When it came time to work on Rascal Flatts’ eighth studio album last year, bassist Jay DeMarcus says the trio seriously considered throwing in the towel. Though the popular country group had amassed an alphabet soup of awards – CMT, ACA, AMC, CMA, Radio Music, People’s Choice, even a Grammy – among various accolades throughout its nearly 13-year career, DeMarcus says they wondered if they had anything more to say.
DeMarcus, along with vocalist Gary LeVox and guitarist Joe Don Rooney, experienced a rocky couple of years following the release of 2010’s Nothing Like This. Their longtime label, Lyric Street Records (a division of the Walt Disney Company), closed, sending the band to Big Machine Records at the same time it parted ways with its management company.
“We had a really big meeting when we were in the midst of the management change to figure out whether we wanted to keep Rascal Flatts together,” DeMarcus says during a recent phone interview. “It wasn’t because we were at odds with each other. We had just been doing it for about 11 years at that time and we had to do a gut check to see if we had more to say or more to do as a band.”
Each member laid out his feelings, and DeMarcus says they ultimately decided there was more in store for the group, with a push to try different things with their music and continue to grow. They headed into the studio and on Jan. 16 released the song “Banjo,” which immediately rocketed up the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, eventually nabbing the top spot in May. Its accompanying album, appropriately titled Changed, arrived April 3.
“With this record, we wanted to (do) it in a different way, maybe pick some songs that we normally wouldn’t cut,” DeMarcus adds. Like the first single: “We wouldn’t have cut that a few years ago. We took some chances with that. We’ve got the first single off the record with a banjo solo in it. You don’t hear that every day, and we’re also known for being a little edgier and having a little rock side to us, so to put something like that out, (something) so country-infused, was a little bit of a change for us.
“I think putting songs on there like ‘A Little Home’ is definitely something we wouldn’t have explored a little earlier on, being that sentimental about things. I think all of us being fathers now really changes how we approach our music, too. You can hear some of that maturity and growth in this record.”
Rascal Flatts is also indulging something else the threesome has wanted to do for quite some time: tour with bands instead of solo acts. Currently on its Changed Tour, which stops Friday night at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine, the group enlisted several other outfits to bolster the bill, including longtime friends Little Big Town, Edens Edge, the Eli Young Band and Thompson Square.
“Getting schedules to line up is always a challenge when you’re trying to put together a tour,” DeMarcus says. “We’ve been talking about doing something like this for several years, (and) getting all the stars to align was a huge task, but we’re thrilled. It’s great to have people out on the road, to where it’s almost like family. We do have a huge catering bill every day.”
At a recent stop in Darien Lake in New York, DeMarcus says all of the bands headed to the town’s theme park to ride roller-coasters, play games – basically take over the park. He got excited thinking of what they could do for fun during downtime in Southern California. It’s not impossible that we’ll see a bunch of country stars having a blast in some of our own theme parks: Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm, SeaWorld, Universal Studios. “Yeah, look out,” he says with a laugh.
Rascal Flatts is also slated to receive another big honor, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, on Monday. The ceremony will be held at 11:30 a.m. and the star will be located in front of the Sergeant Supply Store, at 6664 Hollywood Blvd.
“It’s just very overwhelming and humbling to be recognized in that way,” DeMarcus says. “It’s one of those things that you dream of when you’re a kid, but to say that you’re getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is one of the biggest things that has probably ever happened to us. I look around and see people who are just now getting their stars, like Neil Diamond and Vince Gill, and I think: ‘Wow.’ This all just happened so relatively quickly for us and I’m just very grateful.”
DeMarcus, a huge Elvis Presley fan, says he will visit the King’s star while checking up on his own.
“I will probably go back to it from time to time to try to grasp the gravity of it all,” he says, “and make sure that people didn’t defile it in some way.”
Rascal Flatts also appears later that day on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to perform its latest single, “Come Wake Me Up.”
“It’s kind of an adrenaline rush,” he says of performing for millions of television viewers. “It’s like a football player running onto the field for the first play of a game. You just have all of this energy and you’re ready to get out there and kick it in the ass, and with that added pressure of live television and an audience it can be really exhilarating for us in a great way. We love flying by the seat of our pants like that.”
Performing hasn’t always been so pleasant or easy, however. Despite their praise over the years, DeMarcus says in the beginning the criticism was rough. When their debut single “Praying for Daylight” first hit radio, the trio was listening to a station in Nashville on their tour bus when the on-air personality decided to play a game of “Shine the Lights or Lights Out” with the new track. Callers got to decide whether to keep the song or ditch it from rotation.
“The first call was positive,” DeMarcus remembers. “She really liked it and thought it was a cool new sound. But the next couple of calls were like ‘I hate that! It’s awful! Turn the lights out on that!’ We were sitting on the bus hearing our career crumble before it even started.
“But the next seven or so calls were all positive – and here we are years later.”
Rascal Flatts headline Friday night at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, with opening sets from Little Big Town, Edens Edge, Eli Young Band and Thompson Square starting at 7. Tickets are $25.85-$100. The venue is at 8808 Irvine Center Drive, in Irvine. Also catch that lineup Saturday night at Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre in Chula Vista, $24.75-$105.
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