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Randy Rogers was not built to take a vacation. When he's not on the road, the Texas Country Vet is checking with one of his many business partners for updates on the sites he owns or the management company that he directs. Even now, during what should be a relaxing getaway with his family in Florida, Rogers is very happy to make a phone call.
"I have trouble turning things off. I hate it about myself, "says Rogers, philosophically, but with a touch of resignation. He begins to have a moment all alone, after letting his wife and daughters go shopping together. "My wife says I'm very tenacious. What I do not have talent, I wear makeup tenaciously. Maybe there is something to say for that.
Randy Rogers Band's new album Hell folded (streaming below on Rolling stone) is a celebration of this same spirit, an ode to the longevity of a group whose original formation celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. The labels have followed one another over the past two decades – including majors with Mercury and MCA – but members of his group have not. The cover of the album even represents their first pbadenger ship, a 1988 Chevrolet Suburban nicknamed "Peaches".
"I do not regret doing these [major label] recordings. I do not regret anything that I say about these discs, the way they sound, the way they came out. I have no bad taste in the mouth about the music industry, "says Rogers. "[But] This record is no longer a statement for us, a statement to me that I do not really have a backup plan. I will not go anywhere. I will continue to make these records. "
Rogers' last record, Nothing shines like neon, came out three years ago, and he suggested that there was a lot of life to live after leaving the majors. He climbed to number five on the national charts and to number two on the independent title, even making it into the Billboard 200 Top 50.
"It's interesting for me to see how quickly the music industry itself has changed since our last MCA release.[2013[2013's[2013[2013’sDifficulty]. The game is almost completely different from what it was five years ago, "Rogers said. "Now, things have shifted to what we've always been doing, touring, selling t-shirts, selling goods, then coming back three months later, six months later, and hoping to build that crowd so organic.
If capturing live energy from the group was an inevitable goal in the recording of Hell foldedthen the finished product came out a little differently than expected. This is largely thanks to producer Dave Cobb, who pushed them to reduce instrumental breaks and cut some bridges of songs. "Everything here is choked in the bud. There is a good melody, a good hook, and not a lot of crap after that. Go straight to the point and get out, "says Rogers.
Cobb said he was attracted by his collaboration with Rogers and the band – bbadist Johnny "Chops" Richardson, drummer Les Lawless, guitarist Geoffrey Hill, violinist Brady Black and utility Todd Stewart – partly for their longevity. "It's a group of brothers. They are stuck together and I still appreciate it a lot. Before making records, I stayed with my band for seven and a half years on the road every day, I killed myself for that, "he says. "There are people who get together sometimes very quickly to get a record deal and be successful, and then there are people who stay in the long run."
This sense of engagement also spread to the studio, especially when Rogers recorded the song "We never did it in Mexico City". The band leader interprets some words in Spanish and pays meticulous attention to the accuracy of his pronunciation. as a way to recognize a large segment of the group's fans.
"A lot of our fans are Hispanic and I wanted to give them something because they were so loyal to us. I wanted to show them that I know and appreciate it, "Rogers says. "Our country music brand is very good in their community and this song embodies my attempt to have a bilingual song and salute these fans because they are very important to our livelihood."
Cut at RCA A studio in Nashville, the band has reunited to record Hell folded In the same week of Tom Petty's death and the mbad shootings at Road 91 in Las Vegas in October 2017. These events had a huge impact on the sessions. "We had played at this festival a few years ago, so we could put ourselves in the fear and desperation of these victims and their families," says Rogers. As for Petty, the influence of the clbadic rock's touchstone is reflected in Hellbent's jangly melodies and guitars. "I've always been attracted to Petty's melodic and for those anthemic choruses," he says.
The first song of the album, "Crazy People", refers to some of these Petty vibrations. A bit like a biography of the two poles of Rogers' life, it's a fantasy about young people growing up in hell, as a child whose parents are clogged up imagined. Rogers, in fact, was this kid: his father was a preacher, his mother an educational badistant.
"I'm one of the lucky ones because both of my parents are still here. I thought it was a way to greet my childhood, to greet another person who felt safe, as if she could never escape her hometown, "says Rogers. This is something he often admits he often thinks: "I now have my own children, so I struggle to raise them when they ask difficult questions."
Yet the title of Hell folded comes in part from the title of his one and only cover song, "Hellbent on a Heartache", in itself an optimistic counterpoint to the late Guy Clark's original. "Guy Clark influenced all the composers in Texas and some of his friends called me to tell me that they approved after hearing [our version of] the song, "says Rogers proudly. "It matters a lot to me to have [them] pay attention to what we are doing here and approve it, which has the effect of holding the torch and shaking the flag. "
Some of these ancestors have even asked Rogers to collaborate in recent years – so much so that it was impressive that he had the time to write and record Hellbent at first. In the past year alone, he has released a "secret" album with Robert Earl Keen under the auspices of the Stryker Brothers, appeared on a compilation of Michael Martin Murphey and recently completed another album with Wade Bowen. In addition, he will make another appearance later in the year on the occasion of the Texas album.
Even Rogers admits that he deserves the chance to get up. "Now that I'm on vacation, I can breathe a sigh of relief because I really took time," he says – aware that the moment will not last too long.
(Additional report by Joseph Hudak)
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