The breadth of exposure a band can get from appearing on a show like the Late Show with David Letterman can be invaluable for their climb to greatness. In addition, the pressures involved with performing at that level can be overbearing, to say the least.

The Randy Rogers Band had this opportunity and played their song “Wicked Ways” from their self-entitled album on Jan. 14. The band appeared to be focused and intense, which was perfect for the mood of the song.

On Jan. 15, the band played at The Berkeley Cafe to a much smaller audience. The band came up on stage a few minutes past 8 o’clock, walking up a small set of steps from stage right. The stage was packed full of instruments; guitarist Geoffrey Hill having five guitars on stage at his disposal alone. In true country fashion, the air was full of the smell of beer and cigarettes.

Rogers stepped up to the microphone to the rise of cheers from the audience. As the cheers died down, Rogers remarked at how much different the night was from the preceding which drew laughter from everyone in the crowd.

From the start, the band was energetic and casual — a stark difference from the more reserved feel the band gave the night before.

The nervousness that can sometimes exist in crowds about just how much one can get into the music was immediately obliterated by this energy. Between the animated (and VERY talented) Brady Black, who jumped around stage with his violin and the intense guitar solos of Hill, it was evident that the band was completely invested in the music they played — and they wanted the crowd join them.

Jon “Chops” Richardson even made his way up to the microphone to sing a song and showed that he was not only a talented bassist, but had a good singing voice as well.

The band played a two hour set with no breaks, and performed music from both older albums and their most recent one. The band made sure to include their more popular songs like “Kiss Me in the Dark”, “In My Arms Instead” and “One More Goodbye”, all of which had the crowd singing and dancing along with the band.

For modern country music, this is about as good as it gets. Purists may find the band’s sound to be  a little too pop for their taste relative to the sounds of the 60s and 70s, but they will only be able to stop their foot from tapping along for so long. They may even find themselves singing the choruses after the fact.

One place that the band succeeds is musical quality. Roger’s voice sounds just like it did on Letterman and on the band’s CD. His voice sounds similar to that of Gary Allan, with just as much of the passion and feeling that is present in Allan’s songs.

Fans that look for musicians that do not need assistance from sound correcting technologies will certainly appreciate the quality. The fidelity was a little surprising, especially from Black, who managed some complex fiddling while dancing to the music. Much of the attention was shared between Rogers and Black, save for the intervening guitar solos of Hill.

The band played an entertaining show that was well worth the trip. The songs were catchy and the energy with which the band performed made the show great.

The band’s current list of tour dates on their Web site (randyrogersband.com) does not have any shows planned for NC yet. The band tours around 200 days a year, according to Rogers, so if you missed out on the show, it won’t be long before the band comes back.