The Lyric Oxford will host Randy Rogers Band and Wade Owen for one of their many stops on the Till the Wheels Fall Off Tour, a show celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.
Although 10 years is a long time for any two bands to work together, Rogers said the pairing feels natural. They have been friends for 15 years to date.
“There are a lot of friendships that have been built between the two bands,” Rogers said. “It’s easy. It’s friendship. It’s camaraderie. Everybody gets on the stage at the same time, and it’s kind of just one big moving party.”
The beginning of this friendship also marked the beginning of the Randy Rogers Band’s career.
It all started at a bar in the band’s hometown of San Marcos, Texas, where Rogers would perform regularly at the open mic night every Wednesday. After years of dedication to this event, the bar’s owner decided that his talent was something that shouldn’t go unrecognized.
“The owner told me that I could have Tuesday nights (to perform) if I started a band,” said Rogers. “The rest is history. Everybody was kind of in different bands at the time, but we just all came together and decided to be partners.”
On Oct. 3, 2000, the band played its first gig. Since then, the group has only gone towards bigger and better things, being featured in publications such as USA Today and Rolling Stone and opening for big names like Dierks Bentley and Gary Allen.
(Courtesy: TheLyricOxford.com)
This acclaim has not come without hard work, however. Since its inception, the band has released eight full-length albums and plays more than 200 shows a year, creating a lifestyle that the band thrives on.
“It’s a way of life,” Rogers said. “It’s how we pay the bills, you know. It’s our livelihood. The road is really the only thing we know at this point. We are very thankful to have jobs and very thankful when people come to to see us. That’s for sure.”
The band pulls influence from some of country music’s greats, including Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard. They focus on what they consider to be true, Texas country – not the watered down Nashville country that rules the radio these days.
For Rogers, the band’s set demonstrates this straightforward, unadulterated attitude towards music, sparing the bells and whistles seen at other country music shows.
“There’s no stops, no smoke and mirrors. Just good music played pretty honestly,” Rogers said. “If you’ve heard the albums, the same band that plays in the albums is the band that we travel with, so hopefully we sound exactly the same.”
The band is currently working on their newest album, “Nothing Shines Like Neon,” which is set for release on Jan. 15. To Rogers, this album further pushes the band towards their roots of a traditional country sound, focusing on paying tribute to the artists who came before them and paved the way for country music to become what it is today.
“It think this record kind of leans towards maybe some of the music my parents were into, just a little more traditional,” Rogers said. “We are kind of at a spot in our career where the music I like to listen to isn’t necessarily on the radio nowadays. (We are) just trying to make a record that kind of gives a nod to the people who came before us.”
The band has begun to start playing a few select songs from the new project live on their current tour. Randy Rogers Band will play tonight at 8 p.m. Ticket prices range from $21 to $25.
