CANDACE RANDOLPH: Home
Congratulations on 2008 Grammy win for artist/songwriter/performer Jim Lauderdale! This is the second Grammy Jim's won, both projects included songs that Candace has co-written with Jim, pick it up when you get the chance.
Candace is currently in the studio working on a second solo project , a collection of self penned material expanding her roots even further. Lending their time and talents to the project are Dave Roe, Pete Finney, Jim Lauderdale,Kenny Vaughn,Shad Cobb, Marc Lacuesta, Tim Lauer, Jen Gunderman, Randy Kohrs, Jeannie Winn, Jesse Baker, and Darith DeLisle. It is being produced by Singer , songwriter and artist Jimmy Barret.
Original and Acoustic Country singer/songwriter
Candace Randolph
In the mist surrounding music, there's a plethora of styles going by names like "contemporary," "progressive," and "acoustic country," and sometimes they're the best we have to describe the music's nuances. Candace Randolph floats beautifully in that misty cloud, somewhere between solid bluegrass instrumentation and acoustic country vocals.
"Whose Heart Is This?" is Randolph's polished debut album, with an initial quick listen presenting a mostly bluegrass sound. Her voice is strong, sometimes gutsy, sometimes gentle, and her lyrics deal with love and broken hearts. A more thorough scrutiny of the liner notes reveals that not only is Candace a prolific songwriter (all ten tracks are originals), but she also plays a mean banjo as well as a commanding lead guitar. And if you're attracted to an album by its cover, "Whose Heart Is This?" has a beautifully yet tastefully sexy sepia-tone illustration, a real eyebrow-raiser.
Many of these songs need only one voice (Candace's) to deliver the lyrics. Who needs complex harmonies when you're singing a tender ballad about a painfully broken heart? Ever been lied to by a married man? "I Don't" examines a situation best kept between a woman and her conscience ("I'm not the one who said 'I do'/You might as well have said 'I don't'"). The title track is equally heartbreaking as it quietly ponders a familiar situation we've all experienced once or twice.
Although broken hearts abound, not all songs are slow and sad. "Kentucky Boys" pokes fun at our less-than-stellar choices in love (There's a reason they call it Hazard), yet the CD winds up on a positive note with "Goin' Back To Tennessee," a waltz that reunites two lovers for a happily-ever-after ending. Thank goodness! There's hope yet for love.
The solo debut from acoustic ,roots country singer/songwriter Candace Randolph has unmistakably been worth the wait. A captivating portrait of a woman who’s found the strength to make her own way through life, Whose Heart Is This is filled with superbly crafted, memorable songs of family, faith, lost love and the ups and downs of life.
Born and raised in rural Illinois, Candace made her mark as a songwriter in a spectacular fashion when Ralph Stanley cut four of her songs on a single 1977 album. Still in her teens, she mastered the guitar and banjo, touring and recording with her family’s band, the Lost Kentuckians, before moving to Nashville and devoting herself to family life. Though her name appeared only occasionally, as when the Nashville Bluegrass Band recorded her “All Alone” in 1998, she continued to write, and a few years after that, she emerged as a performer, playing regularly at the Station Inn in Nashville, and appearing as a member of Jim Lauderdale’s bluegrass band.
When three of the songs she wrote with Lauderdale appeared on his Grammy-winning collaboration with Stanley, Lost In The Lonesome Pines, the stage was set for her to make her own mark, and she began work on Whose Heart Is This.
Whose Heart Is This is a collection of songs that are deeply rooted in country and bluegrass tradition, yet speak with a distinctive, intimate voice. Beginning with her own take on “All Alone,” with its echoes of the classic Stanley sound, Randolph recreates the world from which she came with songs like “Home” and “Kentucky Boys” and offers a chilling blend of contemporary and traditional gospel songwriting in “Sea Of Blood.” Exploring themes of loneliness and regret in “My Guitar And This House”,“Please Just Once” and the title track—three exquisitely delivered, contemporary-flavored ballads that lie at the heart of the album—she reveals, too, in the feisty “I Don’t,” the irrepressible spirit and sense of self that have carried her through tough times.
Already numbering artists like Stanley and Lauderdale among her fans, Candace Randolph is poised on the threshold of the career she’s long been ready for. With the release of Whose Heart Is This, it’s clear that here is a fresh, compelling voice that deserves to—and will be—heard. –Jon Weisberger
"... Great singer and great songwriter; great banjo picker. Excellent entertainer! I will recommend her highly to anyone. Especially great songwriter; I recorded five of her songs!"
-- Dr. Ralph Stanley -
"She grew up with Stanley Brothers music. She's got as good or better a grasp on this as anybody I know." "To sing and write and pick like Candace Randolph can is a rare, wonderful gift."
-- Jim Lauderdale --
"Candace Randolph is a true original who has been contributing to Music since her teens - not only as a fine songwriter and singer, but as one of the few women in Bluegrass to have achieved a measure of recognition as an excellent guitar and banjo player."
-- Jon Weisberger --
"I've watched and listened to Candace play for quite a few years. First with her family and later in her singer-songwriter role. I've had the pleasure of performing and recording one of her many great songs. Listening to her demos, I am always drawn to her guitar playing. She plays with confidence, a little attitude, great sense of melody, and oceans of depth. What more could you ask for?"
-- Pat Enright --
"The closest thing to Clarence White I've heard on the guitar -- and I knew him well. Candace, you play and sing great!."
-- Boomer Castleman --