Watch for a post coming soon about the future of Kelly's Country.
In the mean time, I received a request from a man I consider a dear friend. Mind you, he had contacted me through the form here on the blog - sending to my gmail. I hardly ever go to my gmail. Was only because I was looking for an email from my sister that I found his email - from June! I'm talking about non author than the very talented, Randy Lewis Brown.
Photo courtesy of David Bourke
Randy has a new CD coming out September 30th from Berkalin Records. This is his fifth album.
Randy talks about his new album:
If I have learned anything in my short time on earth, it is that change is all there is. Nothing ever remains the same.
If you're not familiar with Randy and his music, there's something you need to know. He tells a story in a unique voice. A voice that comes from life experience - the good, the bad and the ugly, yet always sharing a ray of hope in every lyric.
WIND OF CHANGE is one of those collections that are perfect to just chill and maybe reflect on the changes in your own life. A bit of melancholy that lulls you into the belief that regardless of how crappy your day was, there's a chance tomorrow will be better.
I review a lot of CDs but very few find them saved to my laptop playlist. With Randy's voice and the command of his guitar, I find his music thought-provoking yet relaxing.
Here's a preview of the album:
You can pre-order your copy through his website. You'll receive a hard copy PLUS a digital download. Check out the post on his Homepage just below the cover picture for all the details!
I seem to have gotten lost in this album so much so I realized just a few moments ago I'd not posted my review.
As I read
through the notes from Randy about RED CROW, giving me an insight to each of
the tracks, I had to wonder… How could someone who’s been so disillusioned by
various aspects of life over the course of his years make those moments so
beautiful? Trust the Sun captures this perspective as only a talented
songwriter such as Randy is capable of. The other thing I find magical about
this album is that Randy Lewis Brown’s vocal abilities belie his age. If there
is such a thing as an ‘old soul’ in a young man, than Randy is the reverse.
This nuance lends a stronger meaning to I’m Not Ready Yet.
October
Again is a haunting melody capturing the darkness of a painful memory. Close
your eyes and watch the colored leaves become the death of summer like you’ve
never seen them before.
One Horse Town is a picture-perfect example of small town life... whether we want to escape from, come back to, or never leave from the beginning, there's a familiarity most of us can relate to.
With the
steel guitar as well as the lilt of the lyrics, She’s the Only Woman,
co-written with Terry Klein, came out just as they’d hoped. If you like the
older country with a bit of Beatles for seasoning this tune will have you
seeing your wife in a fresh light and tapping your toes.
The title
track, Red Crow, was inspired by a painting by Jenny Joyce… the same of which
is now the album cover. Randy brings images from his mind to life. If you
listen, you can hear the slight flutter of wings as the crow takes flight.
I love how
Randy tells a story within a story such as he’s done in Any Old Train. Like a parallel
universe, he takes you down two journeys at once.
As I stated
in my interview yesterday, Above Timberline pulled at memories for memories. I’m
planning a trip back to my home state of Colorado and look forward to smelling
the lichen-covered rocks, pine and seeing the beauty of the Aspens. Whether you’ve
ever been there or not, Randy has the capability of making you feel at home in the
beauty of the Rockies.
With a hint
of Native American tones, Other Campfires will stir the ashes of your soul.
The simplicity
of Good Old Days mimics the time, regardless of what that time period is, most
of us wish we could revisit.
Barlow Road is
an outstanding example of how our past, while far from perfect is just that… a
part of our heritage. This track tells a sad tale from the historic stretch of
what was originally part of the Oregon Trail. Randy gives us the guts of history
the way the stories should be told.
Here's a video from the title track:
The
continuity of this album is perfect in every way. While four of the tunes have co-writers (Randy Palmer, Terry Klein, Richard Paul Thomas, and Jim Gilmore), they are his stories. Others lending their talents to the album Merel Bregante, Michael Dorian, Sarah Pierce Band, Riley Osborne, Mark Epstein Dirje Childs, and Cody Braun. I have to say if Randy Lewis Brown believes the Trouble With Me is that he thinks too much, I hope he keeps letting those wheels turn out more original tunes like these. The depth of not just the
lyrics but the undercurrent of emotions attached to each one makes this one of
the best albums to ever cross my desk. I'm tipping my hat....
RED CROW releases September 27th. Be sure to grab your copy.
You can find Randy on the following Social Media locations:
I'm back in the saddle this week and bringing you another great artist. Let's open the chute!
Welcome to
KellysCountry, Randy!
