Page 11 - BiTS_09_SEPTEMBER_2020

GEORGIA RANDALL – FLYING ON…

INTERVIEW BY NORMAN DARWEN

ND: You were born in Virginia, is that right?

GR: Yes, I was born in South Norfolk, Virginia, which is now Chesapeake after a redistricting many
years ago. I am currently living in Florida.

ND: What were your earliest experiences of
music?

GR: Gospel music was my earliest influence.

My grandmother played the organ in the
church, and my uncle was the preacher, so I
was immersed in it. They both had powerful
singing voices. I am told that I sang my first
solo at the tender age of five. I do not recall it,
but I do recall singing in the church choir and
being a featured singer starting at age nine. I

also sang in the school chorus in junior high.
My grandfather’s brother’s son was Gene
Vincent and we would walk down the street to
listen to them playing music at their house. I
really do not remember much as I was just a

toddler. Later, after Gene Vincent had gone to
Europe to pursue a career there, I would listen
to his father playing rockabilly music on his
guitar. I liked that style of music. It was
different from the pop style of music being
played on the radio which I did not like at all. I
loved gospel, soul, blues, and rock.

ND; How did you come to the blues?

GR: I think it was the blues that came to me. I have lived it and it comes through me to my music.

ND: Who were your earliest influences, and what did you get from them?

Dallas, Texas, Night skyline.
GR: Early on, I listened to Koko Taylor, Big Mama Thornton, Bessie Smith, and Etta James. A bit
later, it was Janis Joplin, Tina Turner, Otis Redding and various Motown artists. They all had such
soul and passion in their voices. They were authentic, pouring out their soul through song.

ND: How easy was it to be taken seriously as a female artist when you started out?

11