When the Randy Rogers Band’s last project debuted as the most-downloaded country album on iTunes, plenty of the industry “insiders” on Music Row were left scratching their heads: Who are these guys?
The Nashville elite may not have known about the five-piece band, but much of America already did. Rolling Stone magazine ranked them alongside such artists as U2 and the Stones in its list of Top 10 Must-See Artists in the summer of 2007. They earned $2.5 million—a staggering total for a still-developing act—on the tour circuit in a single year. Willie Nelson, the Eagles, Gary Allan and Dierks Bentley all picked them as opening acts for their concerts. And more than 2,200 people showed up and bought the bands album at an appearance at Wherehouse Music.
The fans’ exuberance was shared by USA Today, which praised the band for having “loads of grit, swagger and heart.”
The Randy Rogers Band built its audience by combining forces: It’s a dynamic live act centered around songs that fit the rowdy, party vibe of the concert circuit, but their songs also say something.
That’s particularly true in their album, The Randy Rogers Band, in which a dozen persuasive tracks give the listener plenty of reasons to want to down a celebratory brewski. But the songs also maintain a depth that makes them powerful and provocative even beyond their edgy arrangements and tough-guy sound.
Invariably, the songs are about people making choices and dealing with the consequences they bring. That’s the case in the opening “Wicked Ways,” in which a string of wild endeavors leaves an out-of-control adult in need of redemption. It’s true in “When The Circus Leaves Town,” where a performer comes to terms with the emotional crash that accompanies the conclusion of a pumped-up show. It’s even a tenet in “One Woman,” a ballad that finds a former playboy recognizing his old choices and behaviors were a shallow pursuit next to the promise and solidity that stand before him.
“These songs are definitely true, and they’re relatable to many different life situations that I’ve either gone through in the past or will go through in the future,” Rogers, the lead singer and primary songwriter, says. “I just tried to create believable characters and relatable characters. I hear from fans that we really have helped them in real-life situations when they’ve applied the songs to their everyday life. That’s what I strive for in the songs that I write.”
“We’re not old, but we are getting a little bit more mature,” bass player Jon Richardson asserts, drawing laughter from the rest of the band. “We’re trying to be more mature, anyway. And that’s something that we can write about a little more naturally now instead of ‘Here’s a song about how much fun I had’ or ‘Here’s a song about a girl.’ That’s probably just a natural progression of our own lives being reflected in our songs.”
Indeed, the Randy Rogers Band is confronting the same questions about relationships and identity that face many of the college students and young adults that form the centerpiece of the group’s audience. The balancing act between work, home and recreation is a difficult one—even tougher for an ensemble that spends more than 200 days annually on the road.
“All the guys, except for Jon, are married or soon to be married,” guitarist Geoffrey Hill observes. “Les [drummer] and I both have kids. So sometimes it feels like you’ve really gotta struggle to fit all that into your life, I guess, but it’s kinda part of the game. I always said that I play music for free, and I get paid to leave the family behind and go on the road.”
That requires a constant rededication to the group, a commitment the five members have repeatedly made since the current lineup coalesced in 2003.
The Randy Rogers Band’s status as a group has occasionally confused its audience, which sometimes assumes Rogers is simply a solo artist. It’s the same issue that acts such as Huey Lewis & The News and Edwin McCain have battled, though one that doesn’t concern RRB all that much.
“I don’t think it’s an issue at all,” fiddler Brady Black asserts. “I think when we got together, Randy had already had a band, and his name had been out a little bit, and so we just kind of went with it.”
“That,” Black smirks, “and he owned the van…”
Actually, the name came rather innocently. Rogers had developed a following, he played open-mic nights, impressing club owner Kent Finlay enough to offer Rogers his own regular night, as long as he found a band to back him.
That group might have taken his name, but Rogers—who’d had previous experiences as a guitar player in another band—had no interest in being just a one-man show.
