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On the fringes of country music are some truly enjoyable artists. One of these artists is Randy Weeks. Probably best known to many country music fans as the writer of the oft-recorded rocker “Can’t Let Go,” Weeks has been writing and recording interesting music for many years now and released “Going My Way” on his own Certifiable Records label. After many years in his native California, Weeks moved to Austin, TX and immersed himself in the diverse music culture there and wrote the tunes that make up this record. With a jovial Elvis Costello-like sound, “I Couldn’t Make It” opens up the record on a high note while the follow-up track “Fine Way To Treat Me” is one of Weeks’ chestnuts from his days as a member of The 90s country rock band The Lonesome Strangers. Here the song continues the jovial, fun affair that recalls the sunny hits of pop music’s past.
And that’s what is at the heart of “Going My Way,” the record is a pure pop album with roots music influences spread throughout the disc. The title track is a good example of this as Weeks’ poetic lyrics are backed by the kind of music that used to be a radio staple. The most ‘country’ song on the album as an all-out traditional country song “The One Who Wore My Ring,” a song that showcases Weeks’ wry humor and it also is a fine example of his Willie Nelson-like vocals. Both “I Think You Think” and “Black Coffee and Lifesavers” show off Weeks’ love of words. It’s not often that an artist is able to meld truly interesting lyrics with ear catching melodies. With producer Will Sexton, Randy Weeks has crafted one of the best albums I’ve heard in the past couple of years. It’s a record that I can’t help but play over and over again.
- Matt Bjorke, Roughstock.com
Randy Weeks has described his music as “late ‘60s AM to early ‘70s FM,” but on his new disc Going My Way, I hear a bit of early ‘70s AM in there as well. Which may be parsing eras just a little too precisely, perhaps...but to me, the hits that dominated the radio circa 1972-75 marked a nirvana of sorts for songsmiths who excelled with melody and harmony above all other elements. And when it comes down to it, that’s what makes Weeks’ music so appealing.
This was clear on his earlier albums as well – from 2002’s Madeline to 2004’s Sold Out At The Cinema to 2006’s Sugarfinger, along with his 1990s efforts as a member of Southern California country-rockers the Lonesome Strangers. (The new album’s “Fine Way To Treat Me”, as a matter of fact, was first recorded in 1997 for that band’s Land Of Opportunity disc.) But while Weeks has long been associated with the roots-music scene – previously in Los Angeles, and now in his newly adopted home base of Austin – it’s really more of a pure-pop sensibility that sets him apart.
Thus we have the almost Cowsills-ish sing-songy delight “That’s What I’d Do” (which manages to make even a seemingly clumsy couplet like “I’d write a letter to my congressman too/That’s what I’d do to be with you” sound charming), alongside the more urgent but similarly catchy “A Lot To Talk About”, followed by the more sublimely mystic and moody “Summer Of Love”. If it’s not quite “One Toke Over The Line” into “Brandy, You’re A Fine Girl” into “Holdin’ On To Yesterday”, it’s close.
Producer Will Sexton helps bring out the beauty of Weeks’ songs, keeping his voice front-and-center and frequently framed by richly complementary harmonies. While major-key pop confections abound, it’s ultimately the minor-key darker turns that leave a more lasting impact here. In addition to “Summer Of Love”, those include the dreamlike “Black Coffee And Lifesavers” (super title, by the way), spiked midway through with dramatic guitar and organ solos; and the concluding “Get Me To The Shelter”, in which subtly waves of regret ("And I’m listening to your goodbyes") crash into the catharsis of the chorus: “Wash these tears away.”
- Peter Blackstock, No Depression
Randy Weeks: Artist to Watch in 2009
Weeks puts together a batch of consistently evocative, witty lyrics that he sings in a distinctively wry Lou Reed-meets-Willie Nelson voice. His country roots are strong enough that he’s cranked out the instant honky-tonk classic “The One Who Wore My Ring,” yet, like Peter Case, he also obviously knows his Lennon-McCartney songbook well enough to come up with the pure-pop bounce of “That’s What I’d Do.”
His recent move from L.A. to Austin led to “Going My Way” being produced by Texas Americana ace Will Sexton, and probably at least partially explains the juicy New Orleans funk they’ve brought to “I Think You Think.” That song and “I Couldn’t Make It” showcase Weeks’ love for language and his engaging wordplay.
- Randy Lewis, Los Angeles Times
Randy Weeks should be playing on everyone’s radio. As a matter of fact, the Austin resident is such a fine vocalist and songwriter he should be singing directly to us. Opening for Jackson Brown at Red Rocks. Watching teenagers humming his songs and music scholars analyzing his breezy lyrics. Weeks splits the difference between unshakable pop and groovy roots-rock like few others.
- Brian T. Atkinson, Austin-American Statesman
Going My Way ("Texas Platters,” Jan. 23) boasts songs so good, new Austinite Randy Weeks hardly needs to play his trump card these days. To put a fine point on it, he wrote the only cover song on Lucinda Williams’ tour de force, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, “Can’t Let Go.”
“I love Randy,” enthuses Williams. “I’m a huge fan of his. I’m so glad he’s finally getting his just due. I’ve championed his music for years and years. We knew each other from his Lonesome Strangers days. I opened for those guys when I first moved to California. My boyfriend then, Lorne Rall, played in the band with Randy, so we go way back. He used to send me tapes with songs on them, and that’s where I got ‘Can’t Let Go.’”
Weeks recalls the exchange a bit different but with characteristic humor.
