RANDY HOWARD

"THE BEST THERE'S EVER BEEN"

TO VIEW THE COUNTRY'S FULLEST EXHIBIT HONORING RANDY HOWARD, COME TO VISIT THE DUBLIN-LAURENS MUSEUM, LOCATED AT 702 BELLEVUE AVENUE, DUBLIN, GEORGIA, THE ETERNAL HOME OF RANDY HOWARD. 


   It is not just Randy Howard's friends who say that. Randy himself wouldn't say it all. It is not just his fellow musicians who played with him who say that he was the best. It is legendary country/bluegrass musicians like Chet Atkins, Vasser Clements and Allison Krauss who proclaim that Randy Howard is at least one of the best fiddlers ever. In fact, when Charlie Daniels sat down to write his mega hit song, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," he was inspired by the fantastic fiddling of the then 18-year-old fiddling whiz from Middle Georgia.



     Randy Dale Howard was born in Milledgville, Georgia on November 20, 1960 to Enoch Floyd Howard, Jr. and Augusta Faye Wilkins Howard. Floyd Howard's mom, Annie Pearl - a guitarist in her own right - taught Floyd how to play the guitar, the fiddle and other string instruments. Randy's mother, Augusta Faye Wilkins, was a daughter of Lazurus and Mamie Wilkins of the Antioch Church community near Dexter.

     Floyd Howard, a musical therapist at Central State Hospital in Milledgeville, taught his son the basic musical techniques and rudiments before he was ten years old. Faye Howard recalled that Randy got a set of drums when he was seven years old. "He about drove us nuts," said his mother, Augusta Faye Howard. When Randy asked for an electric guitar, his father retorted, "This kid will never be a musician."

     "My father started me off on a couple of tunes and said, ‘If you need any help, come ask, but I basically want you to learn on your own,'" Randy recalled.

     "Randy never came back for help," Mrs. Howard said. "He bought records and listened to them picking up things from the recordings," Faye Howard recalled. Randy immersed himself into the stringed instruments. While other kids were outside playing, Randy was in his room, picking out one classic tune after another.

     Howard's mother Faye pointed to a television show featuring fiddler Doug Kershaw playing a fiddle in a tree. She recalled Randy turning to her and saying, "If that man can do it, I can too." Trent Howard, of Laurens County, was eleven years old when he became friends with Randy. The two Howards, although not closely related, found a strong common bond: the love of the guitar, the fiddle and nearly ever other stringed instrument they could find.

     "Randy and his father Floyd asked Mr. Grizzard at Grizzard Pianos in East Dublin if there were any young bluegrass musicians in the area and gave them our number. We met at a Sunday picking in Chester hosted by Toby Fountain. I first heard Randy play the mandolin. It was unlike anything I had ever heard before. Even at twelve he had a prowess and understanding that you seldom hear at any age. My Daddy, Danny (my brother) and I thought it couldn't get any better than this, and then he picked up the fiddle," recalled Trent Howard of their first meeting.


   "Randy had an incredible gift but he had a tremendous work ethic. He was always playing and working on new things. All this with an incredible sense of humor and a big heart. He was very special. Our dads would take turns driving us to pick. Being around them was like being in an acoustic music academy. Randy, even early on, was jamming with the likes of Bill Monroe and Vasssar Clements. You couldn't help but get better or get left behind," Trent continued.

 
   "Randy is remembered for his fiddling but he was also a tremendous harmony singer. He said he did not have perfect pitch but he could sing harmony parts with little effort. He often sang baritone. He had a tremendous range and a falsetto he could seemingly go into. Aside from all of this, Randy was a best friend for life. He was always encouraging to those around him. I was one of many, but thankful, to have known him," Howard fondly recalled.

     When Randy was 18, his parents took him to Union Grove, N.C., for the 55th Old Time Fiddler's Convention. There, in front of as many as 150,000 bluegrass fans, the young fiddler defeated three former world champions. And in the last of the original conventions, became the youngest world fiddling champion in the history of fiddling.


 
   Randy Howard drew the respect and admiration of the greatest musical artists in Nashville. Chet Atkins, (LEFT) the legendary country music guitarist remarked, "I just heard the news that there is an effort to get Randy Howard into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. He's an excellent fiddle player and I highly recommend him for the honor and he's in a league of his own. He could well be the
best to ever perform on a fiddle."



     "Alison Krauss (left)  used to follow Howard around to just about every bluegrass festival at which he performed. Her parents would call to ask if Randy would be at certain events, he'd say ‘yes,' and they'd show up there," Faye Howard told the Milledgeville Union Recorder in a 2008 interview. In commenting on Randy's ability, Krauss, nominated for 41 Grammy awards and winner of 27, once said, "He's simply one of the best fiddle players that has ever lived."




    Vassar Clements (above) , the father of Hillbilly Jazz, proclaimed, "Randy's playing is incredible. I don't know anyone better."

     "He said music was his life, if it wasn't for music he didn't know what he would have done," Faye
Howard said.

     "I'd say there's about 500 fiddle players here in town and only three or four of us get to do it for a
living," Randy commented on his ability to survive in Nashville. Howard even named his first solo cd, "Survival of the Fiddlist." Of Randy's final and posthumous album, "I Rest My Case," Keith Lawrence of the Messenger-Inquirer commented, "Think of it as a bluegrass symphony, with a sprinkling of country and jazz."

