Summary

This week on Country Fried Rock from 2015, we dive into the story behind the long-awaited return of 6 String Drag, a band that made waves in the late '90s before quietly stepping away from the spotlight.

• We caught up with bassist Rob Keller to talk about the band’s journey, from their beloved album Hi Hat to their brand-new record, more than 15 years later.
• The big question: why the long break, and what brought them back together now?
• Even though we recorded this one out in the field (so the audio’s a little rough), the conversation is full of great insights into the evolution of roots rock and roll.
• Rob opens up about the unique dynamics of reuniting with old bandmates, how their creative process has changed over the years, and what it feels like to make music together again.
• We also touch on the magic of reconnecting—not just as musicians, but as friends—with songs that carry the weight of time and experience.

Show Notes

In this episode of Country Fried Rock, we hit the road—literally—trying out mobile recording gear to capture the feel of live, in-the-moment conversations. Here’s what you can expect:

• We sit down with Rob Keller, bassist and creative force behind 6 String Drag, for a deep dive into the band's history and recent reunion.
• Rob shares stories from the High Hat era, an album that had the band on the verge of a major breakout back in the '90s.
• We talk about the band’s long silence after that high point, and the personal and professional factors that led to their extended hiatus.
• The conversation blends nostalgia with fresh excitement, as Rob reflects on what it’s been like to reconnect with Kenny Roby and the rest of the band after 15 years.
• He opens up about how their sound has changed, what’s stayed the same, and how life off the road shaped the music they’re making now.
• Despite some audio hiccups from recording in the wild, the heart of the conversation comes through, full of honesty, history, and hope for what’s next.

Here's What We Wrote Back in 2015

Kenny Roby (previously featured) and Rob Keller disbanded 6 String Drag at the top of their game, nearly 15 years ago. The first new album from 6 String Drag, Roots Rock N Roll, brings the group together again, ranging the gamut of roots rock with their brother-from-another-mother harmonies. Why would a regionally beloved band, seemingly at the peak of success, fall off the face of the earth? Love.

Links

• 6 String Drag on Bandcamp
• Welfare Liners on Bandcamp (Rob Keller in a side project)
• Roberto Adega on Bandcamp (Rob Keller project in Portuguese)
• You might also like our conversation with Jim White
• After you buy music or see a show, we appreciate your support with a few dollars in our Tip Jar
• Sloane Spencer now hosts a Gen X sleep podcast, Sleep with Rock Stars

• In this episode of Country Fried Rock, we talk about 6 String Drag’s return to recording after an 18-year break. Yes, it’s been that long!
• Rob Keller shares how his musical path has evolved over the years, including his work with both 6 String Drag and the Welfare Liners.
• There’s real excitement around the band’s upcoming album, their first in nearly two decades and reflects everything they’ve learned and lived through since the early days.
• Rob talks about the importance of supporting local record stores and how much it means when fans pick up physical copies of the music.
• We also touch on the realities of touring: the good, the tough, and how musicians juggle their love for the road with family life back home.
• And finally, we get into what it actually takes to make a record these days, from songwriting to studio time to the collaborative magic that brings it all together.

Mentioned in this Episode

• 6String Drag
• Welfare Liners
• Drive By Truckers
• Memories and Birds
• Adobe Audition
• Fidelatorium
• Jason Merritt
• McKenny
• Joe Swank
• Skillet Gilmore
• Drivin n Cryin

Country Fried Rock, Six String Drag, Rob Keller interview, roots rock music, bluegrass band, new album release, mobile recording technology, music podcast, Americana music, band reunions, live music shows, vinyl record production, folk rock, band dynamics, songwriting process, music collaboration, audio quality issues, house concerts, regional music scenes, music industry insights, 6 string drag

Transcript

Speaker A

00:00:00.240 - 00:00:58.940

This week on Country Fried Rock, we decided to take the show on the road for a few weeks, testing out some new technology for mobile recording. Yep, it sounded like a great idea, but unfortunately, it doesn't sound that great.

So don't miss a minute of the Country Fried Rock road trips on countryfriedrock.org this week on Country Fried Rock, I talk with Rob Keller of Six String Drag.

After their successful album hi hat in the 1990s, the band seemed poised to move beyond their regional success when they seemingly fell off the face of the earth. What happened to that great combination of Kenny Robey and Rob Keller and friends as Six String Drag?

This is another one of our field recordings, so the audio quality is not quite up to our standards, but it's a great conversation about roots rock and roll. The first record in 15 years from Six String Drag, it's Rob Keller of Six String Drag this week on Country Fried Rock.

Speaker B

00:00:59.410 - 00:01:09.250

My guest today on Country Fried Rock is Rob Keller, bass player, musician, songwriter, producer, and currently back with Six String Drag again. Hey.

Speaker C

00:01:09.490 - 00:01:09.970

Hey.

Speaker B

00:01:10.290 - 00:01:27.090

So just in some context for listeners, we met through mutual friends a few years ago, and then I realized at the same time, I was like, oh, that's the same Rob Keller from Six String Drag. Wait a minute. What are you doing playing bluegrass? What have you been doing musically for the last few years?

