About
It's AlI In The Story
A lot of people like a story - Randy Burrows loves a story. Especially one that has a melody, some clever rhymes, and lasts 3-5 minutes.
His audiences are invited to smile, sigh, laugh (with him and at him) and maybe even reflect on their own experiences. Hitting on themes both personal and universal, his songs can be irreverent, wry, tongue-in-cheek, confessional, occasionally sad and - he hopes - familiar.
Randy's song are originals -- though he has been known to slip in a cover or two on request. His style is most often compared to his songwriting heroes: John Prine, Robert Earl Keen, Todd Snider, Guy Clark.
Randy writes and sings about his childhood antics ("The Hobo"), parochial school experience ("Deathbed Conversion"), early heartbreak ("Cork on the Water," "Friend Zone") and adult heartache ("Two Minutes," "Never Better"). He comments on the everyday ("My Favorite Shirt," "Junk Drawer"), contemporary life ("Lazy Spokes Motel"), romance gone wrong ("Whiskey Tango Foxtrot"), life's disappointments ("Karaoke Cowgirl"), excess and repentance ("Mercy and Grace"), mortality ("Bury Me Beneath this Barstool," "My Father's Car"), obsession ("Leave Me Alone." "One More Chance With You"), and more. Often autobiographical, sometimes imagined ("If My Dog Could Talk," "Hey, Archie") -- you name a topic, he likely has a song about it.
Randy keeps it simple. His songs are not "interrupted" by a lot of fancy guitar work -- unless he is joined by virtuoso multi-instrumentalist, Josh Yenne, when they perform together as "A Donkey & An Ass."
Randy is a native and lifelong Northern Californian. Born in Marysville, he has lived in Yuba City, Live Oak, Berkeley, San Francisco, Kenwood and now resides in Sonoma. He cites "the jukebox in my grandfather's saloon” as his earliest musical influence. A drummer in his formative years, he came to the guitar and songwriting later in life - and is trying make up for lost time.