Rodney Hayden

Rodney Hayden is a damn fine country singer. Although he currently calls Nashville home, his Texas roots make it difficult for him to compose pop songs, and as this too brief set proved, he’s twangy to the bone. Or as someone said as they left the BMI stage to catch another performer, “He’s too country.” Hayden lead with some of his better-known tunes, like the honky-tonkin’ “The Real Thing” and the lightly swinging “Livin’ the Good Life,” even though his band seemed a little underrehearsed – just slightly behind where the songs were supposed to go. A blazing take of Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues,” with Matt Slusher showing off his superior mandolin chops, kicked things up a couple of degrees so that the bluesy “Get on Your Mule and Ride,” co-written with Robert Earl Keen, seemed just a little bit more funky and Celtic-flavored power ballad “Heartaches and Highways” carried more weight.

This article appears in September 22 • 2006.

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