Search - Rodney Hayden :: Real Thing

Sounds more like a legend than a debut!

Alison Peveto | Buna, TX United States | 02/21/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Every once in a while, country music is blessed with a great talent who has great passion for the music. Rodney Hayden is one of those rare blessings. The 22-year-old Pleasanton, Texas native has just released his first album and is already being compared to George Strait by many critics. There are a few similarities between Hayden and the legendary Strait. Hayden hails from a small South Texas town just down the road from Strait's home. Hayden also prefers to mix it up in his shows and on his album with some marketable country, some western swing and some tearjerkers that would fit in at the rowdiest honky-tonks. Hayden, like Strait in the late 1970s, has been turned down by the labels in Nashville for being "too country." Hayden's sound has even been compared to a young George Strait and he is honored at the comparison. Hayden's debut album, The Real Thing, is just that, the real deal, the genuine article. He takes his cues from his western swing and honky-tonk heroes such as Lefty Frizzell, Bob Wills, Merle Haggard and yes, George Strait. His album has been produced by Texas music icon Robert Earl Keen and the album is on Keen's label, Rosetta Records. Hayden wrote or co-wrote nearly every song on the album, with the exception of a couple of outstanding covers. Perhaps the most touching song on the album is the country waltz "December Rose." The song is penned by Hayden himself and is based on a true love story that an elderly man shared with him at one of his first shows. "Trying to Find Myself" is an autobiographical song that Hayden wrote when he first became frustrated about being "too country" for a major record deal. Another self-penned tune entitled "You Don't Talk" has some western swing feeling pumped into it as the young singer croons about a relationship plagued by the ever present lack of communication in relationships. The well-written, fiddle laced, extremely mature song "Heartaches and Highways" is a standout on the album and is perfect for a late night drive on a lonely Texas road. Some of the superb cover songs include a rendition of Billy Joe Shaver's "Black Rose," a countrified, steel guitar vamped version of Tom Waits' "I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love With You" and the swinging sad song "Tears Only Run One Way," written by Robbie Fulks. Although Hayden has been all but ignored by radio stations outside of Texas, his work has been praised by critics in Billboard, Country Weekly, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly and People Magazine. For Hayden, however, commercial success would only be icing on the cake. He is living his dream, making real country music filled with the cry of the fiddle and moan of the steel guitar. The music he is making is truly "the real thing.""