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Robert Randolph & the Family Band
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| Robert Randolph set the music world on fire in late 2000 and early 2001
when he began to play his first club dates in New York City. These were a result
of being discovered playing his pedal steel guitar at the first Sacred Steel
Convention in Florida in the spring of 2000. Randolph started playing the pedal
steel as a teenager and started playing at his Orange, NJ, church just outside
of Newark. The House of God Church, an African-American Pentecostal
denomination, has been implementing steel guitars (or "Sacred Steel") in
services since the '30s, with the pedal steel in particular being introduced
during the '70s. Randolph learned to play by watching other steel players in his
church. Jim Markel was the man who heard Randolph play at the Sacred Steel
Convention, and he later introduced him to his friend, Gary Waldman. Waldman,
who already managed several artists, invited Randolph to audition for him.
Waldman and Markel began to manage Randolph; they played the audition tape over
the phone to Matt Hickey, talent buyer at Manhattan's Bowery Ballroom. Hickey
signed Randolph on as the opening act for the North Mississippi Allstars and it
was the beginning of a very large explosion. Within a month, Randolph was
playing to thousands with Medeski, Martin & Wood (MMW) at the Beacon
Theater. Allstars and MMW keyboardist John Medeski liked Randolph so much that
he asked him to record an all-instrumental gospel/blues album with them. The
Word was released in August 2001 to great critical and popular acclaim.
Randolph's own band, the Family Band, includes cousins Danyell Morgan and Marcus
Randolph (bass and drums, respectively) and John Ginty (Hammond B-3 organ).
Their career began with opening gigs for a variety of blues, jazz-funk, and jam
bands such as the Derek Trucks Band, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, and Soulive.
Headlining gigs became the norm within a few months. Robert Randolph & the
Family Band released Live at the Wetlands in fall 2001. 2003's Unclassified and
its single, "I Need More Love," introduced Randolph to an even wider audience.
Colorblind followed in 2006. ~ Ann Wickstrom, All Music Guide |
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