Nashville based singer-songwriter Stacey Randol’s timeless sound will appeal to those who treasure beautifully crafted and produced songs. Jason Barnard speaks to Stacey about her influences, musical highlights and new album ‘Songs in the Soil’.
Hi Stacey, can you tell me about your third album ‘Songs in the Soil’? What sound have you aimed for and are there any lyrical themes across the songs? The title track and its video echoes the late 60s/early 70s period.
I believe the first song we started recording for this album was “Bright as the Moon.” Over the course of time, it changed completely about 3-4 times. And it was one of the last songs we touched. That sort of sums up the recording process of this record. We took our time and tried to do what was best for each song, even if it took a few different times to get it sounding right. We also tossed out about four songs and I wrote a couple more that we felt were better fit for the record and better songs in general. I never set out to have any lyrical themes. But I do like to mix it up — whether it’s topic or the sound. I did feel strongly that the single, “Songs in the Soil” was supposed to be the title track. It quickly became my favorite as we started recording. I had a vision of what I wanted for a video and my friend, Kate Pulley helped me bring that to life.
Who did you work with on the LP and how did you get such a classic vintage sound?
We recorded ‘Songs in the Soil’ at our home studio in Nashville over the course of two years. My boyfriend and band mate, Michael McBurnett, produced and engineered the record. We both prefer music from the 60s & 70s before anything else and are very much inspired by those decades. So it’s just what came naturally.
Songs like ‘Expectations’ are beautifully crafted. What generally inspires you to write, do you start with a musical phrase or lyric?
Thank you! “Expectations” was the only song on the record that I rewrote completely. It had a completely different message at first and we both felt it lacked meaning. Looking back, it was the hardest song to get right lyrically from a writing stand point. It’s a simple song and I was trying to over complicate it. Most of the time when I write, the melody and chords come first and I just mumble along and sometimes the words stick, but sometimes they are not words at all. 🙂 However, there are some phrases that will come to mind randomly and I will try to take note and later go back and attempt to work it in to a song. For the single “Songs in the Soil,” I woke up with that first phrase in my head. Once I sat down to write that one, it came out very quickly.
You recorded a great version of ‘Harvest Moon’ by Neil Young. What artists, past and present do you admire – as a songwriter and performer?
There are so many, of course. 🙂 Hard to name just a few. Neil is definitely one of them and “Harvest Moon” is such a special song. I grew up loving Elvis first and still do. If I had to pick favorite songs they would be by The Beach Boys. Favorite albums — ‘Graceland’ – Paul Simon; ‘All Things Must Pass’ – George Harrison; ‘Rumours’ – Fleetwood Mac; ‘Nilsson Schmilsson’ – Harry Nilsson. And one of my favorite voices would have to be Roy Orbison.
When did you pick up your first instrument and when/why did you start songwriting?
Guitar was the first instrument I picked up. I was probably around 8 or 9. I took voice lessons and guitar lessons at the same studio. However, guitar didn’t stick for me back then because it hurt my little fingers and so I didn’t like it. (I should have been playing with nylon strings — I always recommend that now to beginners.) Then I ended up taking piano lessons, which I did for a few years. But like many kids, I was just learning from all of those boring books with lame children songs, so I didn’t enjoy that too much either. I’ve always loved singing though, so that’s what I kept with. It wasn’t until college when I decided to pick up the guitar again. And it wasn’t until I lived in Nashville for a summer that I tried to write my first song.
Where are you from and where do you live now? Does that impact your music?
I am originally from Decatur, IL. There, I attended Millikin University, which has a wonderful School of Music. Millikin made me realize that I knew I wanted to keep music in my life and it led me to move to Nashville. A professor told me I should look up Bug Music, a music publishing company, and try to get an internship there and so I did. At that time I didn’t know I wanted to write music. I thought I wanted to be involved with music business rather. But that summer, I was inspired by songwriters and bands around town. I knew I didn’t want to be on the business side, but on the creative side of a song. So moving to Nashville for that summer desk job internship turned out to be the reason I started writing my own music.
How long have you been recording and how has your sound evolved since you started?
I put out my first record in 2011. I moved to Nashville in 2009 and over the course of a year and a half, I wrote some of my first songs and found some band mates to record with. I feel that my sound, voice, and writing has definitely matured since then– as it should have, haha. I am definitely more critical now though. Which could be bad and could be good. I think that sometimes you have to just go with where the song is going, even if it ends up sucking. I’ve written a lot of bad songs. It can be therapeutic still.
I understand some of your material has featured in TV and films. I understand ‘The Investment’ has been one of your songs that became popular this way. Can you tell me more about this?
Yes, I feel very lucky that some of my songs have been chosen for TV/Film placements. “The Investment” was featured on a show called ‘Dance Moms.’ I never watched the show before, but it was really neat to see a beautiful dance choreographed along to my song. Since then, I have had other dancers around the world tag me in their own dances to my songs, which is really special to me.
‘Fragile Forest’ is an older song of yours that’s still admired by many people today. What songs that you’ve been involved with, prior to your current album, are you most proud of and why?
“Fragile Forest” is definitely one that I am proud of. The writing process of some songs are more memorable than others. And writing this song was very memorable. I wrote it during a time when I was in between jobs and every morning I would try to hike this nature preserve here in Nashville. Those morning walks were so peaceful and provided all the inspiration I needed. I think it’s probably the most poetic song I’ve written so far.
What are your future plans – what would you like to achieve in music?
I want to keep exploring new territory with songs that I write and record. My goal is to get more songs into TV/Film. And I would love to one day be involved with creating a soundtrack for a movie or show.
Thanks so much for your time Stacey. All the best for your future projects.
For further information please visit Stacey’s website.