Speaker C

00:01:27.890 - 00:02:08.670

Well, the last few years, as you might know, I've been in the. I've started a bluegrass band called the Welfare Liner. Three years ago, just playing.

I really put it together, really just because I was bored and didn't have a lot of playing going on in the area. And I played bluegrass in the past and I had some friends that also played. And so we decided to put the band together.

And then as it progressed, I started writing songs for the band. So we put out one record so far and we've got one in the can actually. Actually have another record supposed to come out next year, so.

So that's what I've been doing, really, up until about a year ago. Been hooked back up with Kenny again, the Six String Drag, which has been a real blast.

Got the one record about to come out and we're really excited about it.

Speaker B

00:02:09.070 - 00:02:20.670

There's lots more that goes on with all that. Kenny Robey is, of course, the Kenny that you're talking about.

And we actually featured Kenny on his last solo record, Memories and Birds, which was a beautiful record as well.

Speaker C

00:02:21.070 - 00:02:32.960

Yeah, he recorded that at the same time we recorded the Welfare Liners. And we were swapping songs back and forth and playing Each other's songs, you know, because we were all through all this. Yeah.

My wife's like brothers. We're like brothers.

Speaker B

00:02:33.920 - 00:02:41.360

Speaking of which. And I'm sure I know I'm not the person won't be the last to say it. Your voices together when you sing. You do sound like brothers.

Speaker C

00:02:41.920 - 00:02:51.120

That's true. We love the brother harmony. Something really has clicked with Kenny and I as far as the.

We seem to have our own little sound with it and people seem to enjoy it. We enjoy it.

Speaker B

00:02:51.380 - 00:02:55.780

At what point did it become, hey, let's. Let's see what Six String Drag might look like?

Speaker C

00:02:56.020 - 00:03:36.170

Well, it kind of started probably over a year ago. We talked about maybe Kenny and I just doing a record together as a Kenny solo record and then me playing on it.

And then it progressed into, well, let's get Scott Miller. And then it progressed and, well, let's fly Duffy Ann for this little project, you know.

And so then it kind of and still was going to be maybe a Kenny Roby solo. Because we didn't know what the band could get back together and actually play on the road. We decided to do some of that, actually.

Just Kenny and I being six String drag as a duo. Just the two of us with the pitch of guitar and stand up bass, you know, or get some other guys and be able to go out and play as a six String Drag.

The band, dude, the rock band.

Speaker B

00:03:36.330 - 00:03:42.490

I got to see y' all as both a duo and as a band. Then over this reinterpretation of what six String Drag is.

Speaker C

00:03:43.050 - 00:03:59.880

Yeah, I think we kind of picked up where we left off because we still have that same sound. Been 18 years since we recorded a record.

And I like to think that even if we stay together all this time and we had recorded made all these albums in between during all these years, that we still would have come out with a record that sounded like this at this time.

Speaker A

00:03:59.880 - 00:04:14.560

Hey, y', all, this is Sloan Spencer, the host of Country Fried Rock. We've had an incredible year with more people finding us on the radio and our podcast than we ever imagined. Thank you all so much.

Careful what you wish for. You just might get it.

Speaker C

00:04:14.560 - 00:04:15.120

Oh, yeah.

Speaker A

00:04:15.120 - 00:04:28.020

And if any of you all are experts on Adobe Audition, would love some help fixing up these last few field recordings, helping to get rid of that echo and improve the sound because next week's show is pretty darn fabulous.

Speaker C

00:04:28.260 - 00:04:32.340

Hey, this is Rob Keller from Six String Drag on Country Fried Rock.

Speaker B

00:04:32.500 - 00:04:37.700

In the meantime, both of you have really, really developed as players and writers.

Speaker C

00:04:38.340 - 00:05:03.120

Yeah, I think that we are better musicians. I mean, during all this time that we weren't together, we did get together a few times all through the years, do some little not reunion things.

We just play together and then we been in different bands and we've kept in touch with each other. And just through the years, we still play that. We're lifers, you know, we're playing music for life, whether we make money or not.

Yeah, we're constantly playing. And so through all the years, you know, we have developed musicians, I believe.

Speaker B

00:05:03.520 - 00:05:10.400

What's different for you all deciding to come back together and making this really be your choice to make it happen.

Speaker C

00:05:11.040 - 00:05:43.220

I think we just decided to do it because we like to play together and we like the music. I think that's just the number one thing. There's never been too big of a market for us probably anyway. We've always been very eclectic.

And we started off, we'd play Honky Tonk country song here, then we play a rock song and sometimes meld the homogenized kind of sound from that.

But mostly that we were influenced by many different things and we would play a song in that style of all those different things that we like, rather than melding it all together.

Speaker B

00:05:43.300 - 00:05:47.860

What's it like for you to decide to put out a record from a logistics standpoint now?

Speaker C

00:05:49.030 - 00:06:12.910

It's not too hard, actually. It's kind of easier in these days. You know, anybody can put out a record if they want to. It's a little bit of money.

