Rascal Flatts

William Morris agent Rob Beckham (who the guys jokingly claimed they met in rehab) said that humor carries over to their live performance. “They’re hilarious in their show,” he told POLLSTAR. “They’re one of the best live bands and live shows I’ve ever seen.”

The chemistry between the members of Rascal Flatts begins with LeVox and DeMarcus, second cousins who grew up making music together in Columbus, Ohio.

In 1992, DeMarcus moved to Nashville to make his way into the Christian music industry. Five years later, he convinced LeVox to do the same. By then, DeMarcus had a gig with Chely Wright, and LeVox immediately got a job singing and touring with Michael English.

In the meantime, the cousins were gigging together in Nashville’s Printers Alley with a part-time guitarist. One night when their guitarist couldn’t make it, DeMarcus asked his buddy in Wright’s band, Rooney, to fill in.

When Rooney opened his mouth to fill in the harmony, it was magic. The guys just stopped and looked at each other in amazement.

From that point, things moved on the fast track. In November 1999, the trio went into the studio and recorded a demo with producers (and now managers) Mark Bright and Marty Williams. By January, Rascal Flatts had an album and video completed for Lyric Street Records and was hitting the road on a 16-week radio tour.

“They (Lyric Street) wanted to get us out of the box first because they felt like there was a void no groups being out, no trios,” LeVox said. “I’m so glad because there’s a lot of friends of ours that have had record deals for two years and their stuff is still sitting on the shelf, so we’ve just been blessed immensely.”

When the band’s self-titled album was released June 6th, it had the highest first-week sales for a debut country group in the history of SoundScan. Its debut single, “Praying for Daylight,” shot straight to No. 1 on country charts.

The band credits much of that success to Walt Disney-owned Lyric Street and the label’s vision. The guys said the pre-release radio tour, in which they sang for program and music directors in conference rooms, was the key to getting air time for their record.

Plus, with the Disney powerhouse backing the group, “you can ride roller coasters and eat lots of ice cream,” Rooney quipped.

But seriously, “You have soundtrack opportunities, movie opportunities, all that stuff,” LeVox said. “An outlet that most artists in any genre of music don’t have is that kind of money. And with money and being as big as Disney comes power. It can open some doors that you might not have with another label. That was very appealing to us. And we wanted to dress up like Goofy and the whole nine yards.”

Without missing a beat, DeMarcus chimed in, “And the company being so big and powerful as they are, there’s more opportunities to buy better crack imported stuff. You know what I’m talking about (wink, wink)?”

With their business team’s plan and their heavy duty work ethic, Beckham expects Rascal Flatts to be the breakthrough act of 2001. “I think they’ll become superstars next year. Country needs more new superstars,” he said.

To that end, Beckham said the team firmly believes in developing the band’s own audience. “I shouldn’t say that they don’t want to be on a big tour but in the beginning, they want to develop their own identity and their own fans, playing clubs or fairs or festivals or radio shows or whatever it takes to develop that audience,” he said.

However, the tour opportunities are rolling in and Beckham expects the band to open a major outing sometime next year. The bandmates are ready to go.

“Everything we have done up to this point is to get to where we can go out and play live just hit the road and be out there to solidify those relationships we’ve already started,” DeMarcus said. “That’s exactly why we do what we do, is to play live and get out there and meet everybody who likes our music and hopefully, win over some folks that don’t necessarily love our music.”

How does the band win over non-believers? “We get on the stage and we don’t stop,” DeMarcus said. “We wrap our hands around everybody’s throats and don’t let go until the last song.”

The band will finish this year with a slew of radio listener appreciation dates and other shows. For next year, DeMarcus said it would be great to tour with another trio, like SHeDAISY or the Dixie Chicks. But the guys would have to watch their backs; they like to make fun of other acts and word has it that labelmates SHeDAISY are devising a plan to get them back.

In the meantime, Rascal Flatts’ second single, “This Everyday Love,” was scheduled to be released last week.