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"Stuff" Happens

Sluggish Single Gives Diamond Rio "One More Day" to Craft First-Rate Collection

Diamond Rio was ready to go last May

with its seventh album, titled Stuff. The

quirky title cut was released as the first

single, and after two months it found its

way to No. 36 on the Billboard country

singles chart -- where it decided to

stay.

"It was going to maybe go to about 20

or 25 on the chart, and that's all we

were going to get out of it," says lead

singer Marty Roe during a recent

early-morning interview at Arista Records. "Where 'Stuff' was played, it was a big

hit in some markets. We stand by it, but the fact that it didn't do that well overall

may actually have helped us in the long run."

Such is the advantage of being a veteran band that has been up and down the

charts a time or two. After 11 years, six albums and 17 Top 10 Billboard singles,

the men of Diamond Rio are well aware of the ebb and flow of their profession.

Roe says when "Stuff" stiffed, the band stepped back, regrouped and rethought

issues such as sequencing, singles and album title.

They released "One More Day," a gut-wrenching ballad of hindsight and regret, in

October. The song has climbed as high as No. 8 on Billboard's country chart,

giving the band the boost it needed for launching the album, retitled One More

Day.

"It's just true, and everybody can relate," Roe says of the song. "I'm not a bad

person, but I get caught up in my work and everything else I do, and I take for

granted and neglect things that are most important to me. This song reminds you

of that, and if you have a heart at all in there somewhere, it's going to prick you a

bit."

Keyboardist Dan Truman attributes the song's power to its simple but striking

melody.

"You could put those words with a different melody, and it could have been kind

of schlocky, too sweet," he says. "But, it was just right, and whatever the

songwriters did, they nailed that song."

One More Day is Diamond Rio's first project since 1998's platinum-selling

Unbelievable. It is a testament to the talent and perseverance of the band that it

remains standing when other country groups have drifted away. Among the

stellar collection of songs is the tongue-twisting opener "That's Just That," the

rollicking "I Can Do It With My Eyes Closed" and the full-on bluegrass of "Hearts

Against the Wind."

"We've never cut a bluegrass song, but we thought, 'It's time,'" Truman says.

"The harmonies on that thing are so cool. Our three singers are harmonizing in

falsetto. I'm not one of the singers, so I can brag."

Also included is a duet with Chely Wright. Reminiscent of the band's 1998 hit

"You're Gone," "I'm Trying" is a painful look at the realities of a relationship in

trouble. The band already had finished cutting the song when Roe decided the

tune needed a woman's voice.

"Actually, our co-producer, Mike Clute, wasn't too

keen on the idea because he liked the record,

and it worked so well," Roe says. "But I really

thought, you know, this song is a conversation

between a man and a woman. Chely came in,

and she and I had a little talk about where to go

with it. It's almost like acting, which I've never

tried, but you almost have to take on a character."

The song wasn't in Wright's key, but she tackled

the project anyway.

"If Diamond Rio had asked me to sing 'Mary Had a Little Lamb,' I would have

done it," Wright says. "The key was low, but that gave my performance a certain

quality that they said they liked. When I hear my voice among theirs, it gives me

goosebumps."

Another lady adding her voice to the project is Roe's daughter, Sarah. The

then-4-year-old belts out "Oh What a Beautiful Morning" at the beginning of the

singalong cut "Sweet Summer." Written by Neil Thrasher and Michael Dulaney,

the song paints a vivid picture of childhood memories, heightened by the sound of

real children at play.

"Mike [Clute], being the cool engineering dude that he is, pulled it off," Roe says.

"He ended up recording all our kids. The crack of the bat is Dan's kid's ballgame.

For me, it just really sets the tone. It catches you off guard and makes you

listen."

The same can be said of Diamond Rio's trademark sound, which is in top form on

the album. It's an amalgam of the stacked vocals of Roe, mandolinist Gene

Johnson and bassist Dana Williams, with musical support from Truman's piano,

Jimmy Olander's guitar and drummer Brian Prout's backbeat. The result is

classic Diamond Rio, but the sound never veers into the predictable.

"I think from the word go we've always had an instrumental identity," Roe

explains. "The trio of piano, mandolin and guitar is as distinctive as our vocals, if

not more so. And there's a particular way [producer] Mike [Clute] mixes us, not

only the vocals, but the instruments. It's in the way he layers them, and they

sound the same sonically."

As corny as it sounds, that harmony has spilled over from the stage to the

band's relationships with each other. Diamond Rio's lineup has remained

constant since the first album in 1991, and the members have managed to

continue being friends while also succeeding as business partners. Roe and

Truman attribute their stability to a shared focus on family and faith.

"The way we look at life and the way we look at music is similar," Truman says.

"I appreciate Marty for where he's at. He's Church of Christ, and I'm Mormon, and

we have some serious differences, but in our hearts we're the same. We've all

helped each other through the years. You hear stories about how other acts can't

live on the bus together, and I'm thinking, 'I'm buoyed up when I go on the bus

with these guys.'"

In fact, Diamond Rio is probably on the bus right now, out West somewhere

playing shows with Sawyer Brown. The two bands, who became friends after

touring together in 1994, are joining forces again for what they've dubbed "The

Battle of the Bands." A tour with fellow Dreamcatcher Management client Kenny

Rogers is in the works for later in the year.

Because Diamond Rio will be out on the road promoting One More Day, the band

will miss this summer's Fan Fair for the first time in its career. The Country

Music Association is moving the festival to downtown Nashville and switching

from a weekday to a weekend schedule. The band will host its annual fan club

party during the week but will hit the concert trail before the Fan Fair weekend

gets into full swing.

"We're not going to have [an autograph] booth or anything because they've moved

it to a weekend," Roe explains. "We were booked before we knew about it. It

wasn't an easy decision for us. We believe in and support Fan Fair, and we're

fine with the changes, but we can't afford to miss prime time work. I hope we'll be

able to be there in the future, but this year it just didn't work out."

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