Jon Randall   -  Biography

Jon Randall was born Feb. 17, 1969, in Dallas. His parents (who both played bluegrass music) put a guitar in his hands when he was 6, and the instrument has been his life's companion ever since. He moved to Nashville after graduating from high school in Dallas. He formed a short-lived bluegrass band called the Prairie Dogs to pick up money. He also took a job delivering birthday balloons in a gorilla suit. In the summer of 1988, he was a strolling musician in Nashville's Opryland theme park. Holly Dunn discovered him there and hired him for her band in 1989.

Later that year, Randall auditioned for a spot in Emmylou Harris's band, the Nash Ramblers. He was hired as the only unknown in a band full of established super pickers. The group won a Grammy award in 1992 for its album, At the Ryman. He worked for Harris for five years. In the meantime, he landed a songwriting contract with Sony Tree and a recording contract with BNA Records. Because Larry Stewart, Lisa Stewart, Gary Stewart and Marty Stuart were already making records, the label abbreviated his name to Jon Randall. (His real last name is Stewart.) What You Don't Know appeared as his debut album in 1995. Despite his songwriting talent, it contained only one original tune.

A year later, he had a hit with "By My Side," a duet with Lorrie Morgan. (They married in 1997 and divorced two years later.) The song was intended for his second BNA CD, Great Day to Be Alive. Like its predecessor, it had only one of his own songs. In any case, the disc never came out, and BNA dropped him. The title tune later became a smash hit for Travis Tritt.

Randall signed with Asylum Records and in 1998 turned in Cold Coffee Morning as his third album. The record company folded just as the record was about to be issued. He recorded Willin' for independent Eminent Records, which was released with much critical acclaim in 1999, but that label later went out of business as well.

He contented himself with recording-session work as a singer and guitarist and by joining one of his musical heroes on the road. As a member of Sam Bush's band, he recorded Glamour & Grits (1996) and Howlin' at the Moon (1998). He and Bush then toured and recorded with Lyle Lovett's group.

But many in Nashville still believed he should be concentrating on his own music. Patty Loveless hired him as her duet partner on Mountain Soul (2001) and Bluegrass & White Snow (2002). The two also teamed to duet on the tribute album Livin,' Lovin,' Losin,': Songs of the Louvin Brothers, which won a Grammy.

In 2003, Randall stayed off the road (except for a tour with Earl Scruggs) to concentrate on songwriting. Since then, more than a dozen artists have recorded his songs. Most notably, "Whiskey Lullaby" (a co-write with Bill Anderson) became an award-hitting country hit for Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss.

Randall will release the album Walking Among the Living in 2005 on the Epic imprint.