1 – To me, this album seems to encapsulate
you as a person. Do you think that’s true and that this album is almost
autobiographical of sorts?
Very perceptive!
I have always tried to be autobiographical in my recordings, this one for me
gets to the core more directly truthful than others. I am almost 67 years old
and have within the last 10 years dealt with the death of my father, the
decline via dementia and death this spring of my mother as well as the joyful
birth of 2 wonderful grandchildren. My wife Barbara and I just celebrated our
46th anniversary and both of us are now fully retired from financially gainful
work (music, I find is not particularly financially gainful though certainly
spiritually gainful and totally enriching).Put that together with my strict religious upbringing in the south
during a time of upheaval, unrest and fear of social change, very similar to
today’s. There you have it, Red Crow in a nutshell.
2 – While written
over the course of several years, they carry a common thread. What helped you
narrow those initial 45 down to this thirteen? I would imagine the process was
something akin to picking favorite children one over another.
These are the
songs that get me excited when I play them. The songs that folks have asked me
“Is that on a record?”. I pretty much like every song I have written (at least
a thousand) but I find that some songs are merely stepping stones to get to one
deeper and truer. The songs on Red Crow are each at the end of that path, the
deepest and truest. For me, truth, real human truth, is the ultimate goal.
3 – W. C. Jameson
once told me that a good song is poetry… that it tells a story. I hear this in
Red Crow. If this were a book, what would be the core of the story?
The core story of
Red Crow is belief despite doubts and learning to accept reality even when it
is uncomfortable and something unbelievable.
4 – I think a lot
of us can relate to One Horse Town. While the phrase seems to have a negative
connotation for some and can’t wait to escape, what is it about a one horse
town that you feel draws a person back home?
I have lived in
the same small town for 45 years. It is positively a love/hate relationship.
Familiarity certainly breeds contempt as the old saying goes but there is also
a well-worn comfort in that familiarity. We all want to know and understand our
surroundings and when we are familiar with the history of a place from direct
experience it becomes a kind of comforting glue that binds our hearts to a
location. What mostly draws us back home I believe is the fact that memory is
malleable and untrustworthy. We forget much of the bad and enhance the joyful.
Time changes everything as a great songwriter once said. But somehow we still
refuse to believe it. Believing against all hope that the home of our memory
still exists.
5 – Thank you and
Jim Gilmore for Above Timberline. Colorado girl here and you know how to make
someone homesick. LOL. You said that every time you sing this song you are
transported to the mountaintop. What do you see from your vantage point?
In the deep blue
distance from the top of a peak I can see the past and even glimpse the future.
It is like looking up at the Milky Way at night. I makes me feel tiny and
insignificant but simultaneously part of everything. There is a rush in knowing
that even though I am only a fleeting speck of dust in the big picture that I
am here right now and a part of this magnificent immensity.
6 – What do you
think someone needs to keep in mind when writing a song?
Tell the truth,
your truth, no matter what. Don’t worry about hurting feelings or being
misunderstood. Simply tell your story and put it out there. I believe that we
all have an instinct and recognize truth innately. Now, don’t confuse truth
with facts. They are two totally separate things. You can write a song that is
factual but not true and no one will care. But disregard the facts and write a
song that is true, that captures the human condition and folks will love it.
7 – You’ve been writing songs from a very
young age. Who were some of your biggest influences that helped shape your
style? Also, are there any musical artists today that you feel really have a
grasp on songwriting?
Jason Isbell,
Brandi Carlisle and Hayes Carl are my favorite young writers. But Rodney
Crowell, Darrell Scott, Rosanne Cash, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Lucinda Williams,
James Taylor and of course John Prine have got it down to a science. Every word
they write is true and moves me.
8 – Past or
present, who would you like to co-write with?
Leaving out many
I am sure, the first ones popping into my head are Guy Clark, Steve Earle,
Townes Van Zandt, Rodney Crowell, John Prine, Chris Kristofferson and Roger
Miller. Roger Miller was my first songwriting crush so I guess he would be number
one. But I love to co-write. It is certainly not an impersonal undertaking and
anyone that I can feel a true rapport with spiritually and personally is a
possibility. To be honest, I have never written with a female writer and would
love that opportunity. I think the results would be enlightening.
* * * * *
Randy's album, RED CROW, releases September 27th. Stop by tomorrow for my review of this beautiful piece of Americana music.
In the mean time, here's a video:
You can find Randy on the following Social Media locations:
