Full Circle: Alabama at the Old Washington Music Festival

by Dave Parsons

It had been 45 years…….45 summers under Ohio skies…..It was Saturday, July 19, 1980.  I was 15 years old and had begged my dad to take me to Jamboree in the Hills. It was the festival’s 4^th year, and they were already packing 80,000 a day into the natural amphitheater at Alderman Airport outside St. Clairsville, Ohio.  In all honesty, I went to see 2 performers, and we prepared to leave after the second finished his set around 8 PM.

Two legendary country artists had been scheduled next in the primetime slots. One of them canceled a few weeks before the show, and was replaced with a group that had only one song with any radio airplay.  The legendary story now is that they played the show for $500, which was mostly travel money to get there and to the next show. They opened with the Star-Spangled Banner, which garnered them a standing ovation of sorts out of the gate, as well as got everyone’s attention.  What followed was a band playing with their hearts and gratitude for an audience this size.  Their name was easy to remember:  Alabama.

It’s been 45 years, and on Saturday night, July 19th, 2025, Randy Owen stepped to the microphone at the Old Washington Music Festival, just thirty miles down Interstate 70 from Alderman airport, at almost the same time of evening.  There were many in the crowd who had been there that night in 1980, and even more folks who had come for this weekend, just to relive many evenings spent with Alabama’s music.

Forty-five years ago, those young cousins from Fort Payne, Alabama, took the stage at Jamboree in the Hills, with dreams bigger than their bank accounts and played the one song they had on the radio to that point…..Tennessee River.  On this night in 2025, all those gold records, industry awards, and miles traveled opened their show at the Old Washington Music Festival with the same song….their first #1 in their career, Tennessee River!

The owner and dreamer for the Old Washington Music Festival made pilgrimages to Jamboree in the Hills, dreaming of recreating that magic, that sense of community, that feeling of coming home through music. And here, in this moment, with Alabama taking the stage once more on this sacred stretch of Ohio countryside, the circle was preparing to close in the most beautiful way imaginable.

The Alabama that took the stage Saturday night is notably different from the quartet that dominated country radio in their heyday. Jeff Cook’s death from complications of Parkinson’s disease on November 7, 2022, left Randy Owen and Teddy Gentry as the two remaining original members. Yet rather than diminishing the band’s impact, this transition has seemed to sharpen their focus and deepen their appreciation for the music they’ve created together.

Randy Owen, now 75, remains the band’s charismatic frontman, his distinctive vocals still carrying the emotional weight that made Alabama household names. His cousin Teddy Gentry, 72, continues to anchor the rhythm section with his bass playing and harmony vocals that have been integral to Alabama’s sound since their formation. Together, they’ve adapted to continue the Alabama legacy while honoring the memory of their fallen bandmate.

The current touring lineup includes professional musicians who round out the sound, ensuring that the full arrangements that made these songs classics are faithfully reproduced for live audiences.

It’s hard to imagine it took long years of tip jars and word of mouth to earn the major label deal they’d been dreaming about. It reads like the American dream: three cousins from Fort Payne, Alabama, who started playing music together in 1969, fundamentally altered the landscape of country music. They were among the first country acts to embrace the arena rock presentation style, with elaborate stage productions and high-energy performances. They proved that country music could fill stadiums and amphitheaters, paving the way for countless acts that followed.

They understood early on that longevity in the music business required not just talent but smart business sense, an authentic connection with their audience, and making friends with everyone who wanted to tell their story. How else does a 17-year-old kid, working at his high school 50-watt radio station, get invited to their press conference during their 8,000-10,000 seat arena tour, and then invited back the following year, when they were selling out 20,000-seat arenas?

Alabama’s 18-song setlist for the Old Washington Music Festival was a masterclass. They balanced their biggest hits with a few album cuts, showcasing the full range of their career. Following Tennessee River with If You’re Gonna Play in Texas (You Gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band) demonstrated the band’s playful side and their ability to craft every song into a sing-along.

The inclusion of songs like The Closer You Get and Sad Lookin’ Moon in the early portion of the set showed Alabama’s range beyond their party anthems. These songs allowed Randy Owen’s vocals to shine, and Teddy Gentry’s harmony to work to create the lush vocal arrangements that have always been an Alabama trademark. Forever’s as Far as I’ll Go and When We Make Love represented Alabama’s romantic side, songs that have been played at countless weddings and anniversaries over the decades.

Alabama’s performance at the Old Washington Music Festival served as more than entertainment. It was a reminder of the band’s profound impact on American pop culture and country music specifically, as well as their unwavering commitment to giving back to communities and fans across the nation.

Randy Owen created Country Cares for St. Jude Kids in 1989. His vision became a series of radiothons and fundraising efforts that raised more than $800 million to help St. Jude treat children with pediatric cancer and other life-threatening illnesses, as well as to research cures. It has become one of the most successful charitable partnerships in entertainment history.

