Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Roger Alan Wade relocated to Nashville to write songs for George Jones, Johnny Cash and Waylon
Jennings. Wade's biggest hit was 1986's "Country State of Mind," which
he co-wrote with Hank Williams, Jr. Changes
in the country music landscape left Wade with little hope for sustained success,
so he moved back to Chattanooga in the early 1990s, where he began
collaborating with his cousin Johnny
Knoxville of Jackass fame. Knoxville
occasionally featured Wade's more whimsical and humorous music on his television
series. Knoxville and Wade host an hour-long weekly show, Big Ass Happy Family Jubilee, named after a Wade song, on Sirius
XM's Outlaw Country channel. Wade currently does voiceover work for a classic
country radio station in Chattanooga. His sixth and most recent album is 2014's
Bad News Knockin'.
New York City's newest country music venue, Opry City Stage, has two performance
spaces, a main room on the fourth floor and a restaurant on the second floor.
Wade and his sextet performed four nights this week in the restaurant. As the
venue is located in the Times Square area, the restaurant drew a number of tourists
who came for dinner with live country music in the background and left after
dessert. Wade seemed to cater to that clientele, performing two sets and scattering
a dozen classic country covers in his set; many of those covers were sung by
his accompanists. Those present who came specifically to hear Wade's music got
what they wanted in between those cover songs. Wade is a fine songwriter,
articulating joys and sorrows with pensive word twists and a poet's wisdom.
Other songs played light-heartedly with redneck themes and honky tonk culture.
His fiddler and lead guitarist gave spunk to the songs. In a dimly-lit downtown
venue, Wade's performance might have leaned towards a serious folk-styled concert;
at this midtown venue, it was a country music hoedown.
Visit Roger Alan Wade at www.rogeralanwade.net and Opry City Stage at www.oprycitystage.com.
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