“I always wanted everybody to be equal, not only financially but also input-wise and creatively,” he says. “When we started the band, I pledged to them that I would work every day as hard as I could and try to get us down the highway a little further if they would sign up with me and share in some of those sacrifices, and I think from that day on, everybody pretty much quit their alternative jobs, and kinda gave 110 percent to the band.”
The Randy Rogers Band took the same slot that George Strait and the Ace In The Hole band had once occupied at Cheatham Street, appropriate since the band used the same sort of inner motivation in building its sound as Strait did a generation ago.
Their music is hardly the same. In contrast to Strait’s pure-country aesthetics, RRB combines that traditional country sound with a rollicking, swagger influenced by rugged sounds from such diverse sources as Waylon Jennings and Stone Temple Pilots. But, as Finlay recognized, there’s an authenticity and honesty to the band that parallels Strait’s personal manifesto.
“In a way, George was a little bit out of the box for Nashville when he debuted,” Rogers notes, “I think George Strait, when he first hit town, he knew who he was, and I think that’s partly why he has been so successful throughout his career. If there’s a correlation between the two of us, I think that we definitely have a sound and we know who we are.”
The Randy Rogers Band further distinguishes that identity in its self-titled album, the band’s second release since signing with Mercury Nashville. Produced by longtime admirer Radney Foster, who’s successfully maintained alt country integrity while writing mainstream hits for the likes of Sara Evans and Keith Urban, sessions for The Randy Rogers Band took place at Dockside Studios, a bayou location in Maurice, Louisiana, that’s also been the breeding ground for projects by B.B. King, Mavis Staples, Keb’ Mo’, Levon Helm and Mark Knopfler.
“We shut ourselves up for 10 days and had a band-camp set up,” Richardson observes. “There weren’t any distractions. It wasn’t like we were all goin’ home every night and comin’ back the next day. We were just living and breathing it for 10 days or so. We were just completely absorbed by it.”
The consequences of that choice are just as absorbing for the listener. The album ranges from the hypnotic country of “Buy Myself A Chance” and the first single, “In My Arms Instead,” to the propulsive buzz of “Never Be That High” to the painful conclusion, “This Is Goodbye.”
Rogers’ various performances reflect the wide-ranging influences that snapped together in the process, evoking at times the sneer of Steve Earle, the soul of Bakersfield’s Monty Byrom (formerly of Big House) and the vulnerability of Keith Urban.
With its infectious hooks and daring attitude, the album underscores the iTunes popularity of the Randy Rogers Band, its critical appeal and its significance on the nation’s concert circuit, where they’ve broken attendance records at numerous clubs across the heartland. Even Kenny Chesney, who consistently places among the top-selling tours, saw the group’s blue-collar connection when he covered Rogers’ “Somebody Take Me Home” for the album The Road And The Radio.
Each of the five members recognizes his contribution to the Randy Rogers Band’s overall unity, and they repeatedly make choices—creatively and personally—that keep that all-for-one-and-one-for-all solidarity intact.
Steal You Away
Randy Rogers Band Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He ain't holdin' your hand like he should
He ain't listenin' to a word you say
He doesn't look at you the way I would
I should steal you away
I've been wondering
Thinking how it might be, if you were mine
Girl it drives me crazy
He don't know what he's got
I've been fightin' so hard not to cross the line
[Chorus]
I should steal you away,
I should steal you away,
In the middle of the night come take your heart,
I should steal you away
I could see us walking out that door
Not looking back as we roll down the road
And I would should you what a man's supposed to be
Take you anywhere you wanna go
[Chorus]
I should steal you away
In Randy Rogers Band's song Steal You Away, the singer finds himself lusting after a woman who is already in a relationship. He observes her with her partner and notes all the ways in which he isn't treating her the way she deserves to be treated. The singer sees himself as the more suitable choice and wishes he could steal her away from her current partner. He can't help but daydream about what life would be like with her and how things would be different if she were his. However, he also admits to feeling conflicted about his desires, as he struggles with the morality of wanting to break up someone else's relationship.
