"I was living in Lexington at the time I started doing this (with Montgomery Gentry). Eddie moved to Danville. He and I had become really good friends at that point. He was like, 'Man, I am telling you. You will love it over here in Danville,'" Garrett said. "I moved over there to be closer to my son because his mother lives over in that area. But I absolutely love it and will probably be there until I am gone. Eddie always told me he how much he loved it, and I fell in love with it the same way he did."
He appreciates the way fans here respect his privacy when he's back in town, too. He says he knows many more fans recognize Montgomery than do him, but he says Danville is "awesome" about letting them both lead a normal life when they are home.
"They (fans) will say, 'Hi, how you doing, where have you been, where are you going next' and that kind of thing. It is just a great place to be," Garrett said. "I love seeing the Boyle County line when I am coming back home. We spend a lot of time in big cities. I am not a city boy at all. I like to get back in here."
Lifelong music interest
Garrett has always loved music.
"I really didn't give myself any options to do anything else," he said. "My family used to get together on the front porch after church every Sunday and play Bluegrass music."
He said most of his family, especially on his mother's side, could play an instrument. He says he can "dabble" with a few other instruments, including the banjo and mandolin.
"Once I discovered the guitar, I just stayed with it. I would always sit down and dabble with anything that will make noise, but the guitar is what I love to play," Garrett said.
Still, he never envisioned joining a group that would be as successful as Montgomery Gentry is when he left Prestonsburg to play music in Lexington. His break came when his band was playing in a contest in Lexington Gentry judged about 12 or 13 years ago.
"It just so happened our band won and Troy voted for us. I ran into him six or seven months later at Comedy Off Broadway. I went over to speak to him and he said, 'I remember you, don't I?' We met, became buddies and started playing a lot together."
When Gentry and Montgomery decided to put together their own band, Gentry told Montgomery he had a guitar player he needed to hear.
"Once I heard Bo play, I knew we had to have him with us," Montgomery said. "He was special."
When they asked Garrett to join them, he quickly accepted.
"I said I would love to do it and we have just been hanging out and playing music ever since. That is when Montgomery Gentry got started," said Garrett, who still remembers rehearsing in the basement at Gentry's mother's house.
"I always wanted to play at this level, but it is like it never will happen. You start to think that, but thanks to these guys I was able to make it to this level just backing them up."
Recently the group played again at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry where they showcased their latest No. 1 single, "Lucky Man," as well as another song, "What Do You Think About That," which they hope will climb to No. 1.
"The first time we ever played the Grand Ole Opry, I was a nervous wreck," Garrett said.
Even though it is not the original site where many of country music's biggest stars performed, the new site still has a piece of the original set at center stage to remind performers of country music's history.
"It's very cool to play there and is always going to be special. You have to appreciate what it is and has been for years," Garrett said.
Invaluable friendships
Garrett certainly appreciates his relationship with Montgomery and Gentry.
"Eddie and I have become really good friends. He is probably one of the best friends I have, or have ever had," Garrett said. "He is an easy guy to work with. You don't feel like you are working for your boss. You feel like you are working with your friend. In this business, that is very unusual to come by.
"He is always going to be a country boy at heart no matter how big it gets. I have noticed that the bigger things get, Eddie acts same way as he did back then."