     During the 1990s, Randy developed a close partnership with the band of Kathy Chiavola, a world renowned Bluegrass vocalist. It was in the 1990s when Randy became one of the top session fiddlers in Nashville, playing on as many as 500 recordings. Howard played with the likes of Garth Brooks, Vince Gill, Bill Monroe, Porter Wagner, Faith Hill, George Jones, Dolly Parton, Chet Atkins, Ricky Scaggs, Kenny Chesney, Emmy Lou Harris and Kathy Mattea. Howard was especially fond of his session with Garth Brooks on his "Sevens" album, which featured "Fit For a King" because of Garth's personal request to play with the legendary superstar. During the session, Howard began to play "The Fields Have Turned Brown," an old bluegrass song - a song of death and dying.

     "I was surprised when Garth came over and started singing it. I had no idea he even knew it. It is
this old, slow and very obscure bluegrass song. But he asked me to stick around, and we cut it. He said it was one of his dad's favorites," Randy remembered.

     In the mid 1990s, Randy learned that he had cancer, despite all of the treatments and the attempts
to cure the disease, Randy Howard kept right on playing the music of his life.

     His friends back home in Laurens County wanted to honor him one last time with a benefit concert at Theater Dublin on May 22, 1999. It would be his last concert. He thought it was great to finally get recognized where he grew up," Trent declared.

    During the show, a storm knocked out the lights. Howard didn't miss a lick and kept on fiddling for his six hundred adoring fans and faithful friends. They all knew he was dying. Still they sat there, patted their feet, clapped their hands, and listened in awesome wonder as if it was the first time they ever heard him play. Some lingered in dreadful sadness knowing that it would be the last time they would hear the ever so sweet sounds of his golden fiddle.

    "You could hear a pin drop in there with him playing in the emergency lights." Trent remembered about that magical night.

     "The Night of Celebration with Randy Howard was as much for them as it was for him." wrote Joe Kovac, Jr. of the Macon Telegraph.

     They buried Randy on a Friday morning on July 2, 1999 beside his daddy in the cemetery of Antioch Baptist Church. The list of his awards and titles fill the slab of his grave:






World Champion Fiddler, Union Grove, N.C., 1979; Grand Masters Fiddling Champion, 1984,
12 Times National Champion, Four Times Tennessee Old Time Fiddling Champion, World
Mandolin Champion, 1990; Many Guitar Championships, Blue Grass Musician Award, 1996,
1997, 1999; Fiddling John Carson Award, 1999; IMBA Fiddle Player of the Year, 1999; Atlanta
Country Music Hall of Fame, 1999.

     The long litany of awards and championships tells in part the true story of fiddler Randy Howard. The true measure of his life is simply found in his music and the fond memories of his all too short life. To many of those who were lucky enough to have played with him and listened to him play, he was, undoubtedly: "The Best There's Ever Been."




                                Randy Howard Monument Milledgeville


From Randy Howard Tribute, Dublin, Laurens Museum, April 25, 2015.



There is a Time to Wander 




Orange Blossom Special 




Sweet Georgia Brown 






Tim Crouch

Comments

Terry said…
Thanks so much.
Wade said…
Let that rosin fly! I knew his daddy when he was a music therapist at Central State Hospital in Milledgeville, Georgia. He and his family were very talented.
Wade said…
Let that rosin fly! I knew his daddy when he was a music therapist at Central State Hospital in Milledgeville, Georgia. He and his family were very talented.
Unknown said…
Knew Randy as teenagers! We met at Swampland Opry House in Toomsboro, GA. He went on the road with us while I was with Betty Fisher and did several shows. Great musician! Long overdue to be in Georgia Music Hall of Fame
Dr. Snedeker said…
Funny story...I am the cellist that played on "It's a Long Way to Ireland" found on his "Survival of the Fiddlest" CD. I was playing a week long stretch of gigs on the Nashville strip with a singer songwriter the week he was recording the CD. He walked into the bar (can't remember the name of it now) where I was playing and he heard me playing bluegrass cello. He was a little tipsy, and had just finished playing a gig (I believe it was wedding). He listened to a few tunes and then handed me his card and told me he wanted me to play on his CD the next day and to call him in the morning for directions. I didn't know if I should take him seriously. But, I did, I called, and arrived at the studio in the afternoon. When I walked in Bela Fleck and the rest were burning on John Hardy. I was terrified he was going to ask me to play on that tune. He laughed and said, don't worry, I want you to play on an Irish ballad. He was such an amazing musician, and I still cherish that experience and story.
Corr@do said…
Good evening, my name is Corrado and I am writing from Italy. Randy was a great friend of mine.
I met him in 1992, when Kathy Chiavola, met in Nashville a couple of months earlier, surprised me to arrive with him in Cremona, my city, famous for being the birthplace of Antonio Stradivari. Randy wanted to visit all the luthier shops in town and so we did. Since then, a strong friendship has bound us. Often, in their European tours, I hosted them at my home, when they arrived in Italy, and when I came to the USA, I am a mandolin player, we spent a lot of time together.
Fantastic musician but, above all, a great person. Humble as few, we spent hours playing, with Kathy, and, never as with him, I felt appreciated. He taught me all tricks to play better.
I knew about his illness and I will never forget the call in which Kathy gave me the bad news.
I am honored to have been invited by Kathy in 2000 to take the stage at IBMA in Louisville, to take part in the tribute in honor of Randy. I would really like, one day, to be able to go back to the USA and put a flower on his grave. Greetings to everyone from Italy.
Corrado.
Unknown said…
Thank you for your reply and sharing your wonderful memories and experiences. I hope you can return to the US some day to reach your goal.

Best wishes,

Greg
Corr@do said…
I will definitely do it. Because, on his CD he gave me thirty years ago, "Survival of the fiddlist", Randy wrote "... We will be friends forever.". And so it is.
I hope that day I'll have the opportunity to meet some of you in person.
I wish you all a peaceful 2023.
Corrado, Italy.