NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The guys from Rascal Flatts are getting restless after a long day.

They slip on headphones to record yet another radio spot and bass player Jay DeMarcus has trouble hearing the cue.

“I can’t hear anything. Hey, hey, hey,” he repeats into the microphone, then breaking into song, “… Hey, Jude, I’ve seen you nude. Don’t try to fake it, I’ve seen you naaakeeed.”

The joke breaks up the monotony and, for the moment, the demands of being one of country’s hottest acts.

County music’s best-selling album last year didn’t come from Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, Toby Keith or Tim McGraw. It was Rascal Flatts’ “Feels Like Today,” yielding three No. 1 hits, including the Grammy-winning “Bless the Broken Road.”

Their follow-up, “Me and My Gang,” comes out Tuesday and should push them into country music’s top tier.

“We’re so confident of that that we have a billboard campaign with Kenny Chesney, Martina McBride, Keith Urban and Toby Keith and we just did a new version with Rascal Flatts,” said Ken Boesen, program director at WPOC in Baltimore. “Three-story high Rascal Flatts’ faces are going up all over Baltimore right now.”

The first single, “What Hurts the Most,” reached No. 1 in 11 weeks – the fastest-moving song of their career.

The group, which also includes singer Gary LeVox and guitarist Joe Don Rooney, kicked off a new tour in February.

“This is what we’ve strived to do over the last six years: become a headline act,” said Rooney, 30. “Now we’ve arrived and it feels good.”

That success has got to be extra sweet for Rascal Flatts. Early on they were derided as a manufactured, too-pop-for-country boy band – country’s version of the Backstreet Boys.

Although country purists may still scoff, the group has answered doubts about their talent. They’ve written some of their own songs – including the No. 1 “Fast Cars and Freedom” – played their own instruments, co-produced their new album and collected industry awards.