Alternative/Rock
West of Rome ‘Keep It Fly in the Negative Zone’ with the Premiere of Their New Album
South Texas southern rockers West of Rome premiere their debut full-length album ‘Keep It Fly in the Negative Zone.’

Slow and steady proved to be the main ingredients that contributed to the completion and release of West of Rome’s Keep It Fly in the Negative Zone. This is the band’s debut record, but it’s not your average debut record kind of story. In some ways, the four members have been working towards making this album for most of their lives. Based in South Texas, these four gentlemen have literally been lifelong friends who have performed in an array of Texas bands over the years. But the time was never right for them to join together and record their music until finally, their worlds aligned.
Featuring nine songs, Keep It Fly in the Negative Zone was recorded slowly over two years. These are all brand-new tracks, none of them being leftovers or reworks of the members’ previous songwriting. There is something inherently old-school about it, particularly when it comes to how it was recorded. The band members have a long-lasting love of vintage gear and analog recording. They made sure to record in a way that felt true to them, which you can hear in the album’s classical-sounding production style.
Taking us through the story behind how this album came to be, guitarist Charlie Roadman states:
“I’m one of the guitar players in West of Rome, and this is the story of how our album, Keep it Fly in the Negative Zone, came to be.
“I’ve always admired Kevin Higginbotham’s songs. For years, I’d tell him, ‘I love your songs, man. You need to make an album. I want to help. I’ll find a studio, a producer, whatever you need. Just say the word, and I’ll make it happen.’ But Kevin always remained politely non-committal. I stopped suggesting it.
“Then one day, I ran into Kevin, and he said, ‘Blake Smithson thinks I should record an album of my songs. He’ll play bass. Can you believe it?’ I just smiled and said, ‘Yeah, man, I can believe it.’ I was psyched, for sure. We brought in my brother, Jamie, to play drums.
“We started playing gigs at The Dakota in San Antonio—a small bar on the East Side. We’d work on Kevin’s songs and mix in some eclectic covers of tracks we grew up with, like Uncle Tupelo and a song from Desire. After a few shows, though, Kevin turned to the band in the middle of a set and declared, ‘I’m done with the alt-country.’ Ever since then, we’ve been a rock band.
“We recorded the tracks for the album over the course of a year at Ramble Creek Studio in Austin, knocking out a couple of songs every other month. Our one rule in the studio was simple: don’t be lazy—write a bridge. Britton Beisenherz, our engineer, would sometimes stay late after we’d gone home and add killer percussion or piano tracks. We’d always return hoping the ‘overdub fairy’ had paid a visit.
“Our good friend, Fred Himes, created the album artwork, basing it on a lyric from one of the songs: ‘Pimp out the wheels of your ’87 Buick.’ The cover is definitely an homage to San Antonio, our spiritual home.”
As it turned out, West of Rome came about at the right time for everyone involved. Things began to take shape in 2019, just as the world was going to take a turn for the worse. Lead singer Kevin Higginbotham, bassist Blake Smithson, and brothers Charlie on guitar and Jamie Roadman on drums sought relief through each other and rock n’ roll. Music has a way of making us come together and it helped these gentlemen emerge from their collective rut. And the fact that they had previous musical relationships didn’t hurt either.
Charlie and Jamie had worked with Higginbotham previously in the San Antonio band Evergreen. Evergreen recorded several albums, toured extensively, and established a solid fanbase. Smithson played in the band Coyote Dreams and he met the members of Evergreen on the road. Over the years, each member of West of Rome also performed in various other Texas bands, providing them with experience playing with not just different musicians but in different styles.
All of these experiences have contributed to where they find themselves now, in West of Rome, a collaboration that took time to take shape but was always meant to be.
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