Noted bluegrass producer Randall Deaton has thrown open the windows and dusted off the furniture at Lonesome Day Records, and returned to releasing new music with a first taste of their next project, Silver Bullet Bluegrass, a grassed-up tribute to the music of Bob Seger.
Deaton tells us that he has spent most of the past few years dedicated to a family-owned business that has required most of his attention, but is back in bluegrass with an idea he has been kicking around for some time. A fan of many forms of music, Randall has long believed that a number of the many hits Bob Seger had recorded with his gritty Detroit rock sound would be suitable for a bluegrass treatment.
For this initial glimpse, he has hooked up with Bo Bice, who came in as runner-up behind Carrie Underwood in the fourth season of American Idol. He turns in a rockin’ version of Seger’s Ramblin’ Man from 1968.
Randall says that the idea to pair these two came from former Steeldriver Gary Nichols, who has been working on this album with Lonesome Day.
“I asked Gary to recommend an artist for this song. He and Bo had played the bar scene together in Muscle Shoals, and Gary had nothing but good things to say about him.”
And Nichols had no doubt that Bice could pull this off.
“I was always a fan of Bo’s. His devotion to ‘selling a song’ as a vocalist is unmatched. I knew he would be perfect, and he delivered big time.”
For his part, Bo was in from the word go.
“As soon as Gary mentioned this project to me, I knew I was on board. Seger had an influence on my vocal and performance style for sure. As entertainers we take pieces from our favorite artists and meld them into our stage persona. I’d be proud to think there’s a little bit of Seger in me.”
Assisting in the studio were Stephen Mougin on guitar, Darrell Webb on mandolin, Ned Luberecki on banjo, Wayne Bridge on reso-guitar, and Mike Bub on bass. Gary Nichols and Cindy Walker supplied the harmony vocals.
See what you think of Ramblin’ Man gone bluegrass.
In November of 2013 we reported on changes at Lonesome Day Records. Label President Randall Deaton has taken on a new partner, Jeff Carter, CEO of Viamedia. In addition to many years of expertise in media marketing, Jeff’s investment will allow Randall more options when it comes to publicity.
To wit, Lonesome Day has announced an agreement with Shock Ink, an Los Angeles-based publicity firm, to handle label publicity on an ongoing, long term basis. Deaton says that one prior experience with the company convinced him that it would be a good fit.
“I worked with Elaine Shock a few years ago when we did a record with Fred Eaglesmith and knew that if we ever got the opportunity to work with her again we would love to do so.”
He also mentioned four new projects scheduled for 2014: his multi-artist bluegrass tribute to Bob Seger, new albums from Richard Bennett and Tim Shelton, and in a deviation from the norm, a new release from Guns & Glory, a Boston band that mixes country and rock themes.
And it’s not just business success that motivates Randall. Like most people in a niche music market, it’s his love of the music that pushes him forward.
“The power of music is astonishing. The subject matter of songs has not really changed over hundreds of years yet there is ‘new’ music created everyday and people still want it. I think we have done some records that will still be played years down the road. The music industry may change but it isn’t going anywhere. People will always want good music but they just may buy it in a different way.”
You can find more details on Lonesome Day, and their artists and releases, on their web site.
Randall Deaton and Lonesome Day Records are making a big play in the bluegrass market, announcing a new partner and plans for a major expansion.
And not just any partner. Jeff Carter, co-founder of cable advertising giant Viamedia, has purchased a minority shareholder stake in Lonesome Day. While he doesn’t expect to be a truly silent partner, Carter won’t involve himself in day-to-day operations. But will be bringing his 30 years of marketing experience to the benefit of the label.
Perhaps most importantly, in addition to the stock purchase, Carter has agreed to provide short term financing as needed for operations and growth. Deaton tells us that this will allow him to double or triple their annual releases, and offer marketing, distribution and publicity services to their artists that will rival what the largest labels in bluegrass provide.
“Jeff has already exposed me to new ways of looking at the business, paying attention to things in new ways.
I’m really concerned for the future of bluegrass music. We need to cultivate new fans and artists. If we can provide services to more artists, and expose them to more people, I think it’s good for everyone.
With his contributions, we’ll be in a position to thrive, not just survive.”
Carter has spent the past 12 years as CEO of Viamedia. They launched in Lexington, KY – not far from Lonesome Day’s base in Booneville – and have grown into a national company with 59 offices around the country. Viamedia services cable television advertising to local, regional and national accounts, and ensures delivery for their clients. They have more recently gotten involved in online advertising and marketing, and self-service TV campaigns for smaller clients.
He and Deaton became acquainted about two years ago when Jeff was looking into the purchase of a large, full-service recording studio in Lexington. They quickly became friends, and Carter developed a fascination with both the music and Randall’s business model.
“I’m a performing musician myself, but not in the genre that the label specializes in. I have known Randal for a period of time. He’s always impressed me as a gentlemen with a good ear for music, and as an honest, hardworking guy who deals with artists on a fair and equitable basis. What he does is about the quality of the music.
I like the genre and the artists in bluegrass, and from the outside looking in, it seems like too much market share is being directed to a few larger labels, and some diversity would be good for the music.”
The ink is barely dry on their new partnership, and Randall says that it has been something of a whirlwind considering the new opportunities it will present to the label. In the meantime, he has a Christmas project to promote for Jeff Parker and an all-star bluegrass tribute to Bob Seger in the pipeline.
Look for Lonesome Day to be a big player in short order.
He grew up surrounded with bluegrass pickers; he has been playing guitar since he was in high school; he has built his own recording studio and started his own record label.
Nothing unusual there, but Randall Deaton is different, as he mentions below.
