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Rascal Flatts

Started playing in: 1999

Place: Nashville

Genre: New Country

Band Members: Gary LeVox, Joe Don Rooney, Jay DeMarcus

Website: Rascal Flatts

Biography

If any act embodies the place to which country music has evolved in the new century, it is Rascal Flatts. Since their inception a decade ago in 1999, the trio has helped change the face of popular music. Their trademark sound--Gary LeVox's powerfully emotive lead vocals coupled with the soaring harmonies of Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney, set amid world-class arrangements and production, have made the band the standard bearers for cutting-edge country.
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Drawing on Nashville's best tunesmiths and their own enviable songwriting skills, they have released, in songs like "These Days," "Bless The Broken Road," "What Hurts The Most" and "Take Me There," some of the most important and successful music to come out of Nashville in recent years. Along the way, they have placed 10 #1 singles and 20 Top Tens, seen every one of their studio albums go multi-platinum, with total sales approaching 19 million, been the ACM and CMA top vocal group every year since 2003, and won multiple American Music Awards and People's Choice Awards.

Now, with Unstoppable, Gary, Joe Don and Jay release their most powerful and accessible album to date, taking their career and country music another large step forward. Produced by Dann Huff and Rascal Flatts, the record applies the group's formidable talents to a spectrum of songs that range from the pure drama of "Forever," which deals, as the group has so often in the past, with the pain of a broken relationship, to the pure fun of "Summer Nights," a romp through a world of coolers and bikinis guaranteed to be a concert favorite. The trio is as proud of the project as they've ever been.

"This is the best group of songs we've ever had," says Joe Don, and given the band's storied history, that is no small statement. Their deliberate approach is much of the reason

"We started early on this record," says Jay, "so we could take the time to cut when we wanted to cut. We set out from the beginning to track when we got songs we believed in. That allowed us to take a deep breath now and then and take our time, and the great thing is every song means something very deeply to us."

That conviction is evident in every vocal.

"Songs like 'Why,' which deals with a very important and sensitive topic," says Gary, "put me in a place vocally where I've never been. Overall, these were songs I could pour all of myself into."

There is perhaps no male singer on the current country scene who can wring more from songs of loss and heartache than Gary, and Unstoppable gives him several opportunities to do just that. "Holdin' On" and "Close" both tell stories of people clinging to the remnants of lost love, while "Once" paints a portrait of loss that takes full advantage of his vocal prowess.

All three agree, though, that Unstoppable's first single, "Here Comes Goodbye," covers the territory as well as it's been covered.

"It's one of the most powerful songs we've ever put out there," says Jay.

Along with first-rate song selection and the band's own contributions--Jay was co-writer on "Close" and the title track, which celebrates the sheer power of love, while Gary contributed "Summer Nights" and "Things That Matter," a look at moments with lasting importance--Unstoppable is notable for Rascal Flatts' continuing dedication to studio excellence.

"I think Dann and [engineer] Justin [Niebank] just get better and better with time," says Joe Don, "and they really pushed us to raise our game. This is the best sound we've ever had."

That excellence was reflected in Jay's bass playing and Joe Don's guitar work, as well as in their harmony vocals.

"Take a song like 'Summer Nights,'" says Gary. "Joe Don really stepped out and played some great guitar. Vocally, too, the track was good, but when Joe Don played that guitar riff and then he and Jay laid down their vocals, they really took the song to a better place. It upped the ante on it."

"Dann is such a great guitar player and producer," adds Joe Don. "He's totally got his thumb on country music right now, and he does inspire us to be better. We stretched a lot on this album, bringing in all our influences."

"Every song is special," says Jay. "It was a just a true joy to make. We've always tried to progress and grow as artists and I think this totally displays that."

They have made such growth their mission since their beginnings in 1999, following a conversation between Jay and Joe Don, who were band mates working with Chely Wright.

"Man," said Jay, "you've got to come hear my cousin Gary sing." Jay and Gary had begun attracting a following at the Fiddle and Steel Guitar Bar in Nashville's Printers Alley.

"Somewhere around the 13th of January in 1999," Joe Don says, "Jay called me and said, 'Dude, our guitar player can't make it. Any way you could come sit in with us?' I said, 'Hell, yeah,' grabbed my guitar and amp and made it to the club by 8."

