Photo “on the couch” by Scarlati l-r: Marlon Hargis, Les Taylor, Sonny LeMaire, J.P. Pennington, Steve Goetzman
   
     The Eagles reunited  several years ago and are now playing to sell-out crowds with their new album flying off the shelve, proving the staying power of legendary country/rock bands. Now another country/rock group, Exile, is testing the waters. The ORIGINAL members of the band from the hit years of the late 70’s and the 80’s have gotten back together: JP Pennington, guitar vocals, Les Taylor, guitar vocals, Marlon Hargis, keyboard/vocals, Sonny LeMaire, bass/vocals and Steve Goetzman, drums. 
        Starting with the smash single “Kiss You All Over” off the album MIXED EMOTIONS produced by Mike Chapman in 1978,  this legendary quintet made a seamless transition from pop to country in the early 1980s. Their second country single, “Woke Up In Love” peaked at #1 in early 1984 and nine consecutive #1 singles followed: “I Don’t Want To Be A Memory”, “Give Me One More Chance”, “She’s A Miracle”, “Crazy For Your Love”, “Hang On To Your Heart”, “I Could Get Used To You”, “It’ll Be Me”, “She’s Too Good To be True” and “I Can’t Get Close Enough”. Combining achievements in pop and country with success overseas, Exile earned eleven #1 singles, numerous top ten singles, three gold albums including two Greatest Hits CDs, several multi-platinum singles and thirteen award nominations from the Academy of Country Music (ACM) and the Country Music Association (CMA).
The band also toured with Aerosmith, Heart, Dave Mason, Boston, Seals & Crofts and other hot pop acts of the late seventies throughout the United States, Europe and Africa.
THE RE-UNION
       The last incarnation of the band signed to a major label, including original band members Sonny LeMaire and Steve Goetzman, disbanded in 1994 after their record deal with Arista ended. “Guys, I can’t do this anymore. Let’s get out while we still got some dignity,” lamented Sonny LeMaire, at the time.
      In March of 2008, Sonny LaMaire  called the original band members and asked if they were willing to perform at  a benefit concert in Lexington, Ky. for a mutual friend in need. Steve Goetzman commented, “It was in Lexington that for the first time in 23 years the five of us from the original group were on stage together. An act of love for an old friend became the re-birth of Exile. We had so much fun and the response from the crowd was so overwhelming, the natural outcome of this concert was to keep on playing.” Sonny LeMaire added, “After the show, we all felt that to ‘keep the music alive’ was the natural thing to do. Plus, it showed us Exile still had something to offer to the music public and its fans.”
FROM ROCK/POP TO COUNTRY
       Exile was originally a pop/rock act with the tremendous success of the single “Kiss You All Over.” But a funny thing happened… Exile’s original songs were being recorded by country groups like Alabama and Jamie Fricke  and becoming hits on the country charts. At the same time Exile was receiving limited success on the pop/rock chart after their first smash number. So a natural transition for the group was to cross over to country. In 1982 they were signed by Epic Records to a country recording deal and a string of their own country hits started hitting the country singles charts beginning with “High Cost of Leaving.”
THE ROOTS
        In 1963, a group of high school students started a rock and roll band in Richmond, Kentucky. They called themselves the Exiles. Their chosen name resulted from the influx of Cubans into the United States after the Fidel Castro takeover in 1959. According to JP Pennington, “There were a lot of Cuban exiles coming across...the word was in the news and we felt we were also somewhat ostracized from the local society. We had long hair back then...” The band performed and released several albums, but national success eluded them until the hit single “Kiss You All Over”.
THE FUTURE
   In November, the band will be performing at a small intimate venue for friends and industry in Nashville. Several out of town  dates have also been booked. Check the website below for dates and locations. Also the quintet is presently in the recording studio working on a limited edition CD of songs written by Sonny LeMaire and JP Pennington. JP ‘s comments on recording again exemplifies his enthusiasm, “We are going for it ! We are cutting four songs in the studio written by myself and Sonny, who was my co-writer on the hits we had in the 80’s. The new songs I feel are  like the ones we would have cut if the original band had stayed together. There are still have a lot of fans out there, and like I said before, we are going for it.”
      Right now the group is taking a “let’s wait and see approach” to recording a completely new album and committing to a heavy touring schedule, but one thing is for sure, EXILE IS BACK and country fans and music lovers are rejoicing.