K. T. Oslin had several years of country music success in the late 1980s with hits like "80's Ladies," "Hold Me" and "This Woman."

RCA Records executive Joe Galante had offered her a position in the A&R department, but she ultimately declined.

Oslin later stated the album's "roots" came from music that influenced her as a recording artist and performer: bluegrass, folk and blues.

She had first found the songs "Down in the Valley" and "Hold Whatcha Got" before finishing finding the remainder of the album's material.

"[1] The album's eventual lead single, "Silver Tongue and Goldplated Lies" was a cover of the original recording by Jan Howard in 1983.

For example, Carpenter commented that "Hold Whatcha Got" "rocks so hard it could have shot straight from the Jerry Lee Lewis songbook.

[3] However, "My Roots Are Showing..." only spent six weeks on the Billboard Top Country Albums and reached a peak position of 45 on the list in October 1996.

[9] Radio directors were drawn to Oslin's cover of "Silver Tongue and Goldplated Lies," which ultimately prompted her record label to release it as its first single.

"She's rearranged everything in her own, quirky style, and the result is a body of related work that would play just as well at the Rainbow Room as on a Mississippi riverboat," they commented.