Candace Randolph

It’s been a long time coming—more than two decades, in fact—but My Guitar And This House, the solo debut from acoustic roots singer/songwriter Candace Randolph has unmistakably been worth the wait. A captivating portrait of a woman who’s found the strength to make her own way through life, My Guitar And This House is filled with superbly crafted, memorable songs of family, faith, lost love and the ups and downs of life.

Born and raised in rural Illinois, Candace made her mark as a songwriter in a spectacular fashion when Ralph Stanley cut four of her songs on a single 1977 album. Still in her teens, she mastered the guitar and banjo, touring and recording with her family’s band, the Lost Kentuckians, before moving to Nashville and devoting herself to family life. Though her name appeared only occasionally, as when the Nashville Bluegrass Band recorded her “All Alone” in 1998, she continued to write, and a few years after that, she emerged as a performer, playing regularly at the Station Inn, at first with singer/guitarist Bobby Nicholas, then on her own, and appearing as a member of Jim Lauderdale’s bluegrass band. When three of the songs she wrote with Lauderdale appeared on his Grammy-winning collaboration with Stanley, Lost In The Lonesome Pines, the stage was set for her to make her own mark, and she began work on My Guitar And This House.

Made with support from some of Nashville’s most admired musicians, including Nicholas, bass player Terry Eldredge (The Grascals), fiddler Shad Cobb (John Cowan Band), dobro player Andy Hall (Earl Scruggs Family & Friends) and mandolinist Jesse Cobb, My Guitar And This House is a collection of songs that are deeply rooted in country and bluegrass tradition, yet speak with a distinctive, intimate voice. Beginning with her own take on “All Alone,” with its echoes of the classic Stanley sound, Randolph recreates the world from which she came with songs like “Home” and “Kentucky Boys” and offers a chilling blend of contemporary and traditional gospel songwriting in “Sea Of Blood.” Exploring themes of loneliness and regret in “Whose Heart Is This,” “Please Just Once” and the title track—three exquisitely delivered, contemporary-flavored ballads that lie at the heart of the album—she reveals, too, in the feisty “I Don’t,” the irrepressible spirit and sense of self that have carried her through tough times.

Already numbering artists like Stanley and Lauderdale among her fans, Candace Randolph is poised on the threshold of the career she’s long been ready for. With the release of My Guitar And This House, it’s clear that here is a fresh, compelling voice that deserves to—and will be—heard.
Jon Weisberger
- The Nashville Scene

In the mist surrounding bluegrass and acoustic roots music, there's a plethore of styles going by names like "contemporary","progressive", and "acoustic country",and sometimes they're the best we have to describe the music's nuances.
Candace floats beautifully in that misty cloud, somewhere between solid bluegrass instrumentation and a softer side of acoustic country vocals.
"Whose Heart Is This?" is Randolph's polished debut album , with an initial quick listen presenting a , mostly bluegrass sound. Her voice is strong, sometimes gutsy, sometimes gentle, and her lyrics deal with love and broken hearts. A more thorough scrutiny of the liner notes reveals that not only is Candace a prolific songwriter (all ten tracks are originals),but she also plays a mean banjo as well as a commanding lead guitar. And if you're attracted to an album by it's cover,"Whose Heart Is This?" has a beautifully yet tastefully sexy sepia-tone illustration, a real eye-brow raiser.
Many of these songs need only one voice, (Candace's ) to deliver the lyrics.Who needs complex harmonies when you're singing a tender ballad about a painfully broken heart? Ever been lied to by a married man? "I Don't" examines a situation best kept between a woman and her conscience "...I'm not the one who said I do/...you might as well have said I don't). The title track is equally heartbreaking as it quietly ponders a familiar situation we've all experienced once or twice.
Although broken hearts abound, not all songs are slow and sad. "Kentucky boys" pokes fun at our less-than-stellar choices in love (There's a reason why they call it Hazard), yet the cd winds up on a positive note with "Goin' Back To Tennessee", a waltz that reunites two lovers for a happily-ever-after ending. Thank Goodness! There's hope yet for love.
-Julie Koehler

- Bluegrass Unlimited (Oct 1, 2005)
- The Unlimited