Randy Crouch

{{Infobox musical artist

| image = Rc rdr2 1.jpg

| image_size = 250|

| caption = Crouch performing with John Cooper of the Red Dirt Rangers in 2006

| name = Randy Crouch

| background = solo_singer

| birth_name = Randall Byron Crouch

| alias =

| birth_place = Dallas, TX

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1952|4|1}}

| death_date =

| origin = Moodys, Oklahoma

| instrument = Fiddle, guitar, pedal steel

| genre = Bluegrass, Folk, Country, Red Dirt

| occupation =

| years_active = 1978 - Present

| label =

| associated_acts = Red Dirt Rangers, Flying Horse Band, Vince Herman Trio

| website = [http://www.RandyCrouch.com Randy Crouch website]

| current_members =

| past_members =

}}

Randy Crouch (born April 1, 1952) is an Oklahoma-based multi-instrumentalist. In eastern Oklahoma, Crouch is best known as a fiddle player.Glenn, Eddie.[http://www.tahlequahdailypress.com/archivesearch/local_story_177124350.html?start:int=15 Fiddlin' Folk]. Talequah Daily Press, June 25, 2007. Retrieved January 8, 2009. Although he has been referred to as "the world's best rock fiddler,"Wright, Leif M. [http://okweekend.com/index.cgi?week=07_20_07&cat=home&subCat=topStories&item=1 Greatness wears a big beard: World's best rock fiddle player also inspires.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929100415/http://okweekend.com/index.cgi?week=07_20_07&cat=home&subCat=topStories&item=1 |date=2007-09-29 }} OK Weekend.com. July 20, 2007. Retrieved January 8, 2009. Crouch also plays guitar and pedal steel guitar among other instruments.Tryggestad, Erik and Colberg, Chris. [http://www.newsok.com/article/2965595/?print=1 Weekend Look: In town and around]. The Oklahoman, November 3, 2006. Retrieved January 8, 2009.

Biography

Randy Crouch was born Randall Byron Crouch to mother Ruth Emma McMinn Crouch and father Hurbert Lee Crouch on April 1, 1952, in Dallas, Texas. At the time, his father was attending Southern Methodist Seminary School. He would later go on to be a Methodist preacher. Randy is the oldest of three children. Randy was followed by his sister, now Lisa Perry 18 months later, and by his youngest sibling, Dane Crouch, 18 months after that.

After his father’s graduation, the family moved away from Dallas in 1954 to his first posting in Garden City, Texas. As a preacher, Randy’s father moved the family somewhat frequently. They left Garden City in 1956 to Clyde, Texas in 1956 and to Heat, Texas in 1959. Randy began high school in Canadian, Texas where the family moved in 1962, but they then moved to Crosbyton, Texas where Randy finished out his high school studies.

His parents provided a diverse musical background including piano lessons and Crouch also started playing ukulele and guitar. His grandfather, who played fiddle, had a big influence on him.Blogspot.com. [http://randycrouch.blogspot.com/2007/09/texas-troubadors-interview-with-randy.html An Interview with Randy Crouch.] Formerly published on the now defunct Texas Troubadours website. September 5, 2007. Retrieved January 12, 2009.

Crouch learned to play fiddle from a Mel Bay mandolin instruction manual. Since the two instruments are tuned the same – a fiddle lacks the frets that make mandolin playing a little easier to do in key – it all transferred to the fiddle. During his freshman year of high school Crouch started playing in a band and has performed music ever since.

Three of Crouch's biggest musical influences were Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones. Crouch stated that he is still trying to learn guitar parts to Hendrix' music.

Crouch refers to his songs as "Oklahoma Protest music" and has a long history of protesting against onslaughts against the environment. He lives in an electricity-free geodesic dome that he built on a former landfill site. In 1973, after the Public Service Company of Oklahoma announced that twin black nuclear power plants (named Black Fox 1 and Black Fox 2) would be built, Crouch along with many other Oklahomans took legal action against PSO and a protest movement ensued. As a result of his involvement in the protest, Crouch was blackballed for a time by music promoters in and around Tulsa, although he performed at least 50 "stop Black Fox" events around Oklahoma.Critter, Chris B. [http://currentland.com/Portals/0/archives/The%20Current%20-%20December%202008.pdf The 'green' beginnings of red dirt.]{{dead link|date=April 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} The Current, December, 2008, p. 68-9. Retrieved January 9, 2009.

Crouch's music has been a foundation for Oklahoma's Red Dirt music, having been one of the earliest musicians of Red Dirt's epicenter - The Farm - located in Stillwater, Oklahoma.Critter, Chris B. [http://currentland.com/Portals/0/archives/The%20Current%20-%20October%202008.pdf The farm that grew the red dirt.]{{dead link|date=April 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} The Current, October, 2008, p. 14-5. Retrieved January 9, 2009. John Cooper, of the Red Dirt Rangers band, said that the camaraderie of the protests was central to the spirit that help form the Red Dirt movement.

