in november 2016, the duo left blaster records and re-signed with average joes entertainment. they began working on a new album, then slated for a 2017 release. following gentry's death on september 8, 2017, the label announced that the duo had completed their new album prior to the fatal helicopter crash. "better me," the lead single, was released on september 15, 2017. in november 2017, the album's title "here's to you" was announced, as was its release date of february 2, 2018. eddie montgomery has confirmed that he will continue the montgomery gentry name as a solo act due to troy gentry's death and he plans to tour in 2018 in support of the new album. on november 16, average joes issued the new compilation "20 years of hits", which includes new re-recordings of the duo's biggest hits that were completed before gentry's death. this was followed in 2019 by the studio album "outskirts", a seven-song compilation recorded a week prior to gentry's death. produced by noah gordon and shannon houchins, the album includes a cover of merle haggard's 1983 hit "what am i gonna do (with the rest of my life)" and darrell scott's "you'll never leave harlan alive". later in the year, the label released a deluxe version with additional songs. at the time of the album's release, montgomery said that he planned to continue touring under the montgomery gentry name even after gentry's death, and that he wanted to honor gentry by releasing songs that they had worked on prior.