The band’s commitment to their hometown goes far beyond a check as they hosted the June Jam festival in Fort Payne. June Jam was created by Alabama and brought some of the biggest names in country music together for sixteen years. The June Jam Foundation has raised over $20 million for disaster relief efforts, veterans, and a number of other charitable initiatives.

They also deliver one-on-one.  A photographer friend of mine named Dale frequently brought a disabled young lady with him to see her favorite band.  She was confined to a wheelchair and had difficulty speaking.  Dale brought her to the Alabama show in Wheeling, WV, and asked me to meet them at the hotel in the afternoon.  After Jeff Cook walked past and said hello to them both, Randy came through the lobby, jogging, headed for his room.

Randy stopped on a dime when he saw Dale and his friend.  He knelt at the side of the wheelchair and took her hand.  Dale explained she had worked on something Randy had encouraged, and she proceeded to stammer out I love you, Randy. Owen said he loved her too and hugged her.  He was wiping his eyes as he stood up to shake our hands and head for the elevator.  This was when Alabama had reached the top of the country music world.  Randy could have waved and kept going.  But he didn’t.  That young lady had worked weeks on learning how to express that to him, and he received it with the love she offered.  He made sure she got his wristbands at the show that night.

I thought of Dale and that young lady, as Randy introduced Angels Among Us.  I couldn’t help but think I was looking at one while he sang the song, and his wristbands caught my eye.

One of the evening’s highlights came with Orange Blossom Special, featuring Megan Mullins Owen on vocals and fiddle. The instrumental showcases during this number allowed each band member to demonstrate their individual skills while maintaining the cohesive Alabama sound.

The final portion of the setlist was pure gold for Alabama fans. Born Country, She and I, and 40 Hour Week represent some of their most socially conscious songs, while Roll On (Eighteen Wheeler) brought the energy to arena levels, with its driving rhythm and universal theme of hard-working Americans keeping the country moving. “Take Me Down” continued the momentum, building toward the evening’s climactic finish.

As the medley of Dixieland Delight gave way to that sacred hymn Will the Circle Be Unbroken, something profound was happening in that Ohio field, and something profound was happening in the skies above. Those boys with a dream were completing a journey with a lot of the same people that began forty-five years ago, just thirty miles down this same stretch of Interstate 70, and as if on cue, the gentle drizzle that had blessed the evening suddenly gave way to the rain that had been forecasted all night. The young voices that once sang of Tennessee rivers had become seasoned storytellers, their harmonies deepened by time, loss, and the weight of carrying a musical legacy.

When Randy Owen’s voice wrapped around those timeless words about circles remaining unbroken, when Teddy Gentry’s bass notes provided the foundation as they had for nearly five decades, when the crowd joined in with voices spanning generations—grandparents who were at Jamboree in the Hills in 1980, parents who had raised their children on Alabama’s music, young adults discovering these songs for the first time—the very air seemed to shimmer with the magic of musical time travel as the rain began to fall in earnest, as if the sky itself was moved to tears by the beauty of the moment.

From that first nervous performance at Jamboree in the Hills in 1980, to this triumphant return as elder statesmen, the journey had traced a perfect circle. The scared young men with calloused hands and empty pockets had become legends.  And the music —oh, the music remained as pure and true as that first night when they sang about Tennessee rivers and dared to dream.

At this point, Alabama’s impact is measured not just in chart success but in legacy. There would be no Luke Bryan without Alabama. No Jason Aldean, or Zac Brown Band, or Morgan Wallen. Their harmonies and heart set the standard for country groups from Diamond Rio to Rascal Flatts and beyond.

Yet the most powerful legacy they’ve built isn’t one of hits. It’s one of trust. Alabama is one of the few acts in country music history that can walk onstage after 40 years and not just receive a hero’s welcome, but deliver a show that feels fresh, urgent, and alive.

Which is exactly what they did on this Saturday night at the Old Washington Music Festival.

As Alabama played an encore of Mountain Music, and thousands of folks danced in the mud with voices in celebration of melodies that had soundtracked their last forty-five years of American summers, it was clear as the rain falling that some circles are meant to be unbroken. And sometimes, if we’re very lucky, we get to witness the moment when time folds back on itself and magic becomes real.

As they continue to Roll on to the next tour date, and complete another circle of decades in that town, for this one night, Alabama had come full circle on Interstate 70, from hopeful beginnings to legendary endings, proving that the greatest stories aren’t just about where you’re going, but knowing when you’ve arrived exactly where you were always meant to be.

The boys from Fort Payne had made it home again, thirty miles and forty-five years later, and the circle remains unbroken.