What You Don't Know
As a member of Emmylou Harris's band, Randall had the same lead-guitar role which had earlier been taken by Rodney Crowell and Ricky Skaggs. And Randall's debut solo album features the same sort of topnotch songwriting, expressive singing, and classy picking as the hit singles released by Crowell and Skaggs after their apprenticeship with Harris. Randall only wrote one of the 10 cuts onWhat You Don't Know, but he has picked some terrific tunes by the likes of Carl Jackson, Jim Lauderdale, Kevin Welch, and Bobby Charles. Unlike most of the other 20-something newcomers in Nashville, Randall knows how to understate a vocal and thus evoke the mixed emotions of great country singing. This is a landmark first effort from a major talent.--Geoffrey Himes