You can record something on your phone and then record something and then release it digitally if you wanted to.

There was a chance that we might just do something digital, but, you know, now it's escalated into even getting vinyl out, which I'm very excited about. That's actually why the record was pushed back almost a month, is because we're waiting for some vinyl records to be pressed.

Speaker B

00:06:12.910 - 00:06:17.590

So have you been able to bring in other people to be part of the team to help make this successful?

Speaker C

00:06:18.060 - 00:06:57.550

Oh, yeah.

I mean, we have our porn players, we have David Pops Wright, who is our piano player slash trombonist, played with us back in the past in round 96 to 97. He was not on High Hat, but he's on that Jack session CD that we. Yeah, he's all over that with the keys and the horns.

And so he's playing with us now. And that's really exciting too. I think having some horns on the road makes our sound bigger.

Kenny's worked with Jason Merritt, who engineered and helped produce the record. He worked Very hard on it. He worked on some McKenny stuff in the past.

Memories and birds, people with the label, and, as you know, Joe Swank helping us. And everybody's really excited about it, I think.

Speaker A

00:06:58.030 - 00:07:16.110

I'm your host, Sloan Spencer. You can keep in touch with us on Facebook.

But I really like Twitter, where we are at country fried rock ending with R O K. And if you want to see pictures of my shoes, my dog and my lunch, stop by Instagram. But whatever way you like to hang out, so stop by and say, hey.

Speaker C

00:07:16.430 - 00:07:55.410

Hey. This is Rob Keller of six Dream Drag. You can find out everything you need to know about [email protected]. that's with the number 6 or S IX.

Where did y' all recorded? Fidelatorium, Mitch Easter's studio. He did not record it. He wasn't around. But Jason Merritt, he was a mastermind, I would say.

Kenny and Jason probably had most to do with that. We did a lot of helping with the arranging of the songs and of course, made up our own parts and stuff like that.

But as far as producing, yeah, it was very collective. Collective, I'd say. We were there for four days and we recorded this.

Speaker B

00:07:55.570 - 00:08:00.050

Had you all already worked those songs up live prior to going in to record at the auditorium?

Speaker C

00:08:00.210 - 00:08:32.540

No, we did not. Kenny had just written them and we just got together and all played them for the first time.

I went through song by song and just did some arranging and put them down on tape. And I think there's some real magic there.

We had a great time doing it, and I think having fun and having a blast doing it really helps, like, the energy of the whole thing. Little on the, you know, on the acoustic side, it has this neo retro vibe, I guess you'd call it.

Has a lot of 50s rock influence as far as the themes, really. Some of the songs venture out into other things, but we're excited.

Speaker B

00:08:32.860 - 00:08:35.700

What does touring or playing out look like for y'?

Speaker C

00:08:35.700 - 00:08:56.720

All? Well, getting around day jobs, we are starting off with long weekends, just trying to take it as it comes.

And if things get offered to us that are big and further away, then we can take time from those jobs and get out and, you know, and do what we need to do. But right now, it's long weekends in the Southeast, mainly. Some Midwest, I think, later on. And when the record comes out, we hit it a little harder.

Speaker B

00:08:57.200 - 00:09:03.360

What surprises you of people who are finding your music now, whether they're rediscovering it or whether they're new to it?

Speaker C

00:09:03.960 - 00:09:26.120

I guess both is surprising me a little bit because maybe I've just been out of it for the past 15 years, stuck in that, playing into bluegrass. Man, it's fun seeing people coming out of the cracks and going, whoa, I love these guys back then.

They fell off the face of the earth, and here they are again. It's kind of neat to hear that. You know, it's spiked some excitement in all of us to be able to go out and do this again.

Speaker B

00:09:26.680 - 00:09:32.370

What did happen? I felt like y' all were, like, at the top of your game, and then the next thing I knew, we.

Speaker C

00:09:32.370 - 00:09:52.330

Fell off the face of the earth. Yeah. Yeah. Well, basically, family, just three out of the four members came home and got their wives and girlfriends pregnant.

So we had babies to tend to. We do everything for love, and love found us. You have to stay with love.

So now that the kids have kind of grown up, now that we can get out and, you know, daddy can rock and roll.

Speaker B

00:09:52.330 - 00:10:05.240

I guess you used the word earlier. Something like the old magic back together or something to that effect.

And it was interesting because I guess the last time I saw y' all play as a full band was over the summer. And there really is just some magic with y'.

Speaker C

00:10:05.240 - 00:10:12.720

All. Yeah, I think so, too. We feel it, and it's real exciting when we play together. And that's why we like to do it.

That's why we want to do it as much as we can.

Speaker A

00:10:12.800 - 00:10:34.940

Hey, y'. All. This is Sloan Spencer, the host of Country Fried Rock. Those of y' all who listen on our podcasts, it's a quick hit of just the conversation.

If you want the full radio program with all the songs that we talk about, ask for it on your local radio station, joining 20 other stations across...