Country stars have come to look and sound more like pop stars, but Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry always seem like authentic down-home boys. Their small-town Southern roots are strongly felt on the duo’s sophomore effort, Carrying On. From “She Couldn’t Change Me” to “My Father’s Son,” “While the World Goes Down the Drain,” and “Too Hard to Handle…Too Free to Hold,” the album’s overarching theme is remaining loyal to tradition. But Montgomery Gentry aren’t only focused on steadfastly preserving the values of their forefathers — they also love a good story. “Black Jack Fletcher and Mississippi Sam” and “Tried and True” are the kind of well-told yarns you might hear from a barfly in a rural Kentucky watering hole. Accompanying those barstool tall tales is a pair of true-blue drinking songs: “The Fine Line” and “Cold One Comin’ On.” What’s more country than that? Where many modern country acts sound like the same old trip to Nashville, Carryin’ On takes the listener on a trip back home.