Deaton grew up on a small farm near Booneville in eastern Kentucky, instilled with a strong work ethic and a great passion for music. While playing in bands throughout high school and college he earned a degree in business administration and a minor in political science. Deaton graduated from The University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Kentucky, in 1997.
In the summer of 2002 he started Lonesome Day Records – named after a Bruce Springsteen song – and in the past decade Deaton has released albums by Blue Moon Rising, Larry Cordle, Lou Reid and Carolina, Steve Gulley, Randy Kohrs, Ralph Stanley II, Ernie Thacker, Darrell Webb, Jeff Parker, Richard Bennett, Fred Eaglesmith and Wildfire. All are of the highest quality, both sonically and artistically.
Randall enjoys the married life with his wife Shelagh, a mental health therapist who works with children; they have two of their own, an eight-year-old named Aiden and a five-year-old named Rosalia. Besides listening to copious amounts of music – he is a great Springsteen enthusiast – he enjoys watching sports, travelling and reading Stephen King books.
He has strong views on the best way forward for the bluegrass recording business ……
So, tell me about yourself please …… you have a debilitating eye condition; what is it exactly and when was it diagnosed? What adjustments have you had to make to your life as you grew up?
“I have a genetic condition called retinitis pigmentosa. I have had it since birth. It is a condition that deteriorates over time. The nerve cells in the retina end up becoming useless and will no longer transmit information from the eye to the brain.
When I was growing up I would use things like large print text books. As I got older and the condition got worse, I would use more things like audio books and adaptive technology. I used to be able to use a computer monitor but now everything I do on a computer is done with a text to speech program.
I now use a cane as well. Since my eyes have gotten worse at a relatively slow and steady pace, I have been able to adapt gradually to whatever I need to do. At first I was behind because I didn’t want to fully accept where things were going, but once I did I have been able to stay ahead of things. I have a lot of talking stuff. I use an iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV because they all have great text to speech built into the OS. I also have talking thermometers and other little gadgets. Mostly though I just learn how to use the things that everyone else uses.”
Tell me about your interest in music (was that bluegrass music from the beginning?) …..
“When I was a kid we listened to country music around the house. I knew more about Exile than I did about The Police. I knew a little bit about bluegrass but I didn’t really get into bluegrass until I started learning how to play guitar. All the people that I could play with around home were mostly playing bluegrass songs. That’s how I really got introduced to it. I knew the names and some songs from people like The Stanley Brothers but not really more than that.
I really started getting into bluegrass more in the mid. 1990s when I was in college. My first introduction to a real bluegrass performer was Richard Bennett. He was the first person actively playing on the bluegrass circuit that I personally interacted with. I took lessons from Richard from around 1994.”
You have your own recording studio; when did you set that up? Which items of recording equipment do you manage and what are the difficulties that you have to overcome when using them?
“I started my recording studio in 1999. I soon realized that I wasn’t going to get enough business in eastern Kentucky, so that is how I started the record label. I wanted to record music that I had more control over.
There was a record label based out of Hazard, Kentucky, called Crosscut and they had their own studio. I heard what they were producing and I thought that I could do a better job and produce better records. That is how it started.
I originally used a couple of ADAT machines when I started my studio. I moved to a computer based system and I had two monitors. I was able to make one of those monitors like a giant magnifying glass. This allowed me to do pretty well for a while. I recorded Jeff Parker’s first record this way as well as records by Darrell Webb, Blue Moon Rising, and Lou Reid.
When my eyesight got to the point where I didn’t feel I could do as good of a job as needed, I pretty much stopped doing engineering work in the studio. I used Michael Latterell for several recordings the last few years.
I recently started using a program called Sonar, and my text to speech program JAWS. A company developed special scripts for JAWS and Sonar that makes the program very accessible for me. Sonar is a program that is similar to the other computer programs like Cubase, Neuindo, and Pro Tools. Certain things are still difficult to do with Sonar so I treat it almost like recording to a tape machine. I can do editing but I try to just get everything right while we are recording.
In the period from 2002 through 2005 I worked a lot with Harold Nixon and Ron Stewart. Ron helped mix several of the records in that timeframe. Harold and Ron have also appeared as musicians on more Lonesome Day recordings than any other musicians. They are kind of like my ‘Wrecking Crew.’ “
Lonesome Day Records, long known for their emphasis on quality over quantity, is tracking for a new project celebrating the songs of American writer and singer, Bob Seger.
With a 40 year career behind him, Seger still tours actively at age 67 with a rock and roll band, and continues to release both new and archival albums. Though young music fans may know him best for the use of his hit song, Like A Rock, in Chevrolet truck commercials on television, the song – and many others – soared on the rock charts in the 1980s. Other enduring Seger songs include Night Moves, We’ve Got Tonight,Against The Wind andOld Time Rock and Roll – to which Tom Cruise famously danced in his socks during his breakout film, Risky Business.
Randall Deaton of Lonesome Day, who will be producing with Shawn Brock, tells us that they are leaning towards Silver Bullet Bluegrass for the title (after Seger’s band name, The Silver Bullet Band), with hopes of having it completed and released during the first half of 2013.
“This is a project that I have been wanting to do for a long time, and it is all bluegrass. One of our goals with this record is to make it very easily recognized as bluegrass, and also very palatable to the bluegrass listener.
We currently have 14 songs tracked for the record. It is not a ‘hot pickin’ record; the focus is on the songs and the singers, and the arrangements stay fairly true to the originals. These are legitimate versions of great songs that will have some of the best singers in bluegrass contributing to them.
I think it will end up being a really cool record.”
Though he has commitments from a number of top vocalists, Deaton wanted to avoid naming them until their tracks were finished. He did, however, mention that Jeff Parker will be singing We’ve Got Tonight, and serving as a special production consultant.
Randall also promised more details soon. Stay tuned.
