For country singer-songwriter Randy Ross, storytelling is a way of life. With the release of his new EP 'Hard Days, Soft Nights', Ross delivers a classic collection of honkytonk-laced country songs that tap into the grit, humour, and quiet heart of everyday working life. Rooted in Nashville but shaped by a recent move to Northern California, the EP feels like both a love letter to Music City and a farewell to a formative chapter.
Born in Phoenix and seasoned in the bars and writer’s rooms of Tennessee, Ross brings a lived-in honesty to every track. From the blue-collar resilience of the title song (written by his longtime mentor Raymond Sisk) to the playful self-reflection of 'I’m A Mule' and the barroom confessional 'Good People' (a duet with Kenny Sharp), 'Hard Days, Soft Nights' is full of real characters, long nights, and deeper truths that only come after last call.
So with the new EP out now, we sat down with him to find out more about his origins and what has inspired him most over the years.
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What was the first instrument you fell in love with?
I guess it would have to be the guitar. It’s the first instrument I learned how to play and the only one I’m actually any good at. I’ve dabbled in the mandolin, harmonica, and dreamed about what it would be like to play piano like Elton John, but there’s something about the guitar that just keeps pulling you back. It’s like it calls your name when you leave it in the case or the corner for too long.
What kind of music did you love when you were younger?
Well I was pretty much raised on country radio of the late 90’s and early 2000’s so I love all of that stuff, George Strait, Reba, Shania, Alan Jackson, Vince Gill…. All great! When I got to the age where I was curious to find out what kind of music was out there that my parents weren’t showing me, I got really into punk rock and metal for a few years. Then in high school I discovered underground rap music and obscure indie rock music and those genre’s both kept me busy basically until I moved to Nashville in my early 20’s.
What was the first album you remember owning?
The first album I can actually remember buying for myself was ‘Indestructible’ by the band Disturbed if you remember those guys. If I remember right I bought it with some birthday money at Best Buy when I was 12. Those were the days.
What is the one song you wished you could have written yourself?
There’s a whole bunch of my favorite songs that I wish I could’ve written, but if I had to narrow it down to just one I think I’d choose ‘If You Were a Bluebird’. Written by one of the greatest country songwriters of all time Butch Hancock and recorded by two of my favorite artists, Joe Ely and Emmylou Harris. In my opinion that one is country songwriting perfection.
Do you have any habits or rituals you go through when trying to write new music?
Not really any rituals but when I write songs I have a tendency to pace around the room while I’m coming up with a line. Sometimes I freak out my cowriters, but I figure if you’re sitting still so are the ideas.
If you could open a show for anyone in the world, who would it be?
I think the answer to that question would be either Charlie Crockett or Sierra Ferrell. There’s a whole lot of folks doing good things in country music right now that I’d love to open for, especially on the independent side of things but those two I feel are really bringing the genre back to what it’s all about.
What do you find is the most rewarding part about being a musician?
For me the most rewarding parts are usually the things nobody sees. Coming up with the perfect line you need to tie a whole song together, trying out different arrangements for a song in the studio and finding a groove that makes the song feel alive. Stuff like that is what gets me the most excited and I hope that never changes.
And what is the most frustrating part?
Everybody knows there’s no shortage of things to complain about in this business. And for the most part I try to keep those to myself. But currently the most frustrating thing about the music business is this AI garbage that seems determined to work its way to the center of everyone’s lives. It’s a hard enough business as it is and when the market gets flooded with robot music it’s only going to get harder to distinguish what’s real and what’s not and harder for human musicians to make a living. There are some folks fighting the good fight for human music though, my friends Paul and Lillie in Nashville have a company called Humanable that focuses on trying to keep AI out of music. They do a great job of spreading awareness which is huge because I don’t think the average person has a very clear idea of what musicians are up against when it comes to AI and, more importantly, the people who are funding it.
And what is the best piece of advice you have received as a musician?
The best piece of advice I’ve ever gotten as a musician came from a songwriter named Craig Monday. In 2018 was at a songwriter’s night at Douglas Corner Cafe in Nashville and started talking to Craig at the bar. I had been in Nashville for about a year at that point so I was still extremely green, and Craig had been around town as a writer for a long time and had several of his songs cut by big time artists. So I asked him if he had any advice at all to give to a 21 year old aspiring songwriter and what he told me changed my perspective almost immediately. He said “The most important thing about songwriting is realizing that on any given day, nobody knows anything more about how to write a great song than anybody else.” That hit me like a ton of bricks and I think I’ve benefited more from hearing that one sentence than I even know.
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Randy Ross' new EP 'Hard Days, Soft Nights' is available to stream now. Check it out in the player below.