On Randy Stern's debut solo album, Give, the singer-songwriter reflects: "I've been saved from an early grave." Most of the songs on the record deal with themes ranging from redemption, rebirth and recovery, and for the past three years, Stern, after playing guitar in a plethora of bands for more than twenty years, including a ten year stint in New York's punk/indie band The Nerve, has been through a renewal of his own.
Throughout his career, Randy Stern has played everything from progressive rock to alterna-pop to punk, but when he left The Nerve to pursue a solo career his newfound freedom gave rise to his latest incarnation: solo musician/singer/songwriter.
Back from his most recent tour of the south, I caught up with Randy who is now hard at work on his second album which is tentatively entitled, "Up Until Now."
RIFFRAF: What have you learned, if anything, musically on your last tour?
RANDY: Musically, I started learning more about blues and soul styles of singing and guitar playing. I just saw and jammed with so many musicians on this tour and was very humbled and inspired. I'm just starting to learn that playing in these styles involves faith. It's about completely letting go and just feeling, not thinking about what you're playing/singing. It's quite an enlightening journey. A very spiritual thing. No surprise that these great musical forms, soul, R&B, rock and roll, funk, are all rooted in gospel and blues.
RIFFRAF: Did you write any new songs while on tour?
RANDY: I did. I wrote just one! I'm not really in
songwriting mode when I'm on tour. I do keep a journal, though. It seems when
I'm on tour I'm more focused on performance and current material than I
am on writing new material. Writing seems to come when it comes with
me, whether I'm on tour or not. Seems to come less frequently on tour.
RIFFRAF: Did you learn anything about yourself?
RANDY: I learned that I have a lot to learn! I learned that it's a very large yet very small world out there and I am but a tiny part of it, yet a large part of it as we all are. I'm learning how to "use the force," so to speak, to create the very world I live in through thought and action. So I'm also learning that I ought to be very careful about my thoughts and actions.
Learning to only love, love, and love more. I'm learning about love, acceptance, forgiveness and generosity. Being on the road long term has taught me to expect nothing but the unexpected, to let go and go with the natural flow of life. It's helped me with an instinctive sort of way of being. Trusting in what I choose to call "God."
RIFFRAF: Is there a song on Give that hasn't held up for you? On the other hand, what song has held up? Have any songs taken on a new meaning for you?
RANDY: Thankfully, I still like my album a year later. There's only one song out of twelve that hasn't held up, "The Only Woman." I think it's because it's one I haven't been able to play live as a solo/acoustic artist. That song really needs a band as it's a rockin' sort of blues/rock n' roll shuffle that I just can't seem to figure out how to play acoustically. It needs that backbeat and walking bass line that really makes the recorded version come alive. So I've kind of lost touch with it.
Songs that have taken on new meaning have been "Simple" and "Life is Good." They were songs written out of a love for a special lady at the time. On the road, when I would perform the songs they felt like they were about a different kind of love as well. That sort of love of life and the experiences I was having...
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