Randy Weeks is the number one most underrated songwriter in this country. He 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 slightly nasal tenor of Randy Weeks may remind listeners of Willie Nelson or Michael Stipe, but the music is all Weeks. Sugarfinger starts strong with a James Bond-style guitar line and dreamy layered synth on "Looking for a Good Time." The party continues with the country-rock sounds of Weeks' public-radio hit "Transistor Radio." "There's a stretch of stars shining down on you/gonna light the way to something new," Weeks promises over drums and organ. He slows to a mellower pace on "Goin' to Heaven" but then kicks things back up on the bluesy rock of "I'll Take My Candy." 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

It's really strange how things can start in one direction and veer off into quite another. Take Randy Weeks. He was once a member of the Lonesome Strangers, a cornerstone L.A. country-rock crew that had all the right signs. Once they fell apart,though, Randy Weeks quickly emerged as one of the city's most talented singer-songwriters on his own. The scene at Culver City's Cinema Bar quietly grew up around him, and Weeks' solo albums keep getting better and better. "Sugarfinger,"his third, has the mark of someone who has really found himself. He's gotthe perfect band behind him, including Tony Gilkyson on guitar and Mike Stinson on drums, but even more perfect are the ten songs on the album. Weeks has transcended his influences now, so he sounds like no one but himself - the imaginative coverof Etta James' "I'd Rather Go Blind, "a searing ballad recast as a breezy rocker, shows the singer has the confidence to do whatever he wants. Randy Weeks might not be grabbing headlines or heading up "Hot" lists, but anyone who can write a song as gorgeous as "Sometimes I Don't Even..." is going to be around a long, long time. For those who listen with their hearts, he will always have a place on their playlists.
Short Cuts by Bill Bentley

Randy Weeks 'Sugarfinger' (self-released)

Not so long ago, talented artists would sign a recording contract and have their career cultivated over a series of albums one building block at atime.

Randy Weeks would have been a prime beneficiary in that now-outdated model.A onetime member of plucky L.A. country band the Lonesome Strangers, Weeks writes intelligent, rootsy pop songs of the highest order.

Because he has no label deal, he gets his music out to people by releasingit himself.

Thankfully, modern business conditions haven't hampered his melodic gifts. 'Sugarfinger' is one of those timeless pop treasures crammed to the gills with songs that lodge themselves in your brain. That's especially true of 'Transistor Radio', a summery confection that's bound to become a mix-tape favorite.

But this isn't a cheery collection. It's instead a dark set that focuses onthe mental anguish that can accompany a broken relationship. Merging the lonesome vibe of Chris Isaak's 'Forever Blue' with the neurotic tendencies of Aimee Mann's best work, Weeks utilizes his reedy voice to explore the mental escapades of a jilted lover. It's a melancholy journey that ranges from bitter ('Looking for a Good Time') to morbid ('Goin' to Heaven') to downright loony ('If You Don't Take the Medicine').

Guitarist Tony Gilkyson and drummer Mike Stinson lend sympathetic backing,while Hammond organ and electric piano add a cinematic flair to the tormented nature of the songs.

In a better world, 'Sugarfinger' wouldn't just be vying for a spot in the year end top tens of music journalists. It would be all over the radio.
Jim McGuinness - Kingston News

Randy Weeks is L.A.'s secret musical weapon,
and the Cinema Bar is his personal missile silo."
Chris Morris - City Beat

Randy Weeks is a master of the dark mood and the edgy relationship. Filled with foreboding tones and suicidally wistful sentiments on lovers here and gone, Sugarfinger, Weeks's third solo album since his days as a Lonesome Stranger, is easily his most fully realized statement yet.
William Smith-Houston press

"Weeks is one of those walk-softly-and-carry-a-big-stick artists"
William Smith-Houston Press

"Can't Let Go" - Everyone knows what a great songwriter Lucinda Williams is so I thought I would include her Randy Weeks song. This has got to be one of the most seductive anthems of co-dependence ever"
Michael Penn Itunes top ten picks

This modest and amazing musician's bi-weekly shows at the Cinema Bar in Culver City have become my personal jukebox.
From: Billboard Magazine
By: Chris Morris
January 2004 William Smith"-Houston Press

"...A solidly produced and heartfelt disc....This is a straight-up document of a man looking for answers, and confronting them no matter how harsh the reality....straddling the space between roots and pop."
No Depression (5-6/00, p.119) -

"Randy Weeks is cooler than a fucking Eskimo beer box." WM Smith top ten list Houston
#1. Randy Weeks
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