This 5-song all-original EP collection runs only 14 minutes. But this is a wonderful introduction to a piece of old-fashioned country music (not C&W) & bluegrass mix that has new life emanating from the voice of firefighter Randy Steele. An award-winning banjo-picking singer-songwriter from Tennessee who reeks of energy & personality throughout this set.
Randy Steele (banjo/vocals) is not an old man, but he has that unmistakable authoritative voice that was born to people like Ralph Stanley & Roy Clark. All five tunes are worthy but “Nashville Drinking Song,” featuring Emmylou Harris-style backup vocals by the dependable fiddle sawing Faye Petree (absolutely wonderful). This song smokes with Randy’s Levon Helm-tinged vocal had Levon stayed in Arkansas.
The set is a fun listen because that’s what the music demands. Bluegrass is country with a B-12 shot. Technically, the EP is a self-titled effort & High Cold Wind is Steele’s band name. But the self-produced High Cold Wind EP (Drops Aug 25–Independent). “It Happened,” has a rollicking drive & then suddenly ends. There is nothing hokey about these tunes – they’re rendered with authority & if they were cake – they’d be tasty.
Then comes the relatively short & simple percussive/banjo-led little tune “A Golden Smile,” that’s over before you know it. (The tune is about Randy’s memory of his own self-doubt when first dating his wife of 22 years).
It’s followed by the barn-burning full-throttle, black smoke spewing, steam whistlin’ hot “Eight Thirty Eighteen.” Owls will be chasin’ mice, corks will be poppin’ & yes, some colorful language will be flying. With five musicians it sounds like a full band at a barn dance.
The opening tune finds Randy Steele singing in a more country & western vintage style. Lyrics that could’ve come from the pen of the late Johnny Horton & sung by the late Jim Reeves. It’s a good country-style ballad with a slight parallel vocal by Faye. It makes an average song sound even more expressive. They should sing a duet together someday.
John Apice
Americana Highways
lyrics
It happened
Well I was standing in an alley
In the shadow of the valley
Of the mountains in eastern Tennessee
The day started partly cloudy
But it ended bright and loudly
With a message straight from God above to me
We started at the whirlpool
With this girl I knew from High School
Then we skipped off down to party at The Red
But those clouds began to mingle
My skin began to tingle
Then lightning struck me right upside the head
It happened, I swear that it happened
Hand to heart, eyes to god it happened to me
So officer if you take me downtown
You better insulate the penitentiary
I came to just quakin’,
shiverin’ and shaking
My hair was laid out all over the ground
I went home to think
But I could barely sleep a wink
For dreaming of that terrifying sound
When I started the next morning
It was raining it was storming
I went to let me old hound dog out of the pen
When I went to call her
With that old familiar holler
Boom, lightning strikes again
It happened, I swear that it happened
Hand to heart, eyes to god it happened to me
So officer if you take me downtown
You better insulate the penitentiary
I woke up 3 days later
On my porch holding the paper
My hound dog had moved back in with my ex
I barely had a dollar
Nothing to drink nothing to swaller
No porch no hair no dog and no respect
So I went down to the credit union
To find myself some breathing room
I walked in I heard thunder and I’ll admit
That maybe I lost it
But I wasn’t trying to rob it
I may be broke but I ain’t no hypocrite
It happened, I swear that it happened
Hand to heart, eyes to god it happened to me
So officer if you take me downtown
You better insulate the penitentiary
credits
from High Cold Wind,
released April 13, 2024
Banjo/Vocals: Randy Steele
Fiddle/Vocals: Faye Petree
Mandolin: John Boulware
Guitar/Vocals: Tyler Martelli
Upright Bass: Justin Hupp
Recorded and mixed by Brett K Nolan at Soundry Studio
Banjo pickin' Singer Songwriter from Chattanooga Tennessee and frontman for Slim Pickins
Bluegrass
2018 NewSong Leaf Festival Songwriting Competition Finalist. 2017 Blast On the Bay Upcoming Artist
16th Annual IMA Bluegrass Song Fan Winner for 'Mobile Soon"
16th Annual IMA Bluegrass album of the year Nomination
for "Songs from the Suck"...more
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