Randy Rogers Band New Album

Randy Rogers Band marks 20th anniversary with a new album entitled, “Homecoming”.

Many musicians love spending long hours in the studio, obsessing over every sonic detail. However, Randy Rogers isn’t one of them. In fact, he says, recording may be his least favorite part of the music business.

“I like to get in and get out,” says the Texas-based singer/songwriter. “I enjoy the songwriting aspect of making a record a lot more than the performance aspect of it.”

Thankfully, he’s able to surround himself with people that make the entire recording process go pretty quickly and smoothly. That includes the other members of the Randy Rogers Band, who have backed him up for 20 years now. Also includes some of the top producers in country music.

Time and again, his first choice to fill that role is Radney Foster. Foster is another Texas native who has also had tremendous success as an artist and songwriter. In addition to producing four of the band’s earlier albums, Foster has become a valuable mentor and close friend to Rogers.

Their latest collaboration is a collection of 11 songs they recorded at two of the same historic studios they used early on. This helps to explain the album’s title, Homecoming, but there’s an additional meaning.  “It’s also about getting back to a sound that we had before,” says Rogers.

The New Album

That classic sound, brawny and melodic, is evident on the two songs (“Picture Frames” and “Nothing But Love Songs”) that have already seen tremendous success as advance singles. Rogers is confident that several others, including “Fast Car” and “Know That By Now,” may also find permanent spots on the band’s set list.

Another cut, “Heart for Just One Team,” honors his father, Danny Randall Rogers, who passed away from cancer two years ago this month at the age of 67. The tearjerker relates specifically to their shared love of the Dallas Cowboys. “Like a lot of kids, sports brought us together. It’s just something we bonded over, and I don’t think I’m alone there.”

Asked about Foster’s impact as a producer, Rogers describes him as a comforting and inspiring presence that gives him confidence. He intentionally got on Foster’s radar when the young and struggling Randy Rogers Band was Foster’s opening act at shows in Texas. He was persistent, he recalls, and is thankful that they hit it off.

 “I would wait for him after the shows and talk his ear off, telling him I was a songwriter and I wanted to do this the rest of my life and that I wanted to learn from him,” says Rogers. “I probably freaked him out a few times, to be honest, but we became friends and realized we could write together.”

In the years since, Rogers has become an important mentor to several younger artists, and in fact managed rising star Parker McCollum for a few years. The talented and promising William Beckmann, who happens to be from Foster’s hometown of Del Rio, Texas, is another young protégé. “He’s like my little brother,” says Rogers, “and it is much like the relationship that Radney and I had.”

band business

Rogers enjoys the management side of the business, but at age 44 he’s certainly not ready to hang up his boots as a touring act. While spending time in a studio can become tedious, he never tires of the adrenalin he gets from playing to energetic crowds. The same goes for his longtime band mates: Geoffrey Hill, Jon “Chops” Richardson, Brady Black, Les Lawless, and Todd Stewart.

“People call us an anomaly because we’ve been together all this time,” Rogers says. “We don’t always see eye to eye on all the hot topics every single time, but we respect each other. Our differences are celebrated, and they don’t divide us.”

On the heels of their 20-year milestone, Rogers is also working on another album of duets with fellow Texas artist Wade Bowen. Stay tuned for Hold My Beer, Vol. 3.

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