NEWS UPDATE
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DUESENBERG GUITARS FINDS NEW ENDORSER IN RANDY KOHRS
Initially meeting and hearing Randy Kohrs at the 2008 Winter NAMM in Anaheim, CA, the country’s largest music trade show, the folks of German-based Duesenberg Guitars, including founder Dieter Goelsdorf, were so impressed that they placed their unique and innovatively-designed “Pomona 6” Multibender lapsteel in his hands for good at the 2009 show this past January. Kohrs fell in love with the instrument immediately and is thrilled to represent a company renowned for such high quality and distinctive craftsmanship.
“It looks like a corvette and plays like one, too,” Randy comments, referring to the bright yellow color and contemporary look just as much as the tone that it produces. Their use of palm pedals that simulate foot pedals in a pedal steel are just one of several exclusive designs incorporated into the "Pomona 6" lapsteel. For more information, visit www.duesenbergusa.com
Check out the pictures of Randy and his Duesenberg Lapsteel in the pic section on the Myspace page!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COUNTRY WEEKLY FEATURES RANDY KOHRS
The issue of Country Weekly containing Kohrs’ article in the Listen Up! section hits stands on January 12th. A free download of the song “She Ain’t Comin’ Back,” from his latest CD, Old Photograph, will be offered for the two weeks that the popular magazine is available.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RANDY KOHRS TO BE PRESENTER ON INSPIRATIONAL COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS
On Thursday, October 16th, Randy Kohrs, along with country star Tracy Lawrence, will present the Inspirational Country Album of the Year on the ICM Awards. For more information on the awards, visit .
www.ccma.cc
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RANDY KOHRS TO KICK OFF MAIN STAGE AT CHICAGO COUNTRY MUSIC FESTIVAL
Monday, October 06, 2008
Rising acoustic country artist Randy Kohrs is the scheduled first act to perform on the main stage at the Chicago Country Music Festival at 1:00pm on Saturday, October 10, 2008. Taking place this year at Soldier Field, the event will last through Sunday, October 11, and is free to the public.
Following Kohrs will be Rissi Palmer and Luke Bryan, with Gretchen Wilson closing the first night. For more information on the Chicago Country Music Festival, visit http://egov.cityofchicago.org.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RANDY KOHRS’ GRAMMY-WINNING RECORDING STUDIO FEATURED IN EQ MAGAZINE
Friday, October 03, 2008
Slack Key Studios, of Nashville, TN, owned and operated by rising acoustic artist, Randy Kohrs, is the subject of a monthly article, “Room w/a VU,” in the October 2008 issue of popular recording industry publication, EQ Magazine. Becoming increasingly known for turning out high quality product, both Kohrs and his facility earned a giant boost in recognition and popularity following a 2008 Grammy win for Americana Icon Jim Lauderdale’s CD, The Bluegrass Diaries. Other notable projects crediting Slack Key include another hit songwriter, Larry Cordle’s latest, Took Down and Put Up, Kohrs’ own solo CD’s, such as the latest on Rural Rhythm Records, Old Photograph, and an upcoming release on Kohrs’ own label (Left of Center Records), titled Hornography. A tribute to the esteemed resophonic guitar luthier, Tim Scheerhorn, several of the most revered players of his instruments in several genres, including Kohrs, lend their talents.
In a city where recording studios rise and fall seemingly on a daily basis, Randy Kohrs acknowledges in the article that it has been a slow and steady build, focusing on quality, not quantity, throughout the process of building the home-based Slack Key Studio. In fact, it began as a way for him to record his own albums, as well as overdub on those of other artists’. Being an in-demand session musician and singer, it saved him time and travel, and as a solo recording artist, it definitely saved him money. A comprehensive inventory list, including musical instruments, is a large part of the piece.
