When he stopped running from his destiny, Jon Randall created a masterpiece.
"When I moved to Nashville, it was to be a songwriter - and I did everything BUT that," he recalls. "At first, I took jobs as a sideman because I had to eat. Nobody was going to give a song-publishing contract to an unknown. But then, over the years, traveling became a way of life."
Jon Randall's skills as a tenor harmony singer and guitarist have led to membership in the bands of Emmylou Harris, Sam Bush and Lyle Lovett. He's made his living working with everyone from Linda Ronstadt, Trisha Yearwood, Patty Loveless and Lee Ann Womack to Bill Anderson, T. Graham Brown, John Cowan and Kid Rock. And along the way, he nearly lost sight of his original purpose.
Now, Walking Among the Living reclaims it. Fourteen songs written or co-written by Jon Randall, the CD is a stunning showcase with a full, crisp sound and dynamic vocal performance. In the gorgeous "North Carolina Moon," Jon Randall yearns for a mountain home accompanied by the angelic harmonies of Sonya Isaacs. He's softly seductive on the lilting "In the Country" and shouting the blues on the rocking "Coming Back for More."
The touchingly sad ballad "Lonely For Awhile" contrasts with the jaunty, sprightly percussion pace of "Long Way Down." "Austin" has a funky swing, while "Somebody Else" is lonesome and lovelorn. Patty Loveless adds her voice to Randall's hardcore "cheating" song "I Shouldn't Do This," and Alison Krauss guests on his troubling and sad "No Southern Comfort."
Another standout on the album is "Walking Among the Living," a stirring tune of redemption and renewal with Randall's Sony labelmate Jessi Alexander providing vocal harmonies. The set's lone "outside" song is "My Life," written by Grammy Award winner Robert Lee Castleman ("The Lucky One"). Randall recorded it as a nod to his bluegrass roots. Rounding out the collection is the singer-songwriter's own version of his celebrated song "Whiskey Lullaby."
Walking Among the Living is such a profoundly great piece of work that it comes as a shock to learn he initially wasn't all that excited about making it. Jon Randall's recording history has been a bumpy one. The multi-faceted singer/songwriter/musician has been lured into the solo spotlight four times before, with frustrating results each time.
"That's part of the reason that I was bit hesitant about doing this thing," he comments. "But, then, there were all these songs that I'd been writing. Plus, (Sony Music president and A&R EVP) John Grady and Mark Wright gave me so much freedom that it was just scary. It turned into this amazing experience."
This is the album Jon Randall was born to make.
"My earliest musical memories are of listening to Dad write bluegrass songs. When he started teaching me guitar, I started writing songs. I can't tell you how many songs I wrote for my bands in junior high and high school. I wrote a song for every girlfriend I ever had. Seriously, from the moment I picked up the guitar, I was writing my own songs."
Jon's father Ronnie Stewart was a policeman who also had a bluegrass band. Mother Linda played dobro. They put a guitar in their son Jon Randall Stewart's little hands when he was six. The instrument has been his life's companion ever since.
As soon as he graduated from high school in Dallas, the boy packed his songwriting bags for Music City. The only trouble was, nobody wanted to listen. He formed a short-lived bluegrass band called The Prairie Dogs to pick up money. He also took a job delivering birthday balloons in a gorilla suit. In the summer of 1988 he was a strolling musician in Nashville's Opryland theme park. Holly Dunn discovered him there and hired him for her band in 1989.
Later that year, Randall auditioned for a spot in Emmylou Harris's band The Nash Ramblers. He was hired as the only unknown in a band full of established super pickers. The group won a Grammy Award in 1992 for its album At the Ryman.
Randall worked for Harris for five years. In the meantime, he landed a songwriting contract with Sony Tree and a recording contract with BNA Records. Because Larry Stewart, Lisa Stewart, Gary Stewart and Marty Stuart were already making records, the label abbreviated his name to Jon Randall. What You Don't Know appeared as his debut album in 1995. Despite his songwriting talent, it contained only one original tune. A year later, he had a hit with "By My Side," a duet with Lorrie Morgan. It was intended for his second BNA CD, Great Day to Be Alive. Like its predecessor, it had only one of his own songs. In any case, the disc never came out, and he was dropped by his label. The title tune later became a smash hit for Travis Tritt.