Quality Americana

The latest single “Know That by Now” by Texas songwriter Randy Rogers brings us back to the days when George Strait sat on top of the country charts.

“I can’t have one drink without having four. Bum one cigarette and I’m headed to the store,” Rogers sings in this single co-written with fellow Texas troubadour Jack Ingram. “Better at getting lost than being found. You think I’d know that by now.”

Randy Rogers finds inspiration in San Marcos

Rogers grew up in Cleburne, Texas and started playing music at a young age on the piano with guidance from his grandmother. His first album “Live at the Cheatham Street Warehouse” was recorded at the San Marcos honky tonk he co-owns today. The historic venue was founded by Kent Finlay and hosts the longest running songwriter’s circle in the Hill Country. George Strait had a weekly spot at the venue and acts like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Marcia Ball, Ray Wylie Hubbard and Todd Snyder graced the stage over the years. While working on his degree at Texas State University, Rogers regularly attended the songwriter’s night.

“Kent opened the doors for a lot of us,” Rogers said in an interview with the Herald Zeitung. “Kent was one of those people that was slow to talk because he thought a long time about what he was going to say to you. That is a good thing for everyone to learn.”

Randy Rogers’ work with Texas State University

Rogers stays involved in the community and holds an annual charity golf tournament to benefit the Kent Finlay Endowment Fund. The fund awards scholarships to students at Texas State University that are learning to build a career in the music industry.

“His endowment will continue to grow over the years. So many artists know about it now. I recently told George Strait about it,” Rogers said. This year Rogers also gave a significant donation to the Women’s Crisis Center of Comal County.

“Those two things are very close to New Braunfels,” Rogers said. “Giving to Kent’s fund and to the crisis center just felt like the right thing to do, instead of giving money away to another community.”

Just like Strait, Rogers went from the Hill Country circuit to the Billboard charts and has released over ten studio albums in the past two decades. “Know That by Now ” appears on Tommy Jackson Records and was distributed by Thirty Tigers. The single has reached the top 40 of the Americana Music Association singles chart. 

“It is important, especially in today’s day and age, not to put out content just for the sake of content,” Rogers said in a press release. “People see through that and it’s a big mistake young artists make just to put a video or a new song out just to have something to talk about. There is a lost art to making an entire album, being a cohesive unit and have it be something that you can stand up and play. We have to record songs we can play live. Ninety nine percent of the income we share is because we’re playing a show, so those songs can’t be throwaway songs.”

“Know That by Now” is a classic country song that builds slowly with reflective lead guitar melodies, rich fiddle, strong chorus and beautiful pedal steel. The strong influences Rogers’ and Ingram received from the Lone Star State keep this song grounded in words and instrumentation. Roger’s work has paved the way for artists like Oklahoma native Zach Bryan, who made one of the biggest album releases in country history, to keep songwriting at the front and center of the business.

More information on Randy Rogers can be found here.

Press photo distributed by Randy Rogers.

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