Randy Barnette

2) What is your musical background and influences?

My mother sang in the church choir as a soloist into her early 20's and then had the opportunity to travel to Europe and sing in London on the BBC and other locations such as Paris and Wales. She recorded two albums. I inherit a lot of music from my mom. I was all self taught when I started playing in bars and clubs in 11th grade and I learned a lot from other musicians and from live playing. In 1991 I attended Musicians Institute (GIT) and studied with some great teachers and other amazing musicians. In addition to studio sessions, I've traveled all over the United States and parts of Canada with many cover and original bands. I've played the nasty rock rooms to the "A" hotel circuits to 3,000 seat arenas and outdoor crowds of 8,000 plus. I've also shared the stage and opened up for acts as part of a band or trio with: Frankie Ballard, Easton Corbin, Bob Wooten, Shooter Jennings with Waymore's Outlaws, Trace Adkins, The Casey Donahew Band, Josh Thompson, The Randy Rodgers Band, The Van Lears, Brian Davis and Brantly Gilbert for an after show party. I have has also worked with two major labels on developmental deals playing guitar. I continue to study and learn to improve as a musician. I have a wide variety of influences. Randy Rhoads was a big influence along with George Lynch and Skid Row. Love the melodic playing styles and their feel. Stevie Ray Vaughan has to be here also. His style and approach on guitar is very unique. Also need to mention Keith Urban, Brad Paisley, and Vince Gill. All amazing players to me. I try to take a little bit of them all and incorporate their styles into my playing.

3) What is the role of education in music?

I think music education is really up to the individual's musical preference. For instance, if the person wants to be a classical violinist then education obviously is huge. I think there are a lot of musicians who are amazing that have no music education at all. I think that there are musically trained artists who sound to mechanical and therefore not much feel but that works for them and for what they are doing. I personally use a lot more of my ear and feel than I do what I learned in school. Yes it's nice to know what I'm playing but a lot of what I learned in school I keep in my back pocket and pull it out as needed. Once again it's a choice.

4) How do you feel about the current ‘state of the music industry’?

Touchy subject, it's not like the good ole days that's for sure. There's hardly any CD sales anymore and unfortunately we have to rely on digital sales — which is a joke. We need to take control of our property meaning our music. It would be nice if the streaming platforms started paying $0.99 per song to restore our income. The songwriters and musicians are starving. All platforms should pay us first before making the CEO's millionaires. They did not create the music, we did. Hopefully things can level out soon. Artists are working as hard as they ever have, in some cases harder, and not to be compensated doesn't seem fair.

5) Why do you use the Nobels ODR-mini and Mooer effect pedals?

Versatility! I work with a lot of different singer/songwriters here in Nashville and for the most part they have different sounds and styles so I have to stay current and adapt. With the Nobels ODR-1 I can definitely do that. The range and drive of the ODR-1 is very wide and impressive. The Spectrum control adds another dimension to its already solid and impressive sound. It has deservedly gained its solid reputation as the go to pedal for session and live players here in Nashville. It stacks perfectly with my Mooer Red Trucks Drive channel and other Red Truck effects. I seriously could not be happier with Nobels ODR-1 on my pedalboard. Once again its Mooer's Versatility and sound! My first Mooer pedal was the Red Truck. Absolutely love it! It's my main effects pedal. It's very versatile with all the main effects I use. I can use it alone while accompanying artists with my acoustic or in my pedalboard for other live events. I also love the built in parallel effects loop on the back which makes it easy to connect my Mooer Compressor and Mooer Pure Boost on my pedalboard. Both my Mooer and Nobels pedals are solid in construction and very user friendly. As a guitarist/staff writer I play guitar up to 8 hours most days writing and recording demos and doing live shows. I need gear I can depend on. I highly recommend both Mooer and Nobels.