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\n\tOver the past two years, as country music\u2019s pivot toward traditional sounds has taken root, Lance Roark<\/a> has often had the best seat in the house. When Wyatt Flores made his headlining debut at Nashville\u2019s Ryman Auditorium in late 2024, Roark opened the show. He has written songs that were featured on each of the last two Turnpike Troubadours<\/a> records and the most recent Muscadine Bloodline<\/a> album. This fall, he landed prime opening slots for both Noeline Hofmann and the Castellows. Now, he\u2019s taking his turn in the spotlight.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI\u2019m ready to expand this thing to a nationwide audience,\u201d Roark says of his full-length debut, Bad Reputation<\/em>, which dropped on Friday. The 11-track record, a blend of Oklahoma Red Dirt and Southern rock, is heavy on characters and landscapes shaped by Roark\u2019s own musical journey.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIn Bad Reputation<\/em>, I go through the evolution of a guy dealing with life\u2019s ups and downs, and dealing with situations where you\u2019re always going to be the bad person in someone\u2019s eyes,\u201d Roark tells Rolling Stone<\/em>. \u201cThat\u2019s where I\u2019m at currently in my writing. Bad Reputation<\/em> is a collection of songs that I want to tell that story with.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tRoark is from the same Oklahoma town \u2014 Tahlequah \u2014 that gave rise to Turnpike, and has spent the last half-decade playing with, writing with, and being mentored by Turnpike bassist RC Edwards. They co-wrote a pair of Turnpike Troubadours songs, \u201cChipping Mill\u201d off the band\u2019s 2024 record A Cat in the Rain<\/em>, and \u201cRuby Ann\u201d from the Red Dirt torchbearers\u2019 2025 album, The Price of Admission<\/a><\/em>. Roark threw Turnpike fans a bone with the latter, as the character Ruby Ann reappears in \u201cColorado High\u201d on Bad Reputation<\/em>.<\/p>\n