With so many news stories coming and going each day even within the country music realm, it can be easy to forget or move on from the story of a music engineer you probably never heard of getting gunned down by the police. Let’s face it, Mark Capps was not a household name, even among country fans.
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.
As Christmas festivities come to a close and New Years comes into focus, it’s once again time to reflect back on all of the country music greats we lost in the last year. From huge celebrity stars, to influential songwriters and side musicians who impacted the music out of the spotlight, country music lost many notable names in 2015.
It was a busy year in country music, with lots of controversy, lots of legal issues, and even death surrounding country music artists. It was a tumultuous 2015 to say the least. Here are the top news stories of the year taking into consideration 1) Their importance to country music overall 2) The interest, or accumulated interest in the story if covered in multiple articles, based on traffic registered at Saving Country Music.
The autopsy report for Randy Howard has just been released. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is handling the case, and told Saving Country Music Thursday (9-2) that the findings of the investigation had been turned over to the District Attorney General’s office for further review and consideration.
2015 so far has been an especially dark year for deaths in the greater country music world. From the passing of legends such as “Little” Jimmy Dickens and Jim Ed Brown, to the tragedy of lives ended too soon like in the cases of Randy Howard and Jon Hensley. We don’t always take to proper time to honor all of those that have passed, so as we enter the second half of 2015, let’s reflect back on who we have lost so far.
The first two weeks in June 2015 were some of the darkest moments the greater independent country world has experienced in quite some time. After Jon Hensley passed away on June 1st, so did Randy Howard and a newborn of Texas artist Randy Rogers on June 9th. Then just two days later, Jim Ed Brown died. It has made the month of June a time of deep sorrow, and July as a month to pay tribute.
Randy Howard was killed on June 9th, 2015 in his log cabin home in Lynchburg, TN in a shootout with bounty hunters. They were serving a bench warrant stemming from a DUI Howard had been charged with that was likely going to be dismissed after the blood test came back proving he was below the legal limit. Randy Howard is gone but his music lives on for eternity, especially “All-American Redneck.”
A Tennessee Bureau of Investigations case is open into Howard’s death at the hands of the bounty hunters—a father/son duo working for A Plus Bail Bonding in Dunlap, TN. But the main question many friends and fans of the slain artist are asking is why did Howard have to die over a simple bench warrant, and did he believe he was acting in self-defense against an intruder?
Outlaw Country Artist Randy Howard, a major label recording artist best known for his humorous and explicit anthem “All American Redneck,” was shot and killed by a bounty hunter in his home in Lynchburg, Tennessee on Tuesday night (6-9), and some are wondering why the songwriter had to die over a bench warrant.