Joe Don Rooney of Rascal Flatts turns 51 on Sunday.
Joe Don is the third from the left in the above photo.
I’ve met the guys of Rascal Flatts a lot of times and they are all good guys. They hit the scene in 2000 and had a hit with Praying for Daylight. Two years later they had hits with These Days, Mayberry and I Melt. In 2004, God Blessed the Broken Road was the big hit off their third album.
It was around this time that I began to question adding their songs at our station. In my opinion, just because you are a superstar, which they were by this time, you shouldn’t get a free pass to play your song (Especially if it isn’t that good!). It got to the point where (like Garth Brooks) they could sing anything and radio played it. It drove me crazy.
There were always better songs fighting for a spot on the playlist and at this time, all of the Rascal Flatts songs started sounding the same. I always fought the record guy (who I liked a lot) on this point. I was all about adding good songs, and it started to seem like we were adding songs just because of who sang them. Our consultant at the time would often hold out on adding big names like Brooks and Dunn or Alan Jackson, because he didn’t think they were hits. Then he would instantly add a Garth Brooks or Rascal Flatts stinker because of who they were. It never made sense to me.
Their good songs continue to be played on country stations and on satellite radio. They had great success when I was in country radio. I honestly don’t know what they are doing now, but I remember they were always great guys to hang out and talk with.
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 