After a short time off and very little recuperating time, Rayne returned to to the band and continued to play the local club circuit. In January 1998, Rayne lost his brother Eugene after a long battle with cancer, It was him losing yet another major influence in his life and more than just a brother ( a good friend ). Shortly afterward Rayne married again and the band split later that year. Soon afterward, he joined another local group of fellows and formed a band called Saturday Night Special. The band was a much better band than Renegade and it seemed to gain even more popularity with Rayne fronting the group. However in a few short months personal problems in the band and Rayne's third marriage was in trouble. The band dissolved and shortly after, the marriage ended in 1999.
After his divorce Rayne joined forces with another hot young blood guitarist in the area, Dewayne Strobel and formed the group Butcher Holler ( named in honor of the first lady of country music: Loretta Lynn's homeplace). The boys worked very hard, almost day and night writing new songs and looking over songs of other Nashville writers, as their plan was to forget local club gigs and cut an album. Finally pursuing the dream of a recording contract, the boys started the recording of the album in December of that year. It built a lot of hype around the project in their hometown of Pikeville, Ky and rumors flew that the boys were actually getting a recording deal. Then in early 2000 Rayne decided to marry again to a long time friend. Trouble between the guys soon began. Conflicts, disagreements over everything from money, to the music, even down to the women they had in their lives plagued the group. In April of that year Roberts learned that Strobel had picked up a new singer and recorded over Rayne's vocal tracks secretly and was kicked out of Butcher Holler for reasons still to this day that are not clear. The band finished the album , which turned out to be a total flop and Roberts joined with some former members of Saturday Night Special that was now named Mama's Pumphouse and returned to the local club scene. The band was doing well, playing almost every weekend. Rayne's marriage was again on the rocks, and soon conflict in the band between Rayne and another member in the group shortly dissolved the band in late 2000 and in April 2001 so did his marriage...NOW WHAT?
Rayne's mother's health was failing, as it already had been for years. Instead of rushing into a new band and another marriage, the singer decided to once again put his career on hold and dedicate his life to taking care of her. On June 25th of that year Rayne's mother passed away which inspired the song " I DIDN'T BUY YOU FLOWERS " which Rayne wrote and sang at his mother's funeral. After the burial, Rayne learned that he had inherited the family home and a small amount of cash ( about $2000 ). He decided to take the money that his mother left him and try and fix the old homeplace up that had become terribly run down over years. For the next month he painted, replaced, and sunk whatever he could afford into fixing the place up. He just wanted to keep his mind off of his mother's death, for they were very close, a relationship you don't find everyday in a mother and son. Rayne always referred to her by saying: She was my best friend. Rayne finished his work on July 26th and had the place looking pretty good, as all of his neighbor's bragged to him that the place hadn't looked that good since his father had passed on in 1993.
August 2nd, one week later while Rayne was at a local grocery store, he saw an elderly neighbor there that he hadn't seen in a long time. The gentleman, not recognizing him, told him that the old Russell Roberts, homeplace was on fire as he had passed by moments earlier. Rayne left his shopping cart and rushed to his car, praying the old man was mistaken as he drove quickly back home only to learn that it was true. Everything he had left of his parents, childhood and present life were gone. It had burned to the ground. With no insurance on the house and only the clothes on his back, former Renegade guitarist and long time friend Donnie Hall invited him to live with him and his wife for awhile until he could get back on his feet again. Donnie and his wife bought Rayne all new clothes and replaced much of the stuff that he'd lost: guitars, amplifiers etc. etc.
Rayne ,now having no job, no money and now no home was at the end of his rope when he sat down and wrote "WHEN IT RAINS IT POURS"--the title cut of the new album. Rayne soon started hanging out in a local Pikeville club MARLOW'S COUNTRY PALACE owned by former RCA recording artist Marlow Tackett, a man Rayne had made friends with years before. Rayne sat in with Tackett's Music Company Band frequently and soon was offered a full-time position with the group, one that Rayne jumped on fast and couldn't have come at a better time. Rayne gained alot of recognition and popularity in the venue for some had never heard or seen Rayne before. Still Rayne continued to struggle in his personal life. Stressed and health failing, he suffered two more heart attacks within a ten-month period but despite all, he refused to give up. He never could afford to be live on his own and moved in with two female co-workers. In June 2002, Rayne met a lady named Ann Keltner who lived in Campbellsville, Ky. Ann came to the club one weekend to see Rayne do his live show. Impressed with what she saw, Ann asked him to come back to Campbellsville with her in an attempt to further his career. Roberts being very loyal and grateful to Tackett declined the offer as he was perfectly happy where he was. Then mysteriously and coincidentally, Roberts was dismissed from the Music Company Band before Keltner left town. Asking her if the offer still stood, the answer was yes and Roberts packed what little he owned and left Pikeville.
Soon after arriving in his new home of Campbellsville, Ky. Rayne met a man named Danny Bailey, a former Nashville recording engineer who had opened his own recording studio in Campbellsville. Rayne had talked to him about doing an album. Bailey impressed by Roberts'writing ability and eager to work with him priced the project at a very affordable price. Between Keltner and a contact of Rayne's, the CD of WHEN IT RAINS IT POURS was soon underway. Bailey set the session up which brought a man into Rayne's life by the name of Haidin Demaj, an Australian gentleman who has been in the business 35 years. Demaj and Roberts quickly hit it off and became friends. Demaj thought the album was wonderful and had dreams of big possibilties that could possibly happen with the project. He soon asked Rayne to sign with his independent record label MUSTANG MUSIC to push the album. Paul Roberts then changing his name to Rayne signed with the company. Since then Rayne has had the pleasures of working with people like Bill Asher, Jackson Browne, Ben Harper and many more. The saga of this story is far from over and where it goes...nobody knows. From the bottom of the valley to maybe the middle of the mountain again, or better yet to hell and back. Hopefully you'll now know the meaning of and the heart of the song when you hear Rayne sing: WHEN IT RAINS IT POURS!