To read the article and view pictures of Slack Key Studio, EQ Magazine may be found in most bookstores.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RANDY KOHRS MAKES OPRY DEBUT ON FRIDAY
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Progressive acoustic sensation and world-renowned resophonic guitarist, Randy Kohrs, performed on the Grand Ole Opry at 8:00pm on Friday, May 30th. Though he, as well as several members of his touring band, has shared the coveted stage as a sideman with many other acts, this was his first appearance fronting his own group.
For more information on the Grand Ole Opry, www.Opry.com.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JIM LAUDERDALE, RANDY KOHRS TEAM UP AGAIN FOR NEW CD
Monday, March 24, 2008
Americana icon/Nashville hit songwriter, Jim Lauderdale, and world-renowned resophonic guitarist/producer, Randy Kohrs, found a winning formula as they walked away with the Bluegrass Album of the Year at this year’s Grammy® Awards for Lauderdale’s highly-acclaimed Yep Roc Records release, The Bluegrass Diaries. Wasting no time, they are already back in Kohrs’ Slack Key Studio working on the next one.
“We were both thrilled with the way The Bluegrass Diaries came out sonically, and my studio has been upgraded even more since then. Thanks to companies such as Stage Ninja, Great River Electronics, Violet Microphones, new Lauten Audio microphones, and Forssell Electronics, along with the top-of-the-line equipment I already had, we’re confident this next project will sound even better. Jim’s songs and vocals, combined with the talents of the other musicians, insure that the CD will be great no matter what, but recording them in a way that will do them justice is always the biggest goal,” Kohrs explains.
Kohrs has been Lauderdale’s primary go-to guy in the bluegrass realm of his career for the past several years, acting as band-leader, and playing and singing harmony. On Bluegrass, Lauderdale’s previous Grammy-nominated recording of the genre, the production credits were shared. However, Diaries was recorded solely in Kohrs’ own Slack Key Studio, where he did all the producing, mixing, and most of the engineering.
Currently, Jim Lauderdale is on a whirlwind tour promoting his newest CD, Honey Songs, in which he enlisted several big-name musicians whose resumes read like a who’s who of the past 40 years of ground-breaking musical history. Randy Kohrs tours with his own progressive acoustic band, runs his Grammy-winning recording facility, and continues to be one of Nashville’s in-demand session musicians.
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RANDY KOHRS TO APPEAR ON THE RACHAEL RAY SHOW
Grammy-Winning Musician Shows Off Band and Kitchen on Friday and Offers Free Song Download
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
February has been an eventful month for Randy Kohrs, a pioneering progressive acoustic artist and prominent Nashville resophonic guitarist. Beginning with his first place win in the International Acoustic Music Association’s country category, followed by a Grammy for producing, engineering, mixing, playing, and singing on Americana icon Jim Lauderdale’s The Bluegrass Diaries, his next move is to appear on The Rachael Ray Show on Friday, Feb. 22nd.
As part of their Coolest Kitchens in America series, frequent on-air RR correspondent and host of HGTV’s Design on a Dime Kristen Cunningham visited Kohrs’ Nashville home and recording studio to check out his diner-style kitchen. While there to check out the various innovative aspects of the room, including his award-winning, custom-built booth designed after the seats of his own ’64 Chevy Impala, Kristen was also treated to a mini concert. His band was on hand to perform the next single, “She Ain’t Comin’ Back,” from his Rural Rhythm Records CD, Old Photograph. Following the show’s airing, this song will be made available free for downloading for a limited time on Randy’s Myspace page. The musical Renaissance man himself will appear live on the show in New York City with Rachael Ray to answer another question or two.
Visit www.RachaelRayShow.com for more information and to view more footage of the celebrated kitchen, found on the show’s introductory advertisement for the series, filmed by Bell-Jarboe Films, who also filmed Randy Kohrs’ 1 CMTPure music video, “Who’s Goin’ With Me.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RANDY KOHRS PRODUCES GRAMMY-WINNING CD
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Randy Kohrs has solidified his status as the ultimate renaissance man in the music industry by winning a Grammy for singer/songwriter icon Jim Lauderdale's The Bluegrass Diaries, on which Kohrs sang harmony and played resonator guitar in addition to producing, engineering, and mixing the whole CD in his own Slack Key Studio in Nashville, TN. Congratulations to all involved in the project!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Friday, November 02, 2007
RANDY KOHRS VIDEO NUMBER ONE ON CMT PURE!!!!!!!!!!!
