The Randy Rogers band started out like many bands do in the Oklahoma/Texas Red Dirt/Texas Music scene. They formed as a band around the time they were in college and recorded two studio albums and two live albums independently before moving to major label Mercury Nashville for the 2005 release Just A Matter of Time and 2008’s Randy Rogers Band. After moving to Mercury’s sister label MCA Nashville imprint, the group also switched from long-time producer Radney Foster and chose to work with Paul Worley for their upcoming album Burning the Day. In this interview with Randy Rogers, we discuss the new album, his process in choosing the songs and how they’ve grown into the band they are today.
Matt Bjorke: How does Burning The Day compare to the previous RRB albums?
Randy Rogers: Well, it’s better (laughs). It’s more mature, I think, in a way because we have played about 250 shows a year for the last two years between the last record and this one so I think that our chops got better. I wrote more songs, I think. I wrote the songs on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays instead of resting. So we had a longer jump on it and focused a little more on it.
Matt: Do you think that helped you get a better batch of songs for the record?
Randy: I think so, I think that’s exactly the case.
Matt: I’ve heard songwriters say that it takes writing hundreds of bad ones to get a few good ones…
Randy: it’s easy to do…
Matt: How did your touring schedule help shape the record?
Randy: Well I think we’re a little more confident and willing to try different stuff in the studio. I think this time we all got to go back and make sure we got it perfect. We cut the basic, meat and potatoes part of the tracks live but then, for example, Geoffrey (Hill) got to go back into the studio and fix his guitar parts, to really study them. We also really knew these songs. Because we had rehearsed them and took them out on the road and rehearsed them again and played them on the road again. So I think that’s a testament when you go in and set up and automatically know it, you don’t have to learn it. It helps it all work better.
Matt: Yeah, it’s kind of like playing live shows but in a room with microphones recording the whole thing. Well it’s like how Fleetwood Mac recorded their Rumors record along with some other iconic albums…
Randy: Yeah, I think that’s how everyone should record and it’s all a testament to Paul Worley.
Matt: What was it like for you to work with a producer like Paul Worley?
Randy: I think the biggest thing was that he understood us. He first heard of us back when he was the head of Warner; he actually had flown down to Texas to see us play one night. So he really understood us and knew who we are and what we are. So it was an easy transition from Radney (Foster) to Paul and in fact the first person’s name out of Radney’s mouth was Paul Worley. So we went to him and he agreed and it was a really great hand-off, if you will.
Matt: Yeah and his track record with bands is pretty strong, if you think of the success of bands like Lady Antebellum and Dixie Chicks, all bands who he worked with…
Randy: Yeah, not a bad track record…
Matt: How important is it for the band to create whole cohesive albums as opposed to a collection of singles and also-rans?
Randy: Well, I’ve always been a fan of album cuts and I think what this band tries to do when we make records is that because we play live so much, we don’t want to “waste songs” when we put them on a record. We want to be able to play them live, put them in the set list. So we try to accomplish this with each record and even more so on this record. We focused on not wasting those slots because we wanted them to be added to the live show?
Matt: So when you play live do you have a set, set list every night or does it change from night to night?
Randy: we make a set list but it changes every night.
Matt: OK, I’ve heard that Bruce Springsteen does stuff like that on tour. He makes a set list but always throws a curveball to the band to help keep the show fresh for the musicians…
Randy: Yeah, it’s important for the fans too to not do or say the same things each show, too. And - as a band - we’d get absolutely bored playing the same 15 songs every single night. Sometimes we play two to two and a half hours which allows us to play everything.
Matt: It goes back to making sure you have great records because then you can play anything off of those records. I mean, if you’re a band that’s not the ‘mainstream radio’ band that is expected to play their hits but if the artist doesn’t have that, it’s gotta have an element of freedom because you are able to play anything…
Randy: Yeah, well diehard fans wanna hear the deep stuff but some fans would be upset if we didn’t play “Kiss Me In The Dark” or we’d get some hate mail if we didn’t play “Lost and Found,” laughs. But it’s all good. I like not playing covers, you know? We have always tried to play, instead of covers, random songs off of old records…
Matt: Having that kind of fan base that supports you regardless of radio success or not…do you think that kind of support has helped you grow into a better band?
