Randy Steele Music

I'm very much looking forward to this songwriter round at The Woodshop with the very talented Olivia Ellen Lloyd and Jesse Harmon. I met Olivia in Kerrville Texas last year at New Folk and have toured and played with Jesse on and off randomly for a few years. These are great folks and I'm excited to talk songwriting and play some songs. Gonna be a big time! After releasing her debut album Loose Cannon in February 2021, Olivia Ellen Lloyd has been on a steady diet of writing, touring and honing her bandleading chops at every honky tonk from Nashville to New York. And it appears that hard work is paying off - her self-funded and independently released debut album Loose Cannon has been quietly winding its way into the hearts and minds of Country and Americana music lovers all over the world. Currently sitting pretty at over 1 million streams on Apple Music and Spotify, Loose Cannon was featured on numerous best-of lists (Ear to the Ground notably named it their Album of the Year), received praise from Nashville Lifestyles, Rolling Stone Country, Holler Country, and The Bluegrass Situation, and made it onto editorial playlists on Apple Music, Tidal, and Amazon Music. Her 2020 single “Shepherdstown'“ was named one of Tidal’s best songs of 2020 on their Rising Folk playlist. She was a 2021 NewSong Music Finalist, earning a slot in the top 3 , which won her a free vinyl pressing of Loose Cannon, and was recently named a 2023 Kerrville Newfolk Winner at the legendary Kerrville Folk Festival. Her 2022 release of a duo of Hazel Dickens songs received attention from Bluegrass Today, the Bluegrass Situation, and made Spotify’s GrassRoots and Women of Bluegrass editorial playlists. Her sophomore album is currently in production, produced once again by her dear friend and creative collaborator, Mike Robinson. Lloyd is a West Virginia native and proud of it. Raised by a musician and a public school educator in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, her sound is a combination of her deeply rooted past and her fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants present. She's continuing to mine that divide as she tours the country full time in her 2010 Toyota Sienna. ‘A firefighter who first took up the banjo to decompress and pass the time between emergency calls, Randy Steele has clearly gone beyond and exceeded even his own expectations. Based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, he released his debut disc, Songs From the Suck in 2016, followed by an EP titled Moccasin Bender two years later. He quickly gained a stellar reputation in the process. Now after a five year absence he and his band High Cold Wind — consisting of Steele himself (banjo and vocals), Tyler Martelli (guitar), Faye Petree (fiddle, vocals), John Boulware (mandolin), and Justin Hupp (upright bass) — return with a self-titled, five-song set that affirms the fact he’s still at the peak of his prowess. That said, High Cold Wind is a mostly unassuming effort, its songs sharing happenstance and humility in equal measure. A Golden Smile consists of nothing more than Steele singing solo, accompanied only by his banjo, while even those tunes that feature the band as a whole are, for the most part, relatively restrained. Still, there are exceptions. The rollicking Eight Thirty Eighteen, allows for a notable uptick in the tempo, being that it comes across as a trucking song meant to be shared while hitting the highway. There’s a Part of Me follows suit, a song that brings to mind one of several Townes Van Zandt songs in its not-so-fond farewell to city life while choosing to enjoy the comforts of the country instead. “Goodbye Nashville, please forget my name,” Steele declares while bidding his goodbye. It’s a moving and memorable offering in other ways as well. Nashville Drinking Song might seem like an otherwise bitter break-up song were it not for the fact that it’s conveyed through an easy sway and sashay. “There’s a part of me I wish you knew,” Steele sings, giving voice to the heartache he’s suffering in the wake of a lover’s departure. On the other hand, It Happened is full of happy-go-lucky circumstance and circumspect, a tune that gives Steele cause to celebrate even though he finds the results aren’t always in his favor. Clearly then, Steele remains a decidedly down-to-earth individual, a man for whom making music is still a source of joy and jubilation. Ultimately this High Cold Wind comes across like a calm and comforting breeze.’ Lee Zimmerman The Bluegrass Situation Jesse Harman grew up in Maryland and found St. Augustine when he attended Flagler College. Here, he also found a group of like-minded young musicians who ultimately formed the King Street String Band, and tour playing their own style of music they call "Blues Grass." As a solo performer, Jesse veers from Bluegrass to County, playing harmonica and guitar, and singing his own songs. His presentation is spare, like the cool breeze on a hot day, Jesse seems to expend just enough energy to get the job done and done well. His songs frequently transport you to some of his favorite places, such as a front porch enjoying a can of beer, on in a skiff on a boat in open water ("Oyster Stew.")