Like fellow Red Dirt band Cross Canadian Ragweed, the Randy Rogers Band has managed to cross-over to the Nashville label scene without losing anything that made them what they were. The band also has managed to retain autonomy with the recording process. Teaming up once again with fellow Okie Radney Foster, Randy Rogers Band has managed to smoothen out their sound just enough to possibly attain some success at mainstream country radio. While the band doesn't need radio hits to ensure its continued success as a touring band, it's only natural for regionally popular acts to want to break out nationally. So, with that in mind, Randy Rogers wrote songs with some of Nashville's finest while band members Jon Richardson and Gregory Hill. In fact, the only song not written by the band is the final track on the album, "This Is Goodbye," which was written by Heather Morgan and Clint Ingersoll, one of Rogers' Nashville buddies.
While there's a strong 'roots-rock' undercurrent to everything on the disc, there album also features fiddle player Brady Black quite prominently. It's that fiddle which helps ground the band. The roots of "Wicked Ways" are firmly in the Waylon tradition and to start off the record with this Jon Richardosn-penned song is a way to make a statement. "Better than I Ought to be" has a Fogerty-like bluesy roots rock feel to it while "Lonely Too Long" finds Rogers lamenting the loss of a woman to his own foolishness.
"Never Be That High" shuffles along as the lyrics (written by Rogers with Stephony Smith) discuss three different ways one can get high (life, love, and alcohol). It also is honest about the fact the first time one gets a 'buzz' off of something will always be the biggest high they get from that situation/chemical. Stuff may feel good but you'll never 'be that high' again. Micky Braun (of Mickey & The Motorcars) co-wrote "Didn't Know You Could" and the gritty roots rock vibe is certainly evident throughout. The single sent to radio, "In My Arms Instead" is a lonesome dobro-laced ballad which is loaded with regret and, missing from the radio cut, is a mighty fine instrumental breakdown which once again showcases the bluegrass-like tone of the song. It's a song that I wouldn't at all be surprised to find being recorded by a bluegrass band someday.
"Let It Go" is a song that many people would do well to listen to. It's a song that says that we should learn to let go of the things we cannot control. It's an honest message that hits home and one we should always be ready to remind ourselves of as we go through the craziness that can happen in even the most mundane of lives. This self-titled album from the Randy Rogers Band may not get the band on the radio, like they hope it will, but the album does serve as a reminder to many in Nashville that a band can feature a fiddle prominently and naturally without sounding old and dated. "Randy Rogers Band" is a solid album from a great touring act, nothing more; nothing less.
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