Randy: Well, it’s made us all better musicians, playing 200 shows a year and we’ve always booked the shows and played them instead of waiting for someone to sprinkle some magic dust on your career and all of the sudden you kind of ‘make it.’ We don’t wait for that or anticipate for that to happen so we go out and book our shows for the year and hopefully they get bigger and usually they do. So that’s who we are and I’m proud of that.
Matt: And it’s something to say in this economy, when you’re able to cultivate that kind of audience that comes out to your show, or a Wade Bowen band show or a Zac Brown Band show…it seems that fans are choosing more carefully who they’re spending their money on, by choosing who they go and see…
Randy: Yeah, I feel like that’s the case for us for sure and there has been growth over the last year or so and while it may be down nationally on a whole concert ticket sales are down but for us we’re continuing to grow, so I’m very thankful for that and to do it without even having a new record out. So I’m really excited to get the record out.
Matt: how did you guys and your label choose “Too Late For Goodbye” as the single to release to radio?
Randy: The label, MCA Records chose that. The way I’ve always looked at that is that I pick my battles early by choosing what producer to work with, what studio to use, and what songs to cut. So those are my battles. I make sure that all the songs we cut are songs that we can get up on stage and sing every night and I don’t know anything about radio. I don’t know what works at radio. Hell, I haven’t had anything work at radio, on a national level so I kind of leave that up to them (MCA).
Matt: Early indications are that the song will do well...
Matt: How much fun did you have making the “Interstate” video?
Randy: It was great. We had a crew on the road with us for a week and we kind of captured a little bit of every part of our lives and then we had over 17,000 people in Dallas come out to be a part of that video. I’m so proud that it’s out there and that people can get a snapshot of who we are as a group of guys and a day in a life of the band.
Matt: How have the fans reacted to the new tunes from Burning The Day when you play them live?
Randy: The ones they’ve got to hear it seems like they’re pretty stoked. I try not to read too much into what people think or say and I hope people understand that this (Randy Rogers Band) is an honest and hard-working band and are just doing more of the same on this record. But judging from the shows, it seems that people are diggin’ it.
Matt: Yeah, well it’s usually a good sign if fans are singin’ along by the time the chorus comes around again…
Randy: Yeah, that’s something about the “Interstate” video shoot and as we’ve only played it these last couple months. Nobody’s had a copy of it and we played it three times at that show that night and by the third time everyone was singing along and I’m so surprised and thankful for that.
Matt: How has the internet helped the band grow overtime? How has the tool helped the band?
Randy: I think that it’s a necessity now for any band to have an online presence. And there was a learning curve, at first, to get it all set up and it’s constantly changing. It’s especially important for a band like us, a band that hasn’t had a big ol’ hit. Without it would be a lot harder to get the word out there without it so it’s been a key to helping us get fans. I have a Twitter account and we also have everything we’re supposed to have (laughs). It seems to constantly be changing though…
Matt: Yeah, it’s sometimes hard to keep up with, even for me but I do think the internet is helping make things more wide open for everybody, for bands like yourself and Zac Brown Band and such…
Randy: I think you hit the nail on the head there, I think there’s going to be room in the future for more styles of country music than just pop country…I’m hoping that. 
Matt: There should be more room for it and I think there’s a segment of the audience that’s not really served by the mainstream ‘pop-country’ audience. I know if I owned a radio station I’d try to be a bit more inclusive, if you know what I mean…
Randy: Well, I think it’s going to go that way, it’s going to be alright and there is room for the Randy Rogers Band out there…
Matt: What would you like to say to fans that may be learning about the Randy Rogers Band for the first time?
Randy: Check us out, buy the record, come to a show, buy a T-shirt and we’ll never, ever let you down.
You can pre-order your complete Burning the Day package at randyrogersband.com or pre-order your digital copy at iTunes TODAY!
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