Secret revealed: Rascal Flatts didn’t play on a lot of the early Rascal Flatts albums. Yes, lead singer Gary LeVox sang on ’em. But guitarist Joe Don Rooney and bassist Jay DeMarcus didn’t play much on ’em.

And it didn’t make easy-going Joe Don very happy, he tells the Chicago Tribune.

“When I look at it, yeah, I was pissed off. Jay and I didn’t play a lot on those albums,” Joe Don told the newspaper. “At the same time, we had some amazing hit songs.”

The group’s record label brought in outside studio musicians for the first five years, but Jay and Joe Don eventually brought in the friend who discovered the band, mega-producer Dann Huff, and Dann brought the boys back into Rascal Flatts recording sessions.

“Dann was a big proponent of having us play and bring our personalities into the music—not only our voices, but our personalities,” Joe Don said.

“[Huff] really opened that door and that trust window with Lyric Street to allow us to be the musicians we are. All of a sudden, you hear these songs and they’re just a little bit different. You can hear a growth and maturity.”