The song captures the relatable feeling of wanting someone who isn't available, and the desire to be the one who can make them happy. However, it also highlights the complexity of this situation, where the singer's feelings are pitted against any potential harm his actions could cause. The lyrics expertly balance the romantic imagery of the singer sweeping the woman off her feet, with the acknowledgment that he is grappling with the right thing to do.
Line by Line Meaning
I could see you standing with him
The singer noticed the person they desire standing with someone else.
He ain't holdin' your hand like he should
The person the singer desires is not receiving the proper physical affection from their current partner.
He ain't listenin' to a word you say
The person the singer desires is not being given adequate attention or respect in their current relationship.
He doesn't look at you the way I would
The artist believes they could treat the person they desire with more care and admiration than their current partner.
I should steal you away
The artist is contemplating taking the person they desire from their current partner and pursuing a relationship with them instead.
I've been wondering
The singer has been contemplating their feelings for the person they desire.
Are you looking at me
The singer is questioning whether the person they desire is also interested in them.
Thinking how it might be, if you were mine
The artist is imagining what a relationship with the person they desire could be like.
Girl it drives me crazy
The artist is feeling an intense level of desire and frustration.
He don't know what he's got
The artist believes that the person they desire's current partner is not appreciating them enough.
I've been fightin' so hard not to cross the line
The singer has been struggling to resist the temptation to pursue a relationship with the person they desire despite their current attachment.
I could see us walking out that door
The artist can visualize a future where they leave with the person they desire.
Not looking back as we roll down the road
The singer envisions a future for them and the person they desire, free from past attachments or complications.
And I would should you what a man's supposed to be
The singer believes that they could treat the person they desire in a better way than their current partner and show them what a true partner should be like.
Take you anywhere you wanna go
The singer is willing to do whatever it takes to make the person they desire happy and give them everything they could want in a relationship.
I should steal you away
The artist continues to consider taking the person they desire from their current partner and embarking on a relationship with them instead.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., BMG Rights Management
Written by: JEFF MIDDLETON, MARK HELBOCK, NICK DEKOFF
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Brian Elder
I could see you standing with him
He ain't holdin' your hand like he should
He ain't listenin' to a word you say
He doesn't look at you the way I would
I should steal you away
I've been wondering
Are you looking at me
Thinking how it might be, if you were mine
Girl it drives me crazy
He don't know what he's got
I've been fightin' so hard not to cross the line
I should steal you away,
I should steal you away,
In the middle of the night come take your heart,
I should steal you away
I could see us walking out that door
Not looking back as we roll down the road
And I would should you what a man's supposed to be
Take you anywhere you wanna go
I should steal you away,
I should steal you away,
In the middle of the night come take your heart,
I should steal you away
I should steal you away
Samuel Olvera
I'm in love with my friend who's been in a relationship of ten yrs never been married and no kids and this song is just everything I wish I could tell her but I can't because of the fear of losing her forever but I'd like to believe that one day I'll have my chance to give her the happiness she deserves and to show her how much love I have for her
Ericah Benton
We need an update.
Derek Caspian
@London Duke instablaster :)
London Duke
You prolly dont give a shit but does any of you know a method to get back into an instagram account??
I somehow lost the password. I would appreciate any help you can give me.
Liza E.
Samuel Olvera Life is too short for regrets and true love is so hard to find! Let her know how you feel- you could be her one chance at true happiness, the missing piece to her puzzle ❣️
Catherine Dow
This song puts a lump in my throat every time. 💓
Daniel Deer
Catherine Dow there are real men like this out there
Pamela Lamb
Took many years to realize he never looked at me the way you did
Terry Morrow
That horrible, some men don't know what they got.
Learning as I go
The 218 people who disliked must be the other who didn't know what good they had till gone.