Wrapping up its 2009 tour, Montgomery Gentry [ tickets ] is looking back on a good year: its current album, "Back When I Knew It All," yielded a multi-week No. 1 hit, "Roll With Me"; a special Cracker Barrel exclusive CD, "For Our Heroes," supported the troops; and, this summer, the Nashville-based duo was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry.

"There has been a lot of stuff going on for us this year, between the Grand Ole Opry and 'Back When I Knew It All' was a great album for us this year," said Troy Gentry, who along with Eddie Montgomery makes up Montgomery Gentry. "We had a back-to-back No. 1 with 'Roll With Me.' It was our first back-to-back No. 1 hit. This album itself has been a great project, and with the Opry induction, it has been quite the year."

So how does Montgomery Gentry match that in 2010?

"I think it's more about being thankful for what we have now and let the cards fall as they may," said Gentry, 42. "Eddie and I love being a part of the Opry now and we'll make our appearances throughout the year whenever we're called upon. We're still thankful to be traveling out on the road and doing what we do best--which is touring and playing in front of a crowd."

Now in its 10th year on the national stage, Montgomery Gentry can look back on one of country music's most impressive legacies. They have released more than 20 charted singles, with anthems like "My Town" and "Hell Yeah" becoming indelible parts of the honky-tonk landscape. They have hit the top of the singles charts three times, with "If You Ever Stop Loving Me," "Something To Be Proud Of" and 2007's multi-week chart-topper "Lucky Man."

In addition to "Back When I Knew It All," Montgomery Gentry is touring in support of "For Our Heroes," an endeavor that benefits the Wounded Warrior Project. The album broke all of Cracker Barrel's previous sales records, setting records for best-selling opening day, best-selling opening week, and best-selling week of all of the CDs sold for Cracker Barrel. The 12-song album features familiar hits like "Something To Be Proud Of" and "My Town." A portion of the proceeds from the sale of each CD is donated to the Wounded Warrior Project, whose mission is to honor and empower US soldiers injured in battle.

"It was great timing for us," Gentry said. "We had been talking to Cracker Barrel for awhile. Traveling up and down the road, there's a lot of Cracker Barrel stops along the way for us. That has been a great musical outlet for some time now. They've been putting a lot of newer artists inside their stores.

"Being a big fan of the Cracker Barrel country stores in general, knowing they had a music outlet in there, we thought it would be a great connection for us and for Cracker Barrel. We just weren't able to make that connection until the project 'For Our Heroes' came about. When it did, everything kind of clicked. I guess the stars were lined up. We got it lined up to do this exclusive project for the Wounded Warrior Project and get this album put together and put it in stores."

Gentry explained that it was a good way for the band to help wounded soldiers as well as Montgomery Gentry fans.

"A lot of people ask, 'How can we help?'" Gentry said. "Eddie and I always try to recognize our soldiers during our performance and our shows and everything. People always ask, 'How can we get involved? How can we pay our respects or show our respects?' This is one of those ways.

"When we heard the story of how the Wounded Warrior Project got started, with the soldier coming back with nothing, and realizing that soldiers needed these little clean-up kits and things, and build from there up to college scholarships--hearing that, it got us excited. This is a great way that we can be a part of something that we believe in and spread the word and help other people be able to give back to the men and women who have served our country over in Iraq and Afghanistan, which the Wounded Warrior Project serves."

Montgomery Gentry's current project is completing an as-of-yet untitled album, due to hit stores in spring 2010, with the first single going to radio in late November.

"Eddie and I co-wrote a song with a couple buddies of ours called 'Freedom Never Goes Out of Style,' which is a patriotic song," said Gentry, who, along with Montgomery, was featured in a recent "Nancy" cartoon. "Then Eddie, I think, wrote with some buddies. I think he's got three or four cuts, and I've got three cuts from songs I wrote with guys who live around me in Nashville. We both got two or three songs on this record, as well as some songs from outside writers that have been present on past records."

In the meantime, Montgomery Gentry is wrapping up its 2009 tour.

"Honestly, Eddie and I will be rowdy," Gentry said about his band's shows. "Our show's definitely a high-energy show. I think out of all the songs in the set, I think we only have one slow song and that was our last big hit, 'Roll With Me.' Other than that, it's full throttle. We try to keep our pace, and try not to talk too much and bore everybody to death and give them what we came for--which is entertainment and performance.

"We try to be high energy. Nothing is choreographed about us. Each show is a work of art, I guess you could say. It's spontaneous. We feed off the crowd. Coming from the clubs, growing up and playing clubs, and everything, we always fueled our shows off the excitement of the crowd. It's kind of like fingerprints--no two shows are alike."