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AFTER HOURS6 | May 2010 The Daily News

Burning the Day

Courtesy PhotoRandy Rogers Band photographed at Club 21 Uhland.

Stevy CurbowThe Daily News

Hold my beer and watch this! That’s not only the name of the Randy Rogers Band’s (RRB) current tour, it’s also the feeling left with fans at the end of an RRB perfor-mance. The band members’ live music and current self-ti-tled CD is taking country mu-sic by storm and with all the humble qualities you would expect out of a country act and all the swagger of a sea-soned performer, they will be taking the stage to headline this year’s Texas Music Festi-val and Village Fair in League City on Saturday, May 1. With more in their iCal than the typical person will ever have, Randy Rogers was gracious enough to squeeze us in for a little chat on behalf of the band about its upcoming trip to League City and its rise to success that has the band liv-ing out its every dream.

The line up for the Randy Rogers Band includes Randy Rogers (vocals and guitar), Brady Black (fiddle), Geof-frey Hill (guitar), Jon Richard-son (bass) and Les Lawless (drums). These seasoned per-formers have played nearly 1,500 shows and just com-pleted their seventh album together.

Their music always leaves fans thinking of good times with a good drink and good friend and their lyrics, which Randy writes himself, are always honest and person-al. Their live show – which was hailed by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the Top 10 Must-See live acts of 2007 alongside bands such as U2 and the Stones – has led to opening gigs for Willie Nel-son, the Eagles, Gary Allen and Dierks Bently. The band’s edgy sound and the sexy rasp in Roger’s voice have only left fans wanting more. And the band continue to give!

The band spends nearly 200 days on the road each year, and has for nearly seven years since the current RRB line-up was formed, and the band is better than ever! Fans headed

out to this year’s Texas Music Festival and Village Fair will have quite the show to look forward to.

“We constantly work on the live shows to try and get them better and try to get them tighter,” said Rogers. “We have a lot of material and we’ve changed the setup.”

Randy Rogers Band has been drawing crowds since it earned its first regular per-formance slot at Cheatham Street, a bar in San Marcos that is noted for giving George Strait and the Ace in the Hole Band their start, to where it is now. Crediting the release and radio play of “Kiss me in the Dark” for reaching a new fan base who may not have been familiar with the group, RRB has had rising success ever since.

This year, the Randy Rog-ers Band was nominated for an Academy of Country Music Award for Top Vocal Group of the Year alongside Rascal Flatts, Little Big Town, Zac Brown Band and Lady Ante-bellum, which ended up tak-ing the ACM home.

“I was at home in Austin and I woke up really early to hear Reba McEntire say my name on TV,” said Rogers. “It was really such an honor just to be nominated in such a tough category.”

In the last few years, RRB has been invited to play on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”, “The Late Show with David Letterman”, “The Grand Ole Opry” and will have shared a stage with country music legends like Robert Earl Keen, George Strait and Wil-lie Nelson – a few things that many people in country music only dream about.

“We are playing with Willie Nelson and George Strait this month,” said Rogers. “Those

two rank in my top 5 greatest experiences because I grew up idolizing those guys. Play-ing the Grand Ole Opry has to be on that list and the Da-vid Letterman and Jay Leno show. The David Letterman and Jay Leno appearances are both things that I never dreamed fathomable when I was writing songs and playing guitar in the sixth grade.”

The band, which truly en-compasses the spirit of a group rather than a solo act, is preparing to release its sev-enth – that’s right, seventh! – album. The Mercury Records recording act will be giving fans a taste of “Burning the Day” at this year’s festival.

“I’m so proud of this record we just made. I know that it is genuinely, truly Randy Rogers Band,” boasts Rogers. “We went and played all of these songs live before we went and recorded them so we’ll definitely be playing a few. I think that is going to add a lot to this record as far as captur-ing us as a band. I feel that all of our success is happening around this album.”

With the success of its self-titled album which debuted as the most downloaded al-bum on iTunes, the Randy Rogers Band is more than excited to see what “Burning the Day” will accomplish with its release on August, 17. As we spoke, the band was in the process of shooting the video for “Interstate,” the new sin-gle off of “Burning the Day.”

The Randy Rogers Band will be performing at this year’s Texas Music Festival & Village fair on Saturday, May 1 at 11 p.m.

For more information about the Randy Rogers Band, visit online at www.randyrogers-band.com.

Texas Music Festival &

Village FairThe League City Lions Club is gear-

ing up for the 56th Annual Texas Music Festival and Village Fair. This year’s per-formaners not only include the ACM nominated Randy Rogers Band but also Django Walker and Hamilton Loomis.

The festival will be at Walter Hall Park, 8007 Highway 3 North, in League City.

Along with the music festival, there will also be the 31st Annual BBQ Cook-off that on Friday, April 30 and Saturday, May 1.

Tickets will be on sale at the gate for $15 for Friday and Satruday, $10 for Sun-

day or $25 for a 3-day pass.For more information about the Texas

Music Festival and Village Fair, visit them online at www.lcvillagefair.com.