Lonestar began in 1992 as Texassee, since all five members of the group at that time were natives of Texas who met in Tennessee. They changed their name to the much simpler Lonestar after people kept misspelling Texassee, often as Teckasee or Texas-e. Two of the group's original members, Richie McDonald and John Rich, left to pursue solo (and in Rich's case, duo) projects, but had they thought about it, those two could have formed a duo called Richie Rich.

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The guys in Lonestar are looking forward to a very different future, without forgetting their past. The multi-platinum selling country stars are back on the radio after an almost year hiatus with a new single, 'Let Me Love You.' It's a song you might not have instantly recognized as being by Lonestar, for the obvious reason that the voice belting out the lyrics is not the unmistakable Richie McDonald. In what the bandmates call a "shocking" move, McDonald left the group last year to pursue a solo career. Despite their disappointment, remaining members Dean Sams, Keech Rainwater and Michael Britt concentrated on the situation's silver lining.

"It hit us like someone smacking us in the face," Sams told The Boot of McDonad's departure. "It came out of nowhere, and at the beginning, it was tough. It was definitely in the best interest of the band and himself that he moved on. So after we got past the initial shock of it, we all sort of took a breath and said, 'This is good.' . . . Where his [McDonald's] direction was going was not where the band wanted to be. We'd been driving in different directions for about five years. So, it was a tough way for it to happen, but it was for the best."

2007 has been a rocky year for Lonestar. The country band that sold millions of albums on the strength of crossover power-ballads like 'Amazed' and 'I'm Already There' saw declines in sales and radio success this year. Subsequently, the band parted ways with longtime label BNA Records, and frontman Richie McDonald announced he was leaving to pursue a solo career.

But if there's one thing about Texans, they don't take defeat lying down. Remaining members Dean Sams, Keech Rainwater and Michael Britt saw both splits as an open window to take Lonestar in a different direction, getting back to their rock 'n' roll roots.

It didn't take the guys long to find whom they insist is not McDonald's "replacement," so to speak, but is rather "the future of Lonestar." They found that in Florida-native Cody Collins, whom Sams discovered performing at an Atlanta honky-tonk.