RODNEY HAYDEN

March 14, 1999
    
Every time a new country singer with a great voice comes down the pike, the music business perks up. New blood. The next Hank Williams. The next George Jones. Hearing these flattering words makes the singer smile.  Maybe even blush. Everyone likes praise and compliments. Then the young singer might give these comparisons more thought. The next Hank Williams.  Well, that's cool, but you know, Hank died young in the backseat of a white Cadillac. Maybe your voice sounds a little like George Jones, but he's fought his share of demons too. Comparisons are good as long as your originality remains intact. If your name is Rodney Hayden, that's not a problem.

Many young performers suffer from such similarities. In all fairness, who was Hank Williams and George Jones compared to at the beginning of their careers? Many times we take the easy way out when spreading the news about new performers. "Oh, he sounds just like Merle Haggard" or "That new singer, he sure reminds me of Lefty Frizzell." As a
journalist I have been guilty of this myself, many times. It's the easy way out. The danger is, comparing one artist to another can often be very limiting.

It was a hot night at a local country opry when a young Rodney Hayden stepped on stage. The event organizers heard he could sing and offered him the chance. Belting out a heart wrenching version of I Can't Help It If I'm Still In Love With You was probably not what the crowd expected. Afterwards he was bombarded by members of the audience, wondering
where such vocal prowess came from. Here's where the story takes on a fairy tale theme. You see, this was his first public appearance. It was during his sophomore year of high school.

After that first performance, Rodney began getting invited to other country opries around the state. Stars like Hank Williams, Webb Pierce and Lefty Frizzell got their starts in much the same way. Over the next year, Rodney began writing songs. He put together a small band, with himself handling vocals and guitar and Sandra Royal on fiddle. Friends and fellow musicians filled in on drums and bass as needed. It was Sandra's grandparents that ran the first "opry" Rodney performed at. It was Sandra that convinced Rodney to sing that night. He sang I Can't Help It If I'm Still In Love With You and received a super response from the crowd.  Soon, a ten song demo was recorded that featured numerous country
classics and two Hayden originals, Honky Tonk Fever and I Love You So. A local radio station in San Antonio started giving I Love You So some regular air play which lead to more recognition for Rodney. He was asked to perform at the San Antonio tribute to Hank Williams where he met Rusty Locke, one of the original members of the Drifting Cowboys. It was about this time that Rodneys' demo tape found it's way to Rosetta Management, home of Texas icon Robert Earl Keen. Based on the strength of that tape, Rodney soon signed a management and publishing deal with Rosetta.

Lately, life has been a daze of writing, performing and just getting familiar with the crazy business we call music. Life is now a blur. He recently recorded a three song demo in New Braunfels that included The Bottle, Crazy Cowboy Dream and The Real Thing. He's been sending the demo around to area stations and clubs. He continues to write and perform, hoping to have enough material for a full length album in the near future. Lately he's been doing some songwriting with Bill Whitbeck of San Marcos.

Recently he met Dale Watson at a club in Austin and was invited on stage for a few songs. After singing Mind Your Own Business and I Heard That Lonesome Whistle Blow, Rodney was offered a gig at Threadgills. It seems that the booking agent saw Rodney on stage and liked what he heard. While Rodney is busy compiling material for his debut album, he plans to stay busy perfecting his craft by performing around our area. If you would like to see Rodney in action,  contact Rosetta Management at (830) 796-7055.