Rand Reynolds: Buy Cd's

Without a doubt -- hands down -- this is Rand Reynolds' best work to date. The 24-track, double cd Vessel is even more powerful, more perceptive than any of his past cd's. After waiting for more than a year now, Reynolds' haunting and forlorn Hillbilly Noir genre has become stylized, individualistic and intimate, while fine tuning this signature stark sound: dark, threatening and dangerous. And Reynolds firmly pulls the trigger on this new cd. His emotional vulnerability and "bare it all" penetrating attitude are elevated to a new sensuality and savvy where the blurred lines between love and lust, birth and death, sane and insane are explored, deconstructed, reassembled, and proving that, sometimes, what’s broke can't always be fixed – or even should be. Lyrically, Reynolds’ characters struggle inwardly to co-exist in the gray moral shadows of their footsteps echoing in a vacant alley on a dark, rainy night while moving headstrong into life’s underbelly. Musically, Reynolds sticks with his acoustic guitar to spin catchy melodic phrasing as a rhythmic rustic backdrop for his Edgar Allen Poe-like lyrics. As Reynolds ventures into the dark exterior, he has the ability to find a kernel of undeniable truth, some spark of humanity in even the most dire of circumstances that attempt to explain the complex and confusing nature of the inner man – no matter how bizarre or brutal this might be. Reynolds, once again, has embraced his journey of self-discovery that is bold and rare among songwriters today.

Rand Reynolds’ BEAT stays true to his own vision by advancing , reinventing and deepening his own artistry by temporarily adopting styles that others have built careers on. And this CD could prove to be his bravest of all. At least as far as the arrangements are concerned. Reynolds is outside his comfort zone here, but he easily adapts. Reynolds is, after all, in most underground country circles, just another man with an acoustic guitar at open mike night. The songs still reek of desperation, danger and disappointment. In his world, hope and desperation go hand in hand, but he knows full well that his dreams of easy deliverance are empty, two sided and vague. Overall, BEAT is another collection of unfulfilled dreams with little chance of grace or salvation. It is as deep and unsettling as any of his past recordings once you get past the rock mix format. Every line of verse still cannot hide the fact that there’s no peace to be found in his darkness. He continues to ask a lot of questions and encourages the listener to search for the answers he himself is still hungering for. BEAT is as deep and unsettling as any of his acoustic efforts to date, and an important addition to his Hillbilly Noir journey. 

Acoustic/electric country roots inspired by music played at open mike nights, small clubs and various venues throughout the Midwest.  

Rand Reynolds' music comes from a different place than most alt country songwriters. He has rapidly captured the attention of music lovers outside the broad umbrella that is known as country music today. With his 2009 cd, he continues to shock, offend, charm, twist and amaze us with his twisted blend of Hillbilly Noir music. In this "Lonesome and Midnight" cd, his angst-ridden convictions fueled by lyrical hostilities and melodic guitar arrangements reek of an original unsophisticated nature that only works to his advantage. There's no denying Reynolds' music is gripping, with a full-steam ahead sense of urgency purposely designed this time around to attract greater listeners more familiar with an old school country rock beat. No, it won't be burning up the radio charts, but it shouldn't have to -- It's not an album for the casual pop country audience. Unfortunately, for us, he always seems to run out of disc space before he runs out of ideas.

Rarely does an Americana artist dig so deeply and stare so anxiously into his own personal abyss that the listener almost hopes that the artist never finds rest and continues to search for what makes us all do what we do. An extremely somber, sobering portrait of life in the shadows ... but beneath its rustic melancholic tones and graphic language, there still lies hope. 20 tracks/Runtime ~101 minutes.

Indiana's uncompromising singer/songwriter Rand Reynolds has hurled his Hillbilly Noir format furiously forward with yet another cd that is successfully ambitious in its scope, and may well be an aesthetic watermark for this new and, obviously, driven artist. Patient Master, with its underlying menace and desolate overtones, is frightening, revelatory, and is clearly carved from Reynolds' own clear visions and startling observations.

11.09.07 CDBABY review/ author: William E Handy Jr: Rand Reynolds seems intent on keeping his side of the street clean and clearing away the wreckage of his past. This is a man who is not afraid to admit what he did wrong, and then make public gut-wrenching amends through his music. You will hear brutal honesty similar to Johnny Cash’s pleadings near the end of his life. Every song that Rand Reynolds records seems to be an invitation to witness a past disaster or share in a future hope in Rand’s life. Sometimes I feel like he’s making a deep confession and it’s me listening behind the screen. Other times I feel he is asking me to watch his back and bolster his courage. His guitar playing is unrestrained with emotional timing shifts, changes in intensity and muscular bending of notes. His playing is in honest partnership with his vocal skills… You will experience firsthand the raw emotion that Rand Reynolds is so bravely putting down. Rand has already produced an impressive body of work. After becoming familiar with all of it, I am amazed at the consistent brutal honesty and high emotional content.

This particular collection of Reynolds' new Hillbilly Noir is primarily minimalist songs trimmed down to the bone with tight well-timed boomer acoustic guitar rhythms. Reynolds' material accents an underlying darkness with a stark twang.  AmericanX is groundbreaking in both style and character.  

With his 4th cd of Modern Hillbilly music, Rand Reynolds continues his journey to connect the heart to the head. This guitarist’s lightning maturity and sophistication as a songwriter strengthens with Scorched Earth as his baritone delivery introduces new emotional elements that are convincing and contagious. His signature sound is patently potent -- acoustic guitars rumble about in ominously barren musical arrangements that, on the surface, are simplistic in origin, but with an underlying level of complexity masked by the songs’ straightforward melodies. Reynolds’ style is not a manufactured sound, to be sure; his harsh sparse tone is readily recognizable and as close to the listener as this man’s own DNA. He records as if he’s playing to a crowd of one in a perpetual wringing out of a dusty tired heart. At times, this material is unsettling, even horrific perhaps, but ultimately uplifting and cleansing despite a dirge-like morose undercurrent. This is a formidable weighty collection of 18 songs, a portfolio almost, of edgy well-conceived works. Reynolds' lyrics are meditative -- not in a fashionable New Age sense -- but rather, short stories about how human beings assemble their own personality puzzles. For listeners, it's a voyeuristic spiritual romance from a provoking artist who's just begun to share the songs he thought he could never sing. Scorched Earth is not country, exactly, not folk, not rock, but all these things, and promises to be a prelude to Reynolds' own defining moment in Americana music.

Indiana guitarist/songwriter Rand Reynolds' continues familiar themes in his new cd, "Midwestern Hayride" -- bad love, unfaithfulness, death, murder, technology gone awry -- but these new tunes shake the speakers with a clever skillful mix of acoustic music, 1960's rockabilly and modern country pop/rock. Raw, powerful, and yes, crude, at times, but above all, extremely effective. 

Deliciously dark, inventive, hardcore country roots underground music that's destined to raise the bar for the future of alternative country. Rand Reynolds creates a unique collection of lyrical tunes that probe the frailties of the human condition, celebrating those second chances in life that make things right again -- or not. Country roots with a rocker bite, Reynolds delivers inventive power acoustic music guaranteed to stick in the brain and gnaw away. Edgier and more pushy than mainstream alternative country artists, Reynolds relies on sweeping guitar strokes and solid punchy rhythms to skillfully weave a refreshing blend of Americana music.  Make no mistake, this guy has done his homework. Powerful stuff.

First Reynolds cd (formerly called "Modern Hillbilly") recorded in Syracuse, NY.  Digital re-working of a direct-to-disc recording.  12 nice, tight tracks, plus new artwork, available for the first time at CDBaby.