Randy Thompson : Collected

[John (Biscuits and Gravy) Davy]

http://randythompson.net/home.html

  Randy who? Randy Thompson, that’s who. A Virginia native with family roots in the state going back pretty much as far as they possibly could, Randy plays rocking country music of the highest quality. Imagine someone who combines the best qualities of Joe Ely and Steve Earle (in his original country outlaw guise) and you’ve pretty much got the sound that Randy Thompson makes. Really good songs with a strong propensity to tell a tale, cracking tunes and a real verve in the performance that just snatches you up and carries you along for an exhilarating ride.

            Randy Thompson has been making music since the late 90s, but he’s not exactly prolific – just three albums in that time, with the most recent (Further On, 2008) proving to be a breakthrough for him. This collection focuses pretty heavily on recent material, more than half the tracks coming from the last three years but the earlier material stands up as strongly as the rest. He says his aim was to put together a collection that would sound great bowling down Route 66 with the windows open, and he’s certainly done that. Time and again there’s a real drive and pace in the music that just feels like the tune’s been grabbed by the scruff of the neck and the band have run with it. The Steve Earle influences certainly show through, especially on the earlier material like Wearin’ Blue from 1998, but he’s clearly developed a muscular style all of his own as time has gone on. Album opener Songbird comes from that 2008 release and is just a total blast, the banjo rattling along like a good’un as the electric guitar throws some great fuzzy lines. When Randy Thompson’s voice comes in, it’s just right for the music, strong and authoritative but with an emotional strength as well that’s compelling. There are other bands making modern country music as satisfying as this – Loomer spring to mind, and maybe I See Hawks in LA – but there aren’t many.

             The vast majority of the material is very much loud music for a big stage butGoin Down to Lynchburg Townshows what he can do in a more acoustic vein; the song is driven along by wonderful slide guitar in hoedown mode, and you can just imagine a bunch of farmers having a riotous Saturday night's dance to this - guaranteed to put a smile on your face. There’s strength in every aspect of these songs and he has a way of making large statements with his music that gives it a larger-than-life, almost myth-making scale; personally, I can’t resist a bit of that and I certainly think fans of artists like Joe Ely and Steve Earle are going to love discovering Randy Thompson.

John Davy