Robert Randolph

Sacred steel
By MATT ELLIOTT World Scene Writer
2/23/2007

Robert Randolph wants his music to change the world for the better

OK, so the shine has worn off now hasn't it? The buzz that surrounded pedal steel guitar maniac Robert Randolph and his family band's gumbo of funk, gospel, rock, blues, jazz and a positive message has subsided, right?

Guess again. Randolph, who grew up playing in his New Jersey Pentecostal church, put out "Colorblind" last year, showing the man and his band pounding away with Eric Clapton, Dave Matthews and others in an album that soars with blues and funk-tinged soul.

The song's first track, "Ain't Nothing Wrong With That," has been used in commercials for NBC comedy shows and in the soundtrack to the film "Stomp the Yard."

The dance-worthy, hand-clapping number about using music to bridge cultural boundaries also appears on commercials for cell phones.

And, Randolph said, there isn't anything wrong with that.

"We feel a lot of people have turned to us and the music and the message and the positivity that we stand for," said Randolph, 29.

Randolph's career has taken him from his church in Orange, N.J., to the stage touring with Clapton, as he did in 2004, the last time he came to Oklahoma on tour. He learned to play pedal steel (called "sacred steel" in his church) from his mentor Ted Beard.

"In our church, if you picked up a pedal steel and you learned how to play it, then you were the cool guy," he said. He got a tape by late Texas blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan, and that tape changed his life as a musician and a human being, said Randolph, who was inspired not only by the music but by Vaughan's triumph over substance abuse before his death.

Randolph has gone to adopt a message of redemption and strength, something he said people need today.

His album "Colorblind" symbolizes part of the band's message and raison d'etre, mainly to make music that makes people feel good, no matter the color of their skin.

"It's not pigeon-holed to one people," Randolph said. "It's not really new and fresh when you look at all those old bands like the Beatles and at people like Sly and the Family Stone and Stevie Wonder, you know ... Those guys helped uplift us, get us out of a depression in life back in those days, you know what I mean, and helped the world change."

Outside of the ubiquitous single, "Colorblind" features a bluesy rock and roll version of the Doobie Brothers' "Jesus Is Just Alright (With Me)" with a little help from Slow Hand. The soulful "Love Is the Only Way" is about turning the world around with love, while "Stronger" uplifts with the power of old southern gospel music.

Randolph points to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of the negatives in the world. He talked about a kid he met at a recent show in Philadelphia. The serviceman was on leave from the U.S. Navy.

"He's got to go right back over there to fight in the war, you know. I mean this kid is only 20 years old ... (He) don't even know why he's really over there, you know, he's just over there... He's just serving his time ... he went over there ... with guys and some of them never came back home and they never will, you know. They are dead."

The negative images in popular hip hop also prompts him to do good with his music, not just as a religious man, but as a black man.

"People affiliate that kind of music a lot with African American people. So we just kind of want to be different ones who's out there really giving something positive ... That's what inspires me to write these kinds of songs."

Following the end of this tour, Randolph said he and his band, which includesf two of his cousins, will record some material with Prince.

---

Matt Elliott 581-8366
matt.elliott@tulsaworld.com

---

ROBERT RANDOLPH AND THE FAMILY BAND

When:
7 p.m., Wednesday

Where:
Cain's Ballroom, 423 N. Main St.

Tickets:
$24 in advance, $26 day of show, available at Starship Records & Tapes, Reasor's, www.Gettix.net, Cain's box office, 584-2306