Montgomery Gentry rides into town for a July 9 concert at the Bangor Auditorium with something to be proud of – a high-energy music career that has taken off into the stratosphere.

Chart-topping hits abound, from their 2002 anthem “My Town” to their most recent release “She Don’t Tell Me To,” a top-10 single off their greatest-hits compilation, “Something to Be Proud Of: The Best of 1999-2005.”

For Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry, it has been a rapid rise from the honky-tonks of their native northern Kentucky to their status as instantly recognized stars headlining their own shows, visiting Iraq and Kuwait as part of USO Tours, and cranking out hit after hit after hit.

“Many performers turn on the charm for the cameras, but Montgomery Gentry are real people,” said Sgt. Steve Rodgers, stationed in Kirkuk, Iraq, in a recent interview. “They performed not to thousands of people as they are accustomed, but a few hundred men and women who needed a boost in morale and wanted a night to remember. Eddie and Troy provided just that.”

Montgomery Gentry’s success lies partly in its crossover appeal, but a crossover appeal somewhat different to that most common in today’s country music world. The duo combines the soul of balladeers with the energy of southern rock, something that came into focus in 2004 when they were part of the groundbreaking Country Music Television Outlaws special along with Hank Williams Jr., Kid Rock, Gretchen Wilson, Big & Rich, Tanya Tucker and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Theirs is a dynamic stage presence, with the 42-year-old Montgomery – the brother of country star John Michael Montgomery – adorned in the big black hat and the long black jacket, working the microphone stand like it’s an instrument in its own right instead of a vehicle for magnifying his voice well beyond the stage.

Gentry, 39, is just as fiery, if slightly less flamboyant, but the combined stage presence is quite complementary during concerts that feature tales of triumph and tragedy, love of family and the small-town America that helped shape their own personas.

Montgomery grew up as part of a family band in a household “with musical equipment in the living room and bartenders for baby sitters,” according to one description. Along with John Michael, the Montgomerys grew up to spend much of their formative years in local honky-tonks amid the music of Hank Williams Jr., Charlie Daniels, Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard – and Skynyrd.

Gentry was a little more of a homebody, singing along with the music of Elvis Presley and Bruce Springsteen before finding his musical kindred spirit in the legendary George Jones. Later, he developed a similar bond with Randy Travis, a bond that inspired him to pursue music as a career.

Gentry and the Montgomery brothers soon joined forces in a band called Young Country, an arrangement that lasted until John Michael landed his own record deal. Then came a split, as Eddie Montgomery joined his brother while Gentry went solo and won the national Jim Beam Talent Contest in 1994, an honor that resulted in him branching out as the opening act for Patti Loveless and Tracy Byrd.

But soon Montgomery and Gentry were drawn back together, largely by their hometown as they frequently found themselves on stage together in Lexington-area clubs.

“We had worked together so well for so long and knew each other so well that I knew it couldn’t be anything but right,” said Gentry in the group’s biography. “It just seemed like the more we were playing together around town, the bigger our following was getting.”

Soon Nashville called, and the rest is history. Five albums later – and particularly since the 1999 release of their first CD, “Tattoos and Scars” – Montgomery Gentry has been a staple of country music playlists with a string of hits that also has included “Speed,” “She Couldn’t Change Me,” “Hell Yeah,” “Gone,” and “If You Ever Stop Loving Me.”

Their entry into the American music consciousness also benefited from opening for Brooks and Dunn in 2001 and Kenny Chesney in 2002 and 2003.

Numerous awards followed, and now they are stars on their own, though the message remains the same from their honky-tonk days.

“We still look at life the same way we did when we were working two jobs and playing music at night in the clubs to make ends meet,” said Gentry, part of CMT’s Most Played Duo of 2005. “I don’t think we’ve changed.”

Tickets for the Montgomery Gentry concert are available at the Bangor Auditorium box office or by calling 990-4444 or 775-3331.

Montgomery Gentry concert

When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday, July 9

Where: Bangor Auditorium

INFO: Tickets are $56.50, and are available at 990-4444 or 775-3331.