Burning the Day

Audio Mixer: Clarke Schleicher.
Recording information: Blackbird Studios, Nashville, TN; Soundcheck, Nashville, TN; Warner Studios, Nashville, TN.
Photographer: Curtis Millard.
The current members of the Randy Rogers Band have been together since 2004. They've taken their time, learned how to make records, and matured slowly. In 2006 the band crossed over. They signed to Mercury Nashville and released Just a Matter of Time (which reached number six on Billboard's country chart). They grossed over $2.5 million in 2007 while touring in support of it, warranting placement in Rolling Stone as a "must-see" artist. In 2008, they enlisted Radney Foster to produce their self-titled follow-up, which reflected Nashville's studio culture to a "T." Burning the Day, produced by Paul Worley, finds them on MCA Nashville. Preceded by the fine single "Too Late for Goodbye," a ringing midtempo rock ballad, the RRB has evolved from its roots as a good-time, spontaneous live band into first-rate masters of the recording studio. The other excellent tunes on the set, "Holding on to Letting Go," "I've Been Looking for You so Long," "Starting Over for the Last Time," and "Last Last Chance" reflect a more polished version of what the band is best at live: playing a 21st century meld of contemporary country and mainstream pop/rock; as influenced by Bob Seger as it is by Jack Ingram and Pat Green. ~ Thom Jurek