Randy Rogers Band - Just a Matter of Time - Song by Song
"Better Off Wrong" (Randy Rogers, Gary Nicholson, Radney Foster)
I really wanted to write kind of a real driving, old-school '70s country kind of tune, with a Waylon Jennings kind of backbeat. I knew that Gary Nicholson had played with Billy Joe Shaver and been around forever, so I just told him, "I want to write a Waylon-esque tune." He said, "Oh really? Here's Waylon's 57 Tele," and hands me Waylon's guitar. Talk about a panic attack! But it was really cool.
"Kiss Me in the Dark" (Radney Foster, George Ducas)
Radney and George pitched this one to us along with like four or five other songs they had written together. I loved it, played it for the guys, and they loved it. It was very obvious that it was single material. When you get that good of a song, you can kind of feel the magic of the song. And you gotta go with it.
"One More Goodbye" (Randy Rogers, Clint Ingersol)
Clint is another writer at Big Tractor Publishing, where I'm also signed. He's a good ol' country boy from Oklahoma. We wrote "One More Goodbye" on a dreary, rainy afternoon in Austin at my road manager's house. It's just about that universal thing that I think everybody has gone through, which is like, "I don't ever want to see you again," and then the next day, "Uhh . Can I come over?"
"Just a Matter of Time" (Randy Rogers, Stephony Smith)
Stephony is a songwriter who I met through Alisha Jordan who signed me to my publishing deal. We really hit it off and wrote three songs for this record, starting with this one. It ended up being the title of the record, because I felt that as a title it kind of sums up the subject material of the other songs.
"You Could've Left Me" (Randy Rogers, Kent Finlay)
Kent Finlay from Cheatham Street Warehouse (in San Marcos, Texas) is definitely one of my mentors. This is like the most pissed-off, driving, kind of screw-you song on the record, which is funny if you know Kent, because he's a little bit older and doesn't get too fired up! We wrote it, and I played it for him, and he went, "Well, it's not what I expected!" Because it came out so rock 'n' roll, just gunning it. But he loves it.
"You Could Change My Mind" (Randy Rogers, Stephony Smith)
This is one we wrote from scratch. Neither of us had a melody. I think the hook came about just through us talking it through. It's always fun when that happens; when you start a three or four hour session of song writing, and you start with nothing and you're able to walk out with something. It's a beautiful thing when songs happen that way. Sometimes it takes months to complete a thought, but this one was like, boom.
"Before I Believe It's True" (Randy Rogers, Radney Foster)
That was one that Radney brought to the table and he and I completely revamped it. It was the truest form of collaboration between two songwriters that I think I've ever had. It was the real deal - that's how co-writing 101 should be.
"You Start Over Your Way" (Randy Rogers, Radney Foster)
That's the first song that Radney and I wrote for this project. We wanted to write just an up-tempo, let's go out and have a good time thing. I usually have a hard time writing that kind of stuff feel good songs aren't really my specialty! But we managed to write that one.
"If Anyone Asks" (Randy Rogers, Drew Womack)
Drew and I became buddies when he moved to Austin a few years ago. This song is about a guy locking himself up in a room because he's so upset about a breakup, he doesn't want to face any of his friends, because he's embarrassed. It's a pretty tough subject matter.
"You Don't Know Me" (Jon Richardson)
Written by Mr. Johnny Chops, our bass player - we call him that because of his big sideburns. We used to do it bluegrass-style, just sit around and play it on mandolins in the van and in the hotel room after the show. We wanted to put a country-ass song on the record, to show off how, you know, "Yeah, we may come off as these real country rock enthusiasts, but if you want to listen to some Jerry Reed, we'll play you some country music." And the whole premise of the song is, "I don't care what you think about me; you judging me isn't going to ruin my day."
"If I Told You the Truth" (Randy Rogers, Radney Foster)
I think that was the second song that we wrote for the record. I'd been playing with the melody for a while, and Radney and I finished it together. It's not as bad as it sounds it's not like, "I did something wrong, and if I told you, you'd leave me." It's more like, "If I told you that I loved you, would you stay with me or would you run away?" So it's not bad. Unless, of course, she runs away!
"Whiskey's Got a Hold on Me" (Randy Rogers, Stephony Smith)
I quit drinking whiskey about a year and two months ago after finding the bottom of the bottle, which I don't recommend. I was staying in Radney's basement, and I was so ashamed of myself because, here I was trying to become a better songwriter, and I wasn't taking care of myself, doing the things I needed to do to get myself mentally prepared to write. So Radney's wife said, "Write about that!" Ding ding ding! It's probably the most honest song I've written in a long time. |