Randy Rogers Band-Burning the Day

Over the course of five studio albums, the Randy Rogers Band have managed to craft and refine an easily identifiable sound. That sound is one that swaggers around the edges of honky-tonk heartaches and good times with enough rock n’ roll attitude to make the RRB’s music standout amongst the soulless drivel packaged by their major label competitors. After employing Radney Foster as producer on the last three albums, Rogers and crew turned to Paul Worley (Dixie Chicks, Lady Antebellum) in an effort to push themselves outside their comfort zone and discover new creative avenues. Worley’s production touches stay out of the way and allow each song in the 11-track group to breathe and stand on their own. The RRB are still a true band in every sense of the word with each member contributing songs and arrangements that are then tested on the road before being laid down in a studio. Burning the Day is no different.

Rogers again proves his ear for matching melody with lyric is peerless in modern country music. The two lead singles, ‘Interstate” and “Too Late For Goodbye” were co-written by Rogers with Sean McConnell. The former is the musical equivalent to driving down an open road with the top down and the one you love seated next to you. The latter is the result of that loved one no longer being beside you.

Rogers has always had a strong affinity for songs that relate to hard lovin’, hard livin’ and hard drinkin’ and the sad results that all three lead to. For this album, he paired with Dean Dillon for “Just Don’t Tell Me the Truth” to deliver a lovelorn classic in an old-school style rarely found these days. Richardson’s songwriting pops up yet again with a bouncy foot-stomper evoking the best work of vintage Charlie Daniels Band titled “Last Last Chance” that is very much in the vein of his “10 Miles Deep” or “ You Don’t Know Me”.

With each album, Randy Rogers Band have made a statement that says they are the torch bearers for what modern country country music should be. Burning the Day is 11 strong songs that prove this the band is an uncompromising force to be reckoned with on a scale larger than the Texas/Red Dirt scene which they have conquered. With this album, this band is poised to rule the country music world.

-Brad Beheler (reprinted from MusicFest magazine)