“I was playing it at [L.A.’s] Palomino one night, and she came up to me and said: ‘I like that song. What is it?’ About three years later, after ‘Passionate Kisses,’ she asked if I could send her a tape of it.
“Three years after that, it came out. It was the classic example of a platinum calling card. My confidence grew from that. So, I’m a songwriter now. Funny. Go figure.”
The Minnesota native turned Texan in 2006, by way of a long stint in California; recently had the Los Angeles Times name him one of the artists to watch in 2009; and with his first locally cut CD now in stores, is unabashed about his attraction to Austin.
“It’s the live music,” he states. “Ever since I was a little kid, I was addicted to bands. If I heard a band around the corner, I’d have to at least go see what color the drum kit was. And Austin is so accessible! You can go out, hear music, and see people. It has a small-town element – go to the grocery, run into a couple of guitarists.”
Weeks didn’t run into him in a grocery store, but meeting Going My Way producer Will Sexton focused Weeks’ Texas twang and California cool into loping Americana on the new album.
“I met Will and thought, ‘Yeah, hmmm ... I could make a record here!’
“Between some old guys, some new guys, and people I didn’t even know, we put it together. It was pretty refreshing, a spontaneous way to go. It was like, work this stuff up, go into the studio, and play it! I didn’t labor over it.”
- Margaret Moser, Austin Chronicle
The Los Angeles Times just picked Randy Weeks as one of the artists to watch in 2009, and Going My Way should guarantee all eyes and ears tuned in his direction now that he’s settled in Austin. A former member of the Lonesome Strangers, Weeks first gained attention when Lucinda Williams recorded his song “Can’t Let Go” on her breakthrough, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. More than a decade later, he’s still producing snappy compositions that crackle and pop with life ("Summer of Love,” “I Think You Think"). The Will Sexton-producedGoing My Way travels the Americana road with well-worn style and soft leather panache ("Black Coffee and Lifesavers,” “That’s What I’d Do"), Weeks’ distinctive voice sometimes reminiscent of a young Willie Nelson. Since he’s made an auspicious local debut, here’s a reckless wager that Randy Weeks and Texas will be a match made in Lone Star heaven.
- Margaret Moser, Austin Chronicle
Randy Weeks...writes amazingly well crafted, beautifully melodic songs and delivers them with his own brand of laid back vocals and surfboard cool, very hip approach.
Lucinda Williams
...the truth is (Weeks is) quickly stepping out of the shadow of some of his more familiar contemporaries and catching the ears (and typing fingers) of critics and blog-nuts across the world. Sugarfinger is a soul-satisfying, craftily-produced collection of backporch ruminations, love-sick balladry and barroom shufflin’...Musically, most of the material here is a gentle blend of countrified pickin’, pluckin’ an’ slappin’, while lyrically Weeks is, hands down, a genuine master....Most of these songs sound (or at least feel) like they could come comfortably crackling right out of a ‘60s-era AM radio, but the lyrics to the tracks hit home with such exhausted force that you immediately know they could’ve been written last month, or last week, or last night....
A warm, inviting collection of polished little musical gems that’s just as fulla honey as its title implies and just waiting for the right ears (and hearts) to take in, appreciate and identify with. Hell, if Lucinda Williams herself calls him America’s best songwriter, he might just be worth a listen, eh? But don’t take our word for it—go to randyweeks.com and hear it for yourself.
Pulse of the Twin Cities, Album Review, 12/2006
Like everything Randy Weeks turns his musical attention to, his live performance is an entity of substance. Weeks throws forth an offering of contemplative songs that wrench at the heart and service the soul. They make you want to cry and dance both at the same time.
Brett Leigh Dicks, Santa Barbara Independent, 2007
Randy Weeks is a songwriter’s songwriter. That is, the kind of knockout songsmith other songwriter’s admire and turn to for material. Weeks’ “Can’t Let Go” became a spare, edgy rocker in the hands of Lucinda Williams, appearing on Williams’ 1998 Grammy-winning disc Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.... With his solo debut in 2000, Weeks was one of the early artists unafraid to ignore the boundaries between rock, roadhouse country, blues and soul. He quickly became a favorite on the Americana/alt. country scene and among discerning music lovers.
B.J Huchtemann, Omaha Reader, 6/08
Overall, Weeks has fashioned a stellar album. The music is light and fun without being overly fluffy, and Weeks’ voice goes easy on the ears. Let Sugarfinger sweeten up your mid-winter days—we’re willing to bet you’ll be satisfied.
Editor’s Do-It-Yourself Picks
Performing Songwriter
Weeks is back with another memorable album...Listening to this reminds me of the first time I ever heard the Jayhawks. The ebb and flow of the songs is relaxed and you’ll find yourself humming along with the first listen. This is first rate material that we don’t hear nearly enough of these days...This is the no risk disc of the month, everyone will like this one.
Village Records, Album Review, Sugarfinger, 4/07
There’s not a bad song on this disc and it grabs you the first time you spin it. Fans of Peter Case will fall in love with his style and approach to the melodies on this one...A near perfect album.
Village Records, Album Review, Sold Out at the Cinema, 3/04
Sugarfinger is one of those timeless pop treasures — crammed to the gills with songs that lodge themselves in your brain.
Kingsport Times News, Album Review 9/06
This modest and amazing musician’s bi-weekly shows at the Cinema Bar in Culver City have become my personal jukebox.
Chris Morris, Billboard Magazine, 2003