Randy Kohrs, the acoustic artist who took the CMT Pure 12-Pack Countdown by storm last week by debuting at number three, has just climbed it to number one this week, and doesn’t look to slow down any time soon, as it is also on the ballot for next week’s countdown.
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NEW SONG ADDED TO PAGE FEATURES A.I. STAR MELINDA DOOLITTLE
"Can You Give Me A Drink" from Randy Kohrs' latest CD, Old Photograph, is a stripped-down, hand-clappin, ' straight-up gospel song featuring Aaron Till on finger-style guitar, Kohrs on resonator guitar and lead and harmony vocals, Scat Springs on bass and baritone vocals (and that killer 'Little Richard' vocal move in the breakdown section), and Nashville's own American Idol star, Melinda Doolittle, on the wailin' high tenor. Give it a listen and let us know what you think. Don't forget, you can purchase Old Photograph on www.randykohrs.com
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RANDY KOHRS WINS INTERNATIONAL FURNITURE DESIGN AWARD!
Little known to many who have never entered his own Nashville recording domain, Slack-Key Studio, Randy’s talents extend beyond the musical realm. Randy Kohrs can now add award-winning furniture designer to his list of accolades! Upholstery Journal recently announced the winners of their 2007 Design & Craftsmanship Awards, to which Kohrs and co-designer, Raul Rodriguez, were the recipients of the top Platinum award for their the design of a set of ‘64 Chevy Impala booth seats which sit in the ‘50’s diner-style kitchen in his studio! Possessing a degree in Automotive Collision Repair and Restoration, along with all the pieces of the actual car that served as the inspiration, one might not be too surprised to find him winning a "Best In Show" award for an automotive magazine in the future!
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RANDY KOHRS' SLACK-KEY RECORDING STUDIO FEATURED IN JULY 2007 ISSUE OF MIX MAGAZINE!!!!
The rising popularity of Randy Kohrs' Slack-Key Studio has led to a feature article in Mix Magazine! "Distributed in 94 countries, Mix is the world's leading magazine for the professional recording and sound production technology industry." A picture of Randy with Jim Lauderdale working on Lauderdale's upcoming CD is included.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE
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WATCH RANDY PLAYING IN "Duke Boys Swingin'" a Duke-ified music video for the upcoming single by Cowboy Troy & John Anderson on Youtube.com. Featured in the movie Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning, available on ABC Family Channel and DVD March 20th!
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BIOGRAPHY
With the release of Old Photograph, his first album for Rural Rhythm Records, multi-instrumentalist Randy Kohrs has also arrived as a first-rate vocalist, songwriter and producer.
Kohrs has long been celebrated for his inventive, mood-setting work as a dobroist (that’s him providing the dramatic framework on Dierks Bentley’s No. 1 hit, “What Was I Thinking.”) But his flashes of instrumental wizardry have often diverted attention from his wider musicianship.
As a vocalist, Kohrs possesses a smooth, intense tenor that mines lyrics for the last ounce of emotion. His songwriting, while broadly classifiable as bluegrass, has the narrative drive of country and the mythic overtones of folk. He co-wrote nine of the 12 songs on Old Photograph. Moreover, he produced the ambitious project, enlisting such admiring peer musicians as Rhonda and Darrin Vincent, Scott Vestal, Don Rigsby, Jim Hurst and two-time Grammy winner Carl Jackson.