Crouch also represents a variation of The Tulsa Sound and has also been a primary influence on aspiring Oklahoma musicians performing bluegrass, folk, country music, and jam bands. In addition to performing as a solo artist, Crouch is a regular member of the Red Dirt Rangers band{{interlanguage link|Thomas Conner (journalist)|lt=Conner, Thomas|de|Thomas Conner}}. [http://www.tulsaworld.com/entertainment/article.aspx?articleID=020715_En_d3main Guthrie folk festival "matures".] Tulsa World, July 15, 2002. Retrieved January 9, 2009. and is a member of the house band at the annual Woody Guthrie Folk Festival in Okemah, Oklahoma.Woody Guthrie Folk Festival website. [http://www.woodyguthrie.com/2007_Entertainers.htm Sneak Preview of 2007 Woody Guthrie Folk Festival Entertainers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071103212019/http://www.woodyguthrie.com/2007_Entertainers.htm |date=2007-11-03 }}. Retrieved January 8, 2009.

Crouch's live performances often include unusual techniques on a variety of instruments. "I once saw him play where he's over a steel guitar and a piano while he's playing fiddle," said Jim Blair, co-owner of Max's Garage and one of Crouch's musical compatriots. "In the middle of the song, he wants to tune up the fiddle, so he hits the A note on the piano with his fiddle bow and tunes the string and keeps on playing."

Crouch's songs "Big Shot Rich Man" and "Mexican Holiday" have been recorded by Jason Boland & the Stragglers. He played with Tulsa band South 40 when they recorded his song "Got Time to Party" for their 2006 release Home which also features guest spots by members of Asleep at the Wheel and George Strait's band. As a member of the Vince Herman Trio, Crouch performs with alumni of the jam bands Leftover Salmon and Ekoostik Hookah.

Crouch has been nominated for over twenty Oklahoma State Music Awards and in 2005 was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Awards Red Dirt Hall of Fame.Reverbnation.com. [http://www.reverbnation.com/randycrouch Randy Crouch.] Retrieved January 12, 2009.

Discography

class="wikitable"

!Year

!Title

!Record Label/Comments

2017

|Turn Off Tune Out Drop In

|Random Choice Music - Album

2014

|No Good Reason

|Random Choice Music - Album

2012

|Me and You

|Random Choice Music - Album

2010

|It's a Crime

|Random Choice Music - Album

2009

|Just a Few More Things

2008

|Straight From the Tap

|with Badwater

2006

|Friends

|with Wanda Watson

2006

|Home

|with South 40

2004

|Kindred Spirits

|Binky Records (with Bob Childers)

2004

|Natural Selection

2004

|Somewhere in the Middle

|Smith Music Group (with Jason Boland & the Stragglers)

2003

|What's Goin' On?

2002

|Travelin' On

2001

|Truckstop Diaries

|Sustain Records (with Jason Boland & the Stragglers)

1998

|Unplugged

|with the Lisa Sisters

1999

|Pearl Snaps

|Sustain Records (with Jason Boland & the Stragglers)

1998

|Canyon Rose

|with Lisa Perry

1998

|Angel Rose

|with Lisa Perry

1997

|It's Too Bad

|Random Choice (with Flying Horse)

1996

|The Flying Horse Opera

|Mars Records

1995

|Take Two

1992

|Fractal Rose

|with Lisa Perry

1990

|The Road to Good Intentions

|Random Choice Music

1983

|Colorslide

References

External links

[http://www.randycrouch.com Randy Crouch Official Website]
[http://www.catman1.com/crouch/ Catman's Crouch Page]
[https://archive.org/details/vht20060105_sbd-flac Randy Crouch performing with the Vince Herman Trio in Colorado]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20081121230845/http://www.renaissounds.com/vince_herman_trio/index.html Randy Crouch performing with Vince Herman in New Mexico]
{{YouTube|-U2897ZR0Fo|Randy Crouch performs Lonesome Fiddle Blues}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20071024023347/http://ourtracks.com/artistpage.php?id=262 Randy Crouch downloads at Ourtracks.com]
[http://www.newson6.com/story/14536815/decades-later-claremore-womans-fight-against-black-fox-plant-still-inspiring Randy Crouch Interviewed about Black Fox Nuclear Power Plant]

Category:1953 births

Category:Living people

Category:American alternative country singers

Category:Bluegrass musicians from Texas

Category:American male guitarists

Category:American country singer-songwriters

Category:Folk fiddlers

Category:Singers from Dallas

Category:New-age violinists

Category:Singer-songwriters from Oklahoma

Category:Progressive bluegrass musicians

Category:American bluegrass fiddlers