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music first, we always, from Day One, put on a live show that we would want to go see. I think all those kinds of things combined really helped get us where we are. But I would say our music has probably been the No. 1 factor.”
Many of the band’s peers agree, especially those who have known them the longest. “The Flatts came to our fan club party with an acoustic guitar and three great voices,” said Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn of Brooks & Dunn in a written statement, recalling their first meeting. “Joe Don, Gary and Jay are all blessed with the gift of talent God gave. They can write, play, sing and entertain millions with an ease that is unmatched. … But most importantly, they are great guys who we are proud to call friends.”
Rascal Flatts traveled with Brooks & Dunn on the duo’s “Neon Circus and Wild West Show” in 2003; they also opened shows for Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith and Jo Dee Messina before they began headlining their own tours. Part of their success over the years stems from watching and learning from those acts who took them on the road.
“We got to steal a lot of their ideas when it came time to headline,” said DeMarcus, with a laugh, as Rooney added, “That’s actually a true statement.”
“It really puts you in a place, in all due respect to all of those acts, because they were certainly instrumental to us,” DeMarcus continued. “But it puts us in a place to learn what to do and what not to do, and you can learn a little bit of both by being out there with big headlining tours like that. And we learned how we wanted to run our crew, how we wanted to treat our people. They were very good tours. They treated their people very well, and they treated us as an opening act very well.”
According to Trey Turner, who co-manages Rascal Flatts with Doug Nichols under the auspices of Turner & Nichols and Associates, there is plenty for upcoming artists to learn from the example of this group in terms of staying successful and relevant. “I think it’s all due to the act,” he suggested. “They have to stay hungry. They have to want to keep going, because you get into making the money that they make, it’s not about where they were 10 years ago. It’s about what the next 10 years is going to be. They have to want it, and they have to want to go do it, because this is a very tough business and it’s so easy to say, ‘I’m gonna stay at the house this year, or two years or three years.’
“The other thing that is so important for a group is the bond between the people,” Turner continued. “It’s so easy for a group to not make it, just personality-wise. It’s like a second marriage, and they have to really be committed to each other, so that’s a big factor in a group. The other factor is the music. It’s not about who wrote what or who publishes what. It really gets down to every album they cut. They look at the best song and the best song wins.”
Summing up, Turner said, “To me, when you’ve got those three things going together, it’s a magical combination because then you’re going to be successful
2010年08月29日 15点08分