Bones

"Sometimes I don't know if it's me or it's him doing the teaching,
but I've been thinking maybe he's here for a reason."

(Here For A Reason / Connie Harrington, Tim Nichols, Ryan Larkins)

On January 7, 2020, the band Rascal Flatts appeared on the CBS show This Morning and surprisingly announced a farewell tour of the group. The accompanying press release said:  "With countless milestones behind them, the most awarded group of the genre’s last decade, will mark their 20th anniversary this year with a triumphant farewell tour."

From June to October 2020, 24 shows were planned across the USA, as well as a stop in Toronto, Canada. "There is no sadness here, just new chapters, new journeys, and new beginnings," the press release also quoted bassist Jay DeMarcus. "Rascal Flatts' music will live on forever, because of our fans, and this year is all about them!"

But the end of a 20-year success story with 14 number-one radio (Billboard Country Airplay) hits and over 20 million albums sold did not come as planned. It was not a triumphant farewell, but a quiet one, because the Covid pandemic brought everything to a standstill before even a single show of the Farewell Life Is A Highway Tour could take place.

All that was left for fans was an aptly titled EP ("How They Remember You", 2020) with 7 songs and a Greatest Hits project: "Twenty Years Of Rascal Flatts". It remained unclear whether Rascal Flatts would ever make music again, live or in the studio.

So it took until October 1, 2024, that the trio Rascal Flatts was heard from again. Once more it was an unexpected press release with which the band adressed the public: "In 2020, we announced the farewell tour after being on the road extensively for 20 years. To put it simply, we needed a break. Then COVID hit and our plans came to a screeching halt, like the rest of the world.  Since then, we’ve been able to revisit our unique and special experience as a band and we’re ready to get out on the road again."

"It’s hard to believe that next year will be the 25th anniversary of Rascal Flatts, and that felt like the perfect time to get back in front of the fans who have given us so much," they stated via billboard.com.

Together with it, 21 performances between February and April 2025 across the South and Midwest of the US were announced, as part of a new edition of the Life Is A Highway Tour. Also on board as supporting acts: Lauren Alaina and Chris Lane. Barely 10 days later, the band's homepage announced that some 140,000 tickets had already been sold in just under a week and that there were only a handful of remaining tickets for the 21 shows left. In other words, two thirds were sold out immediately.

Still, no further announcement has been made whether this will be a successful comeback to touring and recording or just the triumphant farewell originally planned for 2020. In any case, the band's popularity does not seem to have suffered from the last few years of musical silence. Years in which band's members however did not necessarily remain inactive.

This especially applies to multi-instrumentalist and bassist Jay DeMarcus, who has not only published an autobiography ("Shotgun Rebels - My Story of Broken Roads and Unshakeable Hope") and a reality series on Netflix ("DeMarcus Family Rules"), but even founded a reord label of his own called Red Street Records in 2018.

This label focuses on country and Christian music and currently has 8 artists on its roster. Among them Ryan Griffin, Chris Lane, the duo Neon Union and, since 2023, Ryan Larkins, who has made himself a name since the hit song 'The Painter', which he co-wrote and which Cody Johnson made popular.

And recently songwriter Ryan Larkins, born and raised in Nashville, has been increasingly coming to the fore as an artist. His already second EP was released on October 18, 2024 on the Red Street Records label. It contains only 4 songs, but Ryan Larkins has rightly received a lot of praise for it. Since he has not only co-written all songs, but he also knows how to impresses with his calm baritone voice.

With the pounding title song 'Bones' he describes his passion for music, which has been in his bones since early childhood. In the lyrics of the first verse he playfully interweaves the needle of the record player with the needle of an drug addict, when he sings: 

Daddy put on that vinyl,
needle in the vein,
stirring me like some chicken noodle soup,
to some Hank and Jones.
I could feel it in my bones.

(Bones / Paul Sikes, Ryan Larkins)

 

He moves on to tell a story from and about life with 'Here For A Reason', in which annoyance at the noisy boy next door turns into a friendship and finally an unwanted farewell. Together with Connie Harrington and Tim Nichols, Ryan Larkins has written a story film-worthy in only 3 verses.

The remaining two songs are lighter fare. 'Buzzin' is a carefree love song, while 'Home State' deals with the strenuous wandering life of a musician and the longing for home, where his love is waiting for him: if home is where the heart is and mine had a license plate, it would say, your heart is my home state.

Just like the license tag on the car indicates where one comes from.

Ryan Larkins not only captivates one with his lyrics and melodies, but especially with his voice. The result is catchy, unmistakeably country, and one can be curious to see where his journey will take him.