Country Artist Killed By Bounty Hunters Releases Posthumous Gospel Album
On June 9th, 2015, country music songwriter and performer Randy Howard made national news, but it wasn’t for his country career he’d spent his entire life cultivating. While laying in bed in his home in Lynchburg, TN, the 65-year-old who was once signed to a major label, and shared the stage with the likes of Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Charlie Daniels throughout his country music tenure, was killed by unlicensed bounty hunters who entered his home to serve a bench warrant.
According to Howard, who was still alive when police and paramedics arrived, he woke up to hear what he believed to be an intruder breaking in his back door. Howard pulled out a .22-caliber pistol, and fired when two men barged into his bedroom. The two men returned fire, wounding Howard who later died from his injuries.
No charges have ever been filed against the bounty hunters, and it was later revealed that charges resulting in the bench warrant against Randy Howard—principally a DUI charge—were to be dropped due to a blood test that revealed Howard was not drunk at the time of his arrest. Only a charge for driving with a revoked license was to stand.
In the months before his death, Randy Howard was working on a Gospel record named A Pair Of Knees after one of his original Gospel compositions. As even Randy Howard’s closest friends will admit, “he was no saint.” Randy’s career was best known for penning country songs with salty language, and for railing against the Music Row establishment. There was a lot of humor in Randy’s approach to country, but like so many musicians over the years, the demons Randy struggled with in life were real, and he leaned on the strength of Gospel music to help overcome his personal struggles.
It’s no coincidence that nearly every time Hank Williams went into the studio, he insisted on cutting a song under his Gospel pseudonym Luke The Drifter. Johnny Cash insisted that a certain percentage of his recorded music was Gospel tunes. Even more contemporary artists from James Hand, Randy Travis, and Wade Bowen have taken the time recently to record Gospel projects. As one of the very basic building blocks of country music, there was a time when performing Gospel was a rite of passage, and still to this day the church is where many country music artists are first encouraged to sing or perform for others.
Randy Howard’s A Pair of Knees was recorded at Muscadine Studios in Macon, GA, and finds Howard reprising well-loved Gospel songs like Billy Joe Shaver’s “I’m Gonna Live Forever,” Kris Kristofferson’s “Why Me Lord?” and T. Graham Brown’s “Water Into Wine.” But it’s anchored by Howard’s own original compositions such as the wit-filled “Hallelujah Hotel,” and the wistful and sweet “Wedding Prayer.” After Randy Howard’s death, close friends Tamera Brown, Tracy Parker, and piano player/producer Paul Hornsby did what they could to make sure A Pair of Knees was finished and released. It’s a true country Gospel record featuring tasteful, sparse arrangements of fiddle, mandolin, bass, and backup acoustic guitar.
In this era of acrid opinions and judgemental mindsets that too often look down at the religious, what is often overlooked is the role that faith and Gospel music can play for some to help give them the strength to persevere over personal issues and hardship. It’s a shame that at a time when Randy Howard was renewing his faith through Gospel music that his life was taken from him in a senseless act over an incidental issue. But it’s also fortunate that his final breaths in music were captured in moments of faith and servitude before he passed on.
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October 30, 2017 @ 8:50 am
“He’d have a hand to hold / if I’d just fold a pair of knees”
Home-spun brilliance. RIP, Randy.
October 30, 2017 @ 10:02 am
“Julie, I’m Getting Married,” from his first album, is one of my favorite songs. He’s never gotten his due as songwriter. I’ll be picking this up, for sure.
October 30, 2017 @ 10:05 am
“The Best of Randy Howard” album is some of the greatest country music I’ve ever heard, and it saddens me that his death was what led me to his music. I have been trying to find all of the material that Mr. Howard put out, but honestly am not sure where to look and what to look for. Trigger, if you or someone else could shed some light on accessing the full extent of Randy Howard’s music I would greatly appreciate it.
October 14, 2023 @ 7:18 am
I have everything that Randy recorded
October 30, 2017 @ 4:40 pm
Trigger, Thank you so much for your kind thoughts on “A Pair of Knees”. It has a very special place in my heart for obvious reasons but also because “Let Us Cross Over The River” was the last song Randy and I wrote together. I also greatly appreciate what you do to keep country music alive. Keep up the good work.
October 30, 2017 @ 4:59 pm
Bill, you can find “Randy Howard Live” and of course “A Pair Of Knees” on Amazon and CD Baby. Be forewarned “Live” is not for young ears. I will be working in the future on some other projects with Randy’s other releases. Wish me luck and keep an eye out. Thanks for your interest.
October 30, 2017 @ 5:10 pm
I forgot to mention I have heard the live record (as that one is also on Spotify) and love it, especially “Lose Weight”! Good luck, I can’t wait to hear the other stuff he put out.
October 30, 2017 @ 5:24 pm
I’d like to hear more, too. With lyrics, real life has a way of burning off all the bullshit.
October 31, 2017 @ 10:39 am
I knew Randy for a very long time. Saw him at live performances many times. Sat around with friends having laughter time. He is missed tremendously. R. I. P.
November 1, 2017 @ 10:13 am
Would go see Randy every weekend he and his band played at Whiskey River. I have an album and an original cassette tape he gave me. Loved him and his music! So sad that his life class cut short. Rest in peace, Randy Howard.
November 2, 2017 @ 3:56 am
The new album is surprisingly good. Thanks for the good music. You will be missed.
November 9, 2017 @ 1:57 pm
Trigger, I wanted to take this opportunity to answer a question that many people have asked me, thinking that some of your readers may have the same question. In the liner notes on the inside center panel the statement I made is not centered, and some people assumed this was a printing error. In fact it’s printed on a picture of one of Randy’s bedroom walls. Looking closely on the left side you can see four marked holes. They are four bullet holes fired blindly into Randy’s bedroom, and they were marked by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. There were actually thirteen shots fired into the bedroom one of which struck and mortally wounded Randy at that time. I would like to thank you and all the fans who have embraced this project so warmly. Randy would be so happy and proud. Please keep on keeping on, the world needs more real country music.
November 9, 2017 @ 2:28 pm
Wow, did not know that Tracy. Thanks for pointing that out.
November 9, 2017 @ 2:22 pm
Beth Lamenskie, We were probably at Whiskey River on many of the same nights. I worked as Randy’s tour manager on several trips to Texas and New York, as well as spending a lot of nights at WR. I got to see Wes Day and Donnie Giles (WR owners at that time)at the Memorial Show/Service at the Crazy Bull in downtown Macon in July 2015. That’s a great venue as well. Anyway, I just wanted to say hello and thank you for being a fan.
November 12, 2017 @ 9:55 am
I was really lucky to make this video about “A Pair of Knees”
I was lucky to be part of this CD even this way!
Thanks Randy!