All three were blown away by their collective sound, and they began playing as a trio, up to seven hours a night. Soon label executives had caught the buzz and were dropping by to see them. They cut some demos and by late that year they had been signed to Lyric Street. That began a string of hits that made the band one of country's most successful acts. Songs like "Prayin’ For Daylight,” “Mayberry," "Fast Cars and Freedom," "My Wish" and "Stand," and albums like Melt, Feels Like Today, Me And My Gang and Still Feels Good took them into the music world's stratosphere.

Along the way, their “Bless The Broken Road” was Grammy nominated for Country Song of the Year and Vocal Performance, became 2006's top-selling physical and digital artist in all genres, scored four #1 country albums and three #1 overall, and hit the Top 10 Billboard pop singles chart twice, among many other milestones.

"There's never been a method to our madness," says Joe Don. "We just cut the best songs we can, and through the years we get better at what we do."

They continue to carry the country banner into arenas and stadiums, humbled by how far their star has risen with a profound impact on the concert stage. In good economic times and bad, their tours have been marked by sellouts and venue attendance records, as their state-of-the-art production, high energy approach and hit-filled set list thrill audiences year in and year out.

The guys have performed for millions of fans in the last few years and recently wrapped their “Bob That Head Tour.” They will kick off a new summer tour in June 2009- “Rascal Flatts American Living Unstoppable Tour.” J. C. Penney Company, Inc. is an official sponsor of the tour and will promote American Living, the retailer’s affordable, all-American lifestyle brand developed exclusively for the JCPenney customer by Polo Ralph Lauren’s Global Brand Concepts. The fully integrated two-year sponsorship will kick off June 5, with the tour hitting approximately 60 cities across the nation each year.

"As a kid, you stand in front of your mirror and only dream about being able to sell out arenas and stadiums," says Gary. "And to be able to play a place like Wrigley Field and sell it out, you can't even dream that big. The feeling is awesome."

"We know how difficult it can be for people to lay down money to go to a concert," says Jay, "and I thank them profusely from the stage every night. Our main focus will always be to give them every penny's worth of entertainment value we can."

Their approach grows out of their own histories as music fans.

"When I saw Garth Brooks years ago," says Joe Don, "it was like I had an epiphany.......I knew at that moment that I wanted to do the very same thing, be the same kind of entertainer he was and now I'm in that same position and I want the people who come to our shows to know that about me every night when I take the stage."

The three are committed family men who take seriously their role in the community. They are known for their charitable efforts, which have included raising millions of dollars for charities including the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt and for their work on the celebrity cabinet board of the American Red Cross.

At the core, though, is the three-way friendship and musical partnership dedicated to making records they would want to listen to and putting on shows they would want to attend. It is that approach that has brought so much pleasure to so many fans and given them such an enviable position in the musical world.

"It's just beyond measure," says Gary. "We get to touch people's lives through music. There's no greater gift in the world and we love it today more than when we got the record deal in '99. We're planning to be around for a long time."
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Posts

posted on Thu Feb 4 01:06 PM
Rascal Flatts turns the spotlight on songwriters

Rascal Flatts took the opportunity to honour the many songwriters who've contributed to the band's amazing decade of success last night at Nashville's Musicians Hall of Fame. The evening included live acoustic performances of 8 the ...

posted on Wed Jan 27 05:51 PM
Rascal Flatts' thank you tribute for songwriters

Rascal Flatts' Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney will help mark their 10th anniversary as a band with a celebration next week in Nashville honouring the seventy-five songw...

posted on Wed Jan 13 06:16 PM
Rascal Flatts new decade starts on the road

Rascal Flatts kicks off the 2010 leg on their American Living Unstoppable Tour this weekend with Darius Rucker. The boys will get things rolling with ...

posted on Wed Dec 16 01:31 PM
Rascal Flatts' musical Christmas gift

The holiday spirit took Rascal Flatts into the recording studio last week to lay down a brand new Christmas song as a present to their fans for their support of the band this year.

"Away In A Manger" is now availab...

posted on Fri Dec 4 08:32 PM
Rascal Flatts headed for CSI

First Taylor Swift and now, Rascal Flatts are set to appear in an upcoming episode of the smash hit CBS procedural CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. One of the trio will find ...