Album title: Randy Waller

This Ol' Cowboy - Listen
Love's Tombstone - Listen
The Ballad of Curtis Loew - Listen
The Vision - Listen
Daddy's Old Guitar - Listen
Give It Up or Let Me Go - Listen
Little Red Shoes - Listen
Old Rugged Cross - Listen
Should've Took That Train - Listen
Daddy's Need to Grow Up Too - Listen
Blue Blue Morning - Listen
Who's Sad and Lonely Now - Listen
A Sad Song Don't Care Who's Heart It Breaks - Listen
Rough and Ready - Listen

The Country Gentlemen - One of America's very best bluegrass bands ever and one of the most copied. Trend-setters since their beginning and the founders of newgrass who brought bluegrass music to a brand new audience in the 1950's and 1960's with their college concerts, club tours, and their great Carnegie Hall concert.

Their former band members are like who's who in bluegrass music. Eddie Adcock, John Duffey, Tom Gray, Doyle Lawson, Bill Emerson, Jimmy Gaudreau, Bill Yates, Jerry Douglas, Ricky Skaggs, and many, many others who now play in some of the best bands around.

The very first guitar player and lead singer was the great Charlie Waller who remained with the band for its entire 47-year run until his death in 2004. Waller, Adcock, Duffey, and Gray are members of the IBMA Hall of Honor.

Charlie Waller's wish was that his son Randy would take over the band someday and continue the great sound. Randy has honored his father's wishes and now leads this band with the famous name and tradition. Randy has surrounded himself with musicians who know and respect the music the Country Gentlemen have performed throughout the years.

The audiences have received Randy and the band with open arms and the tradition of great singing and picking is continuing just as Charlie wanted it to. Charlie's old songs never sounded better and the new will keep the Gent's sound alive for many years to come.

Lendel Record's first album release, Randy Waller (self-titled), showcases Randy's first recording debut since his father's passing away. In 1963, Charlie made a promise to one day give his 1937 Martin D-28 guitar to his son. After Randy's graduation, he embarked on a solo career as a country musician and guitar teacher. t was on Christmas in 2002 that his father's guitar was passed on to the next generation. Randy's original song, "Daddy's Old Guitar," tells the story.

With this debut release, Randy had returned to his bluegrass roots for the singer, songwriter and instrumentalist by (at the request of his father) joining the Country Gentlemen the last 2 years Charlie was alive onstage and in the studio with working with Charlie on his very last recording project, Songs of the American Spirit which won the SPBGMA Album of the Year Award in February of 2005.

A short time afterRandy started appearing with the group, fans started asking for an album that documents his impressive rendition of "Old Rugged Cross". Waller penned some originals for the project including "The Vision," "Little Red Shoes," and "Rough and Ready." These three numbers demonstrate Waller's unique ability to successfully pen first-rate songs within the bluegrass gospel, western swing, and country genres.

Covers include Carl Jackson's "Love's Tombstone" and "Blue, Blue Morning" and "A Sad Song Don't Care Whose Heart it Breaks." and songs that were recorded by the Marshall Tucker Band ("This Ol' Cowboy") and Bonnie Raitt ("Give It Up or Let Me Go"). "This Ol' Cowboy" has a nice beat and catchy little riff. Randy's resonator guitar is a featured instrument on "The Ballad of Curtis Loew," a story of a young boy's friendship and respect for an old black dobro master who played the blues. Interestingly, that song also recently appeared on Larry Cordle's "Lonesome Skynyrd Time" project.

The accompanists include a number of present and former Country Gentlemen. Jimmy Gaudreau's mandolin and mandola are always a treat to hear. Eddie and Martha Adcock sing beautiful vocal harmonies. A friend from Randy's teenage years, Mike Moore, was enlisted to play bass. Sammy Shelor (Lonesome River Band) picks the five-string banjo, and well-known Nashville session fiddler Aubrey Haynie offers some hot licks and fills. Tim Austin engineered the project.

Randy Waller certainly doesn't sing with a high lonesome bluegrass sound. Instead, his full baritone gives a very smooth delivery that is equally comfortable with country, gospel, bluegrass and blues music. Randy's diverse instrumental and vocal abilities will open many doors for him. Closer to acoustic country than his father's hard-driving bluegrass, Randy Waller's sound is very relaxed and enjoyable. His voice even reminds me, at times, of a young Merle Haggard. That's the main reason why I really like this project.

- Joe Ross -