Randy Stonehill: Live in Nashville

A review of this CCM pioneer's recent Nashville performance.

Photo by Tim Dillinger

I can hardly remember a time when I didn’t have an awareness of Randy Stonehill’s music. I’m fairly certain I first heard him on a compilation album called Rock of the Ages: Rock and Roll from the Third Dimension, a Myrrh Records release with a 3D cover (accompanied by 3D glasses)—the coolest thing ever. Rock and roll was strictly forbidden, but I begged and begged and begged and convinced my mother to buy it. Randy Stonehill was one of the artists featured on the project and I was an instant fan. My family forbade his music after that (too much guitar!) and he became one of the CCM artists banned from our home. I’d save my allowance to purchase his tapes which I then, in turn, had to hide.

While his pop-driven 1985 album Love Beyond Reason (which featured Táta Vega as a supporting vocalist) was my album of choice in those days, his musical terrain was expansive and it continually stretched my own tastes. Whether it was the Americana of 1989’s Return to Paradise or the rock and roll grit of 1986’s The Wild Frontier, Randy’s work has always been a cavalcade of great songs, stories and sounds.

He always stood apart from many of the other male artists in the genre. While some generated well-produced pablum that said all of the right things without ruffling any feathers, Randy’s music welled with emotion, sensitivity, wit and humor that talked about the things other artists avoided like apartheid, American racism, capitalism, and a celebrity-obsessed culture. That might explain the lack of chart-topping radio hits and best-selling albums and a singular Grammy nomination in his fifty year career.

This Saturday, I had the privilege of seeing Randy perform at The Well in Green Hills, presented by True Tunes and Red Dog Productions. I’ve seen him in concert a few times: twice in churches and once at the Bluebird Cafe (with Phil Keaggy), but seeing him in a coffeeshop, essentially as I might have seen him at the beginning of the Jesus Movement, was a treat.

I sometimes worry when seeing artists at this juncture of their career. I’ve seen my share of classic artists who show up and simply go through the motions of singing “the hits” that they are clearly tired of singing, but Randy Stonehill was a completely different story. His enthusiasm and investment in his craft (replete with a leg kick) couldn’t have been more obvious. While he could have exclusively churned out the fan favorites, he proved how full of ink his pen still is, rendering new songs from his latest release (the gorgeous Lost Art of Listening) and a new, unrecorded song.

And he did give us the classics: “Love Broke Thru” (co-written with the late Keith Green), “King of Hearts,” and “Shut De Do” were all delivered with a freshness and spontaneity that we don’t hear much these days, but the centerpiece of the show was “Rachel Delevoryas” from 1992’s epic concept album, Wonderama. A true heart-tugging story about an elementary school classmate of Stonehill’s who was bullied because she was different, the song feels even more timely today as we see the political, cultural and religious bullying of those who are outside of what is considered to be the norm. To see Stonehill himself shed a tear at the end of the song was incredibly moving, a testament to the authenticity of his message.

Most enchanting though was Stonehill’s on-stage manner. Famous for his comical banter between (and sometimes during) the songs, Stonehill’s mastery of performance was on full display as he vacillated from Robin Williams-mode to serious singer-songwriter. While he certainly discussed his faith, it was not heavy-handed or dogmatic. It harkened back to the beauty and simplicity of the Jesus Movement, relaying a faith that is accessible and practical, not vengeful or repressive.

You can keep track of his tour schedule via his website and should definitely stop by his Bandcamp page which features his entire 50 year discography remastered in addition to rare, live recordings that were previously unreleased.

For those who aren’t familiar with Sir Stonehill, I wanted to introduce five of my favorites from down through the years that showcase the diversity of the catalog of this truly unsung troubadour of contemporary Christian music.

“If you’re gonna get down to who the ‘real’ Randy is, I guess the logical thing is to boil it down to where it all started, which is me listening to calypso music, folk music, Harry Belafonte, which is the folk music of that culture, Haiti and the Caribbean, and listening to American folk artists like Odetta and The Weavers and Leon Bibb.”
—Randy to CCM, August 1990

1. Song for Sarah from Welcome to Paradise (1976)
   

2. You’re Loved Tonight from Love Beyond Reason (1985)

3. Defender from The Wild Frontier (1986)

4. Stand Like Steel from Return to Paradise (1989)

5. This Old Face from The Lost Art of Listening (2021)