Randy Rogers Band: The "Rollercoaster" Continues!

The Randy Rogers Band is set to release the 20th anniversary edition of their sophomore album, “Rollercoaster,” on August 23rd, which coincides with Randy’s birthday. This remastered and resequenced edition, produced by Radney Foster, captures the original thrill of the band’s seminal album while bringing it into the modern age. They chose a vibrant red smoke color to reflect the energy and excitement of the album, as well as to create a visually striking and memorable edition for the fans.

Originally released on August 24, 2004, “Rollercoaster” was not only the band’s second full-length album but also the one that catapulted the New Braunfels-based six-piece outfit into the stratosphere. It’s only fitting that the band celebrates such a landmark achievement two decades later after 20 years of wild success.

In addition, they will be hitting the road for some amazing shows around the country in celebration of the release. Here’s where to find out more information on shows: Randy Rogers Band — Tour .

MJ : How did your 20 ^th Anniversary album come about and why did you choose your sophomore album to re-release?

RR : It started over a year ago with Radney Foster, who produced this album. Our sophomore album was the first album all band members made together, so that’s why we chose that one, and I thought 20 years was significant for a band, and all its members, to be together. Radney was able to go back and find the original recordings, so that’s where the remastering of the album came about. There are obviously differences in technology now from 20 years ago to today. We were able to use some modern-day technology that didn’t exist, and we found some outtakes and banter from back then and added it to this album. We also re-sequenced the record so it would fit on vinyl and maybe the first time we sequenced we didn’t know what we were doing. I think that rings true with the whole re-release that you know, we were babies, we were young, we didn’t have money, and we made that record in one week. We were prepared because we had been playing the songs live as I wrote them. It was an interesting time before digital releases, the only way we could let fans hear the songs was to play them at our shows. Back then we weren’t afforded the opportunity to release songs on Apple Music or Spotify or anything. We had been playing the songs live for quite a while, and in the studio the arrangements were already there, and it made it easier to record four songs in one day.

I feel like that record set the bar for our genre at the time and put us on the map. It afforded us to open up shows for a lot of bigger artists at the time, which helped us grow our fan base. It was also the first album that got radio airplay not just in little bitty towns, but all over Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, San Antonio. It was really the first time a lot of people had heard of us. It was kind of like our coming out party, so to speak. “Tonight’s Not the Night” and “Down and Out” both charted on Billboard Country Charts. We didn’t have a record label; we were doing it independently back then. Then some record labels and people in the industry started paying attention to us, and we were very thankful for that, and that’s why the record, for me, is so important.

MJ : I read you chose a vibrant red smoke color for the vinyl. How did that come about?

RR : I’d have to defer that to my day-to-day manager, Nick Robes and Enzo DeVincenzo our manager. Nick was the brainchild behind the redoing of the artwork. The vinyl itself is beautiful. We looked at different color swaths and we just wanted to create something that was unique. I wish I knew the word to describe the way the artwork is printed on the album cover, but it’s raised and really neat. We just wanted to come up with something that was beautiful and unique. We obviously changed the artwork to say 2024 on it and signify the re-release. We wanted the vinyl to be something that catches your eye.

MJ : So, the album comes out this Friday, August 23 ^rd ?

RR : Yes, it does and actually that is my birthday as well.

MJ : Well, Happy Birthday!

RR : Thank you. It’s kind of a nice little birthday present, and once again something I am really proud of. You know I remember being scared when we first made the record, it was a pretty important time I felt like. We started gaining momentum and didn’t want to screw things up and were so excited about it. Now, it’s still around and people say it’s one of the best albums we ever made. It will be nice to have it come and go, right, our 20-year anniversary, and it kind of speaks to the fact that we’re not really youngsters anymore. It kind of shines the light on a few different things, right?

MJ : Thinking 20 years back as a band, how have you guys grown and changed?

RR : It’s funny, so many things have changed, especially before cell phones. We used to have to print out MapQuest to find out where we were going to play, that’s one thing that has changed. But you know, as a core group, one of the reasons that we’ve had longevity is we treat each other like family, and that has not changed. Then at the same time, we all worked at our craft kind of at the same pace. So, we are better players and continue to become better players. For me personally, I started making all those trips to Nashville to write songs and learn how to co-write after the album came out. There’s co-writes on the album with Radney Foster and Radney really taught me how to co-write. I think that’s something that a lot of young artists are freaked out about, and don’t necessarily understand. For an example of how we’ve changed is I have learned how to co-write. I’ve learned how to get in a room, throw ideas around and not be afraid to say, “No, this is what I think,” you know put my foot down. The rest of the band have worked on their craft and became better players. They also became better songwriters. I think we treated it as a job and not just a party. It can be a party, but we were all really serious, we took it seriously. We knew this was a lifelong journey of becoming the best musicians and the best band we could be. Back then there was a lot of chit chat between songs on the set. I cringe when I go back and listen to some of the dumb things I said. Now adays, we just go bang, bang, bang and just knock them out. Now having nine studio albums out, that’s a lot of material so our set lists consist of around twenty-six to twenty-eight songs a show. Not a whole lot of time to chit chat anymore. We try to work on making the show. The show is our bread and butter. People would always say, “You don’t get it if you don’t understand it,” and we took that seriously.

MJ : There has always seemed to be a seamless performance from you and the band, like it really comes naturally, and it conveys over to the audience.

RR : Yes, there is definitely chemistry between the five of us. There are nights it is just so much fun still, and we are high-fiving each other and proud of the show. We are about to have more of those on the road opening for Dierks Bentley and we don’t really play very long on those shows, so we really have to bring that energy for the short amount of time that we’re up there. I’m looking forward to those shows and kind of getting to be youngsters again. It’s great that it’s happening around the re-release.

MJ : Were the shows with Dierks planned before the re-release was planned?

RR : Yes, before we had planned the re-release. It just kind of happened to fall that way.