Randy Houser’s career has been so successful over the last two decades that it’s a little hard to imagine anything going different for the Mississippi musician. However, according to Houser, he had to fight to make his very first impression.
Launching a career as a country songwriter early in the century, Houser launched his own musical journey with the release of his debut album, Anything Goes. Bolstered by the single of the same name, they both worked in tandem to put Houser’s name on the map. While the record hit #16 on the US country charts, the album reached a respectable #21.
However, things could have been very different. At least that’s what Houser told his Melbourne fans on Friday night while performing at the Corner Hotel for his exclusive acoustic One Night Only show.
Speaking to fans during the set, Houser recalled those early days in which he was pounding the pavement and pressing the flesh so as to get his name on the lips of radio stations across the US, and thus into the ears of fans around the country.
“We had gone around the entire damn country, jumping around to all the radio stations, introducing them to Randy Houser,” he remembered. “And it was a lot; it was extra, you know what I mean?
“But it was a blast and I went around playing Wild Wild West for them saying, ‘Hey, I'm Randy’,” he added. "And then at the last minute I was like, ‘You know, I don't love that song’.”
Soon, Randy found himself fighting his label, Universal South Records, to change direction and start promoting something that was true to his own artistic self.
“I wanted to put something out that definitely would be something that represented what kind of music I like to make more than that,” he continued.
“I like to make music for adults, you know what I mean? I like songs that have some stank on them; some shit, you know what I'm saying?” he concluded. “[Songs] that mean something. So I ended up fighting them and then we put out this song and it went nowhere.”
While Wild Wild West ultimately didn’t get released as a single, it did find itself on the Anything Goes album placed directly after the title track. Follow-up single Boots On did even better on US country radio, hitting #2 and giving Houser a taste of the further success that was set to arrive in the coming years.
Countrytown brings you Australia’s best country music news, interviews, charts and more every week! This post was authored by Countrytown and originally published on the Countrytown website. It has been re-published with permission.
