There’s a Part of Me video from Randy Steele

Randy Steele is a banjo picking fire fighter from Chattanooga who performs with a group called The High Cold Wind. He got his start on guitar, and toured on the jam band scene for a while. But he picked up banjo to while away the hours in the fire house some years ago, and found an intense fascination with bluegrass, the music his grandfather had always enjoyed.

Touring as a performer continued with an Americana trio incorporating some grass, taking advantage of the many free days in a fire fighter’s schedule, until the pandemic shutdowns put an end to that in 2020. When things began to return to normal, Randy decided that what he felt most strongly about doing was more traditional bluegrass, and put The High Cold Wind together to record the new music he was writing.

So this past winter has been dedicated to the studio, with a new single, There’s a Part of Me, now available, along with a clever music video that mixes animation and live action on this story of heartbreak and recovery.

Speaking of the video, Steele offered praise for his director, Jakey Lutsko, as well as his bandmates.

“The whole video shoot was kind of a family affair. I met Jakey Lutsko while playing banjo for his brother Nick on a project. I liked Jakey right away and we had fun working together. I watched some of his horror projects and was really blown away by how great they were. We started talking about a video and he seemed like the logical person to ask, and I’m so grateful he joined in; he strung together some really fantastic and inventive shots.

Much of the video setting is the wooded area of our property, our bass player Justin Hupp’s house, and an old building in Red Bank, TN near where we live. A few of our friends agreed to be a part of it and even our dogs make an appearance. The flying karate kick comes courtesy of our black belted mandolin player John Boulware. I love the tempo and texture of John’s mandolin solo on this song in particular. His initial melody comes in a bit hotter than the melody of the song but the way he seasons it with these kind of brake notes in between pulls the whole sequence into time. He then tacks on these pretty sweeping trills that follow the melody straight to the logical end point. He’s such a great player.”

High Cold Wind also includes Faye Petree on fiddle and Tyler Martelli on guitar.

Have a look and listen to There’s a Part of Me.

There’s a Part of Me is available now from popular download and streaming services online.

Randy Steele will have a number of other singles this year in advance of a new album with The High Cold Wind.

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About the Author

John Lawless

John had served as primary author and editor for The Bluegrass Blog from its launch in 2006 until being folded into Bluegrass Today in September of 2011. He continues in that capacity here, managing a strong team of columnists and correspondents.