Growing up on a farm in the rural town of New Virginia, Iowa, Kohrs was raised like every other kid in the area, getting up early to feed the animals before school and performing various other chores until the sun went down. At the age of eight, however, it became clear that he was not destined to spend his life on a farm when his Uncle Jack brought over an acoustic guitar, showed him a few techniques and promptly enchanted the eager youngster.
Having been taught always to pay his own way, Kohrs bought the guitar from his uncle for about $100. Around the age of 10, he became more fascinated with his Uncle Jack’s main instrument, the resophonic guitar, or dobro, and resolved to learn to play that, too. So, in his typically industrious style, he raised and sold a feeder calf within the year to purchase his first dobro.
In two practice-packed years, Kohrs became accomplished enough to begin playing full-time with the Missouri-based band, Possum Trot. He remained with them for 10 years. At 15, he began playing country music with a local band, as well, a band he later fronted in and around Des Moines. During this time, he had been developing his uniquely soulful and powerful tenor voice, along with his repertoire of other instruments, including electric guitar, mandolin, banjo, pedal steel, and bass.
Kohrs’ popularity continued to grow throughout the Midwest, and soon he realized that the next logical move was to Nashville. In 1994—shortly after the passing of his father—the grieving, yet hopeful, young artist loaded up a moving truck and headed to Music City.
In three short weeks, Kohrs found himself playing an incredibly grueling schedule at a club on Nashville’s fabled Lower Broadway called Maggie Magee’s (now the Nashville Crossroads). To supplement the minuscule income that gig yielded, he did auto detailing and light collision work from his home.
In 1995, during one of his nightly solo gigs, Kohrs so impressed Hank Williams III that he hired him on the spot for his own band. On his nights off, Kohrs continued to dazzle the folks on Lower Broad. When the legendary Tom T. Hall decided he needed a multi-instrumentalist for the band he was forming, he dispatched his personal assistant to check out this newcomer who was creating such a buzz. A week later, Kohrs was off on his first major tour with “The Storyteller,” a circuit that took him to Australia for a month.
In the spring of 1997, Hall retired from the road and Kohrs found himself back on Lower Broad. That summer, bluegrass stalwart David Parmley went to hear Kohrs play, and at 7 o’clock the next morning, he was on a bus headed to Canada as a member of Continental Divide. For the next two years, he sang tenor and occasional lead and played dobro with the band. He recorded on the album Feel Good Day, which made it to the Top 5 on the bluegrass charts and the Top 20 on the Americana charts.
Subsequently, Kohrs toured with Holly Dunn for two years and performed regularly with her on her Grand Ole Opry appearances. In late 2000, John Cowan offered Kohrs a gig playing dobro and singing tenor, a task few people in this world have the voice to do. Yet, he performed exquisitely and can be heard on Cowan’s Always Take Me Back.
While grateful to be working with so many great acts, it had always been Kohrs’ dream to have a solo career. In 2001, he released his debut solo album, A Crack In My Armour, on Junction Records. Containing several original songs, it earned him new respect among the Nashville songwriting community and acclaim within the larger music industry. He followed it with a traditional country album, Now It’s Empty, on his own label, Left Of Center Records.
In 2003, Kohrs accepted a gig with the unsinkable Dolly Parton, singing and playing dobro in her band, the Blueniques for the next two years. In addition to playing on three of Parton’s CDs, he also performed as her opening act. In 2004, Parton recorded a duet with him, “It Looked Good On Paper,” for his third album, I’m Torn, on Lonesome Day Records. It spent eight months on the bluegrass charts, rising into the Top 5.
To date, Kohrs has played on more than 500 albums, ranging from those by such legends as Hank Thompson and Jerry Reed to current and recent chart-toppers Trick Pony, Dierks Bentley and The Wreckers. In the bluegrass domain, he has recorded projects for Larry Sparks, Rhonda Vincent, Mark Newton, Bradley Walker, Lou Reid, and 3 Fox Drive, among others.
It’s a lot of credits in a short time. But you can bet Randy Kohrs is just getting started.
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