PEDAL STEEL GUITAR IN CHURCH. SACRED STEEL.
ROBERT RANDOLPH, BORN IN 1977, KNEW NOTHING ABOUT BLUES OR ROCK 'N' ROLL WHEN, AS A YOUNG MAN, HE PLAYED GOSPEL MUSIC ON HIS INSTRUMENT IN AFRICAN-AMERICAN PENTECOSTAL CHURCHES. KEYBOARDIST JOHN MEDESKI DISCOVERED HIM AND BECAME A KEY PART OF THE GOSPEL AND SACRED STEEL TRADITION JAM BAND CALLED THE WORD. SINCE THEN, RANDOLPH FORMED THE FAMILY BAND, WHICH HAS RELEASED EIGHT ALBUMS, TOURED AS AN OPENING ACT FOR ERIC CLAPTON — WHO ALSO COLLABORATED ON HIS ALBUM "COLORBLIND" (2006). AS A GUEST MUSICIAN, ROBERT RANDOLPH HAS APPEARED ON ALBUMS BY BUDDY GUY, ELTON JOHN, ROBBIE ROBERTSON, DAVE MATTHEWS, AND THE DIRTY DOZEN BRASS BAND, AMONG MANY OTHERS.
RANDOLPH MAY NOT BE ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR OR WIDELY RECOGNIZED GUITARISTS AMONG CASUAL FANS, BUT HE IS AN ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL MUSICIAN IN THE WORLD OF CONTEMPORARY ROOTS MUSIC.