Burnin' the Roadhouse Down

Despite having not charted a Top 40 country single since 1994, Steve Wariner had been finding success in the late 1990s as a songwriter, including the Number One hits "Longneck Bottle" for Garth Brooks and "Nothin' but the Taillights" for Clint Black, as well as Bryan White's Top 20 country hit "One Small Miracle".[2] The success of the songs that he had written led to Wariner's signing with Capitol Records Nashville in late 1997. He also sang duet vocals on Anita Cochran's late 1997-early 1998 Number One hit "What If I Said". "Longneck Bottle", "Nothin' but the Taillights", "One Small Miracle", and this song were sometimes played on radio in dedicated "Steve Wariner blocks".[2]

"What If I Said" was the second single from Cochran's debut album Back to You, released on Warner Bros. Records shortly before Burnin' the Roadhouse Down was issued. This song was not only Cochran's only Number One country hit, but also her only Top 40 country hit, and Wariner's first Number One since 1989's "I Got Dreams". This duet is also included on this album as a bonus track.

Four of Wariner's own singles were released from this album after "What If I Said" peaked, starting with the ballad "Holes in the Floor of Heaven", which peaked at number 2 on the country charts. Following it was "Road Trippin'" at number 55, the title track (a duet with Garth Brooks) at number 26, and "Every Little Whisper" at number 36. Also included on this album is a song entitled "Love Me Like You Love Me", which Clay Walker previously recorded on his 1995 album Hypnotize the Moon.

As listed in liner notes.[3]

• Garth Brooks – vocals on "Burnin' the Roadhouse Down"
• Anita Cochran – vocals on "What If I Said"
• Bill Cuomo – synthesizer
• Stuart Duncan – fiddle
• Buddy Emmons – steel guitar
• Paul Franklin – steel guitar
• Ron Gannaway – drums
• John Gardner – drums
• Sonny Garrish – steel guitar
• Hoot Hester – fiddle, mandolin
• John Barlow Jarvis – piano, keyboards
• Paul Leim – drums
• Woody Lingle – bass guitar
• Brent Mason – electric guitar
• Steve Nathan – piano, Hammond B-3 organ
• Hargus "Pig" Robbins – piano
• Harry Stinson – background vocals
• Steve Wariner – lead vocals, background vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, Dobro
• Glenn Worf – bass guitar
• Trisha Yearwood – background vocals
• Reggie Young – electric guitar
• Andrea Zonn – background vocals

Strings performed by the Nashville String Machine; conducted by Carl Gorodetzky and arranged by Bergen White.