy Ray.
"Believe it or not, we even sang `Achy Breaky Heart' with him at the end of the night."
Kentucky Headhunters in concert tonight, 7:30 p.m., Salem Civic Center. With Sawyer Brown, Charlie Daniels Band. Reserved seat tickets, $19.50. 375-3004 or TicketMaster outlets.