Why Rough Edges?
Now here’s a great bluegrass chorus:
I’ve got rough edges all over me,
and I can’t change not even for you.
You can chisel and mold,
but I’m brittle as coal.
Those edges will never be smooth!
When the songwriting guru Randall Hylton penned the tune "Rough Edges," he shot it full of attitude. It’s not a bad attitude, mind you, but a clear I-know-who-I-am attitude. As a band, we want nothing more than our listeners to recognize that the music we play is the music we love and want to play. Much like Hylton’s persona, we hope to say, "Here we are as who we are—come and listen!" Although we certainly want to be as tight and driving as our ability will allow, in this musical age of pitch correction, overdubs, and slick production, we still find plenty of room for something raw and edgy, and that’s what we’re after—rough edges. They’re all over us!
Why Heyday?
Well, there is track 3, but we’re certainly up to a little more than referencing the title cut here. With our debut album, Rough Edges hopes to pay tribute to folks who have inspired us as musicians, and we’ve tried to pick, chisel, and mold a handful of cover tunes that capture our heroes in their heydays. There are plenty of nods to the band that Travis recognizes as his childhood babysitters, the Knoxville Grass, including a rather spirited tribute to Jimmy Millsaps with Jeff’s banjo work on "Song for Susan." I personally feel no album is complete without a New Grass Revival tune, and here we have "Four Days of Rain." For the first-generation grass fans, we offer Red Allen’s "Teardrops in My Eyes." Mick and Keith, John and Paul, Merle—these guys have all had impressive heydays, and we hope you enjoy listening to tracks 1, 11, and 6 as much as we enjoyed recording them. Clearly, song selection with Heyday has been conscientious, but we didn’t go searching here. All of the covers come from our live sets. Raw and edgy, they’re simply songs we love to play. They’re all over us!
And the originals?
As a band, we want a heyday, too, and we’d love for it to begin with this album. To this end, Travis has contributed three originals with "Baby Boy," "Sweet Memory," and "Angel Anna." These tunes obviously capture the talent of their author—we’re certainly proud to have his pen in our pocket—but they also allow Clint and Jeff to shine instrumentally. In live performance, Trav’s recent songwriting has become a badge for the whole band. Clint, Jeff, and I are thrilled he wrote these tunes, and we all love to play them. The other original, the title cut, comes from yours truly. I actually began "Heyday" several years ago but only finished it while we were in the studio. Once I realized how appropriate it might be to have a title track that deals with country-boy roots and a healthy dose of nostalgia, I simply had to finish the song. The rest, as they say, is history. We truly hope you enjoy our Heyday!
—Chip and Rough Edges
Travis Sutton—bass guitar, lead and tenor (tracks 3, 6, 10) vocals
Chip McLain—guitar, lead (tracks 3, 6, 10) and tenor vocals
Jeff Webb—banjo and all that hard timing stuff the rest of us can’t figure out
Clint Hurd—mandolin, baritone vocal
Heyday was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Bryan Turner at Digital Tonez Studio in Tazewell, Tennessee.
We especially want to thank all the friends of Rough Edges and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for the chance at heaven; and you for listening to our Heyday.
Visit Rough Edges at www.roughedgesband.net.
© 2007 Rough Edges Bluegrass Band, GWE-0707. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws. Made in the USA.
1. Wild Horses (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards)
2. Angel Anna (Travis Sutton)
3. Heyday (Chip McLain)
4. Teardrops in My Eyes (Harley Red Allen, Tommy Sutton)
5. Sometimes I Have the Strangest Dreams (Hal Ketchum, Melvin Rivers Rutherford)
6. Lonesome Fugitive (L. Anderson, C. Anderson)
7. Sweet Memory (Travis Sutton)
8. Song for Susan (Carl Jackson)
9. Baby Boy (Travis Sutton)
10. Four Days of Rain (Rick Roberts)
11. Ticket to Ride (John Lennon, Paul McCartney)
12. Don’t Say Goodbye (Jimmie Davis, Bonnie Dodd)
