Randy Rogers Band Select ‘Tequila Eyes’ as Next Single [LISTEN]
With their latest single, “Tequila Eyes," the Randy Rogers Band are turning a popular country song theme on its head. This time, it’s not the man who’s trying to drown his sorrows at the bottom of a liquor bottle -- it’s the woman. Click play below to listen to the RRB's third single off of their 2016 album Nothing Shines Like Neon.
Part melancholy waltz, part booze-fueled ballad, "Tequila Eyes” has an understated, but no less powerful, impact. A simple drum line and no-frills guitar melody make the fiddle in this tune stand out even more, especially as it envelops Rogers’ gravelly vocals in the chorus.
“I noticed when I first walked in, that stool beside you needs a friend / Looks like you could use one, too / Girl, the trouble with the past is you can’t kill it with a shot glass / Once it catches up with you,” Rogers sings with his signature Texas twang. “I can see ya, tequila in your eyes / Makes me want to run, run, run / Save me from a pain they can’t disguise, before you come undone / 'Cause they can’t hide the truth and I am trying to / I see right through those tequila eyes.”
“Tequila Eyes” will strike a sympathetic note with male and female listeners alike, touching on an iconic theme found in classic country songs that combine hard love with hard liquor. The fact that song is written about a hard-drinking woman instead of a man makes the song unique while still maintaining its universal appeal.
Rogers wrote "Tequila Eyes" with Dean Dillon and Buddy Cannon; he originally got the idea for the song while talking to a friend before a show in Houston, Texas.
"He said something about a girl he had seen the night before, and that he could see the tequila in her eyes," Rogers recalls. "Of course lights went off in my head; I jotted it down in my phone. I told him, 'I'm gonna write that song.'"
Featuring all-star guest vocalists such as Alison Krauss and Jamey Johnson, Nothing Shines Like Neon debuted at No. 5 on the country charts following its release and reveals a new side to the Texas country group that will be just as appealing to first-time listeners as it will be to longtime fans. Those who want to see Randy Rogers Band perform the song live are in luck: The band is currently on the road, promoting Nothing Shines Like Neon with a tour through the end of April.
Listen to Randy Rogers Band, "Tequila Eyes":