Randal L Meek

RANDAL L MEEK - Guitarist & Composer

Perseverance: "persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success, see also persistence, tenacity, determination, resolve…"

Some people have no life dreams, just moving through life unencumbered by ambition. Others have dreams but convince themselves that the dreams are unattainable or that they are unworthy of pursuing them. Then, there are those who never surrender their dream but, instead, stand resolute, always with hope in their heart and the will and drive to achieve their heart's desire. Welcome to the world of guitarist Randal L Meek.

Born in 1958, Randal grew up in a large family of six siblings. His parents were both professionals, neither directly involved with music. He took piano lessons at the age of 10 and moved on to trumpet with the high school band. Also, at the same age, he took up guitar, being entirely self-taught. His "calling" to music as a career came alive at the relatively early age of 10 when he saw a musical group of three guitarists called The Three D’s. "I knew then that it was what I wanted to do." However, aspiring to do something and accomplishing it are two different things. Randal understood this.

At 24, he purchased what he refers to as a "real" guitar (a Guild D-50) and did a deep dive into the world of fingerstyle acoustic guitarists e.g., Will Ackerman and Andrew York. He started composing his own pieces, both instrumentals and songs with lyrics. He got enough positive feedback that he started to think about becoming a professional musician as a career. However, looking at it realistically, he knew how tough that could be. "Back in the '80s that meant going on the road for eternity hoping to 'make it' as a musician and still probably live a  hand-to-mouth existence. I wasn’t willing to take that chance and took the more certain path of becoming a  lawyer."

For the next 35 years, he built a successful law career, but he also continued to practice guitar and compose nonstop. I’ve owned and recorded on every iteration of home-recording devices from the first Tascam four-track to the current LogicPro." When he turned 60 in 2018, he decided it was time to finally throw his hat into the ring (albeit while keeping his law practice). He released a solo album of both songs and instrumentals (Life on the Deck) via Spotify and Apple Music, leading to a substantial amount of success, including 16 million streams on Spotify. He also received much positive feedback and advice from many fellow guitarists, including Vin Downes.

When the pandemic hit in 2020, Randal heard through the grapevine that Grammy-winning artist and producer Will Ackerman was looking to do some remote producing of musicians' albums. While the idea of approaching his idol was daunting, Randal decided to contact him, remembering a pledge he made to himself two years previously to be prepared to explore any opportunity that presented itself. He submitted two YouTube videos of his fingerstyle compositions to Ackerman. Expecting that to be the end of it, Randal was blown away when Ackerman expressed an interest in meeting via Facetime. The Facetime meeting lasted an hour and at the end, Ackerman invited Randal to come to Imaginary Road Studios (as soon as Covid had subsided enough to make it safe) and record an album there with him and Tom Eaton producing. A little over a year later, Randal recorded the album “longings”, thereby achieving his life-long dream.

Randal admits that while he persevered all these years, never surrendering the dream, it still feels a bit surreal to him what has transpired. Because he never gave up and always believed in himself, he succeeded. In his own words "Success for me has been achieved with the realization of the Imaginary Road Studios albums with Will Ackerman and Tom Eaton producing and Will playing lead guitar on eight of the tracks. That is the pinnacle, and I achieved it in less than eight years from my first release. From here on out it is just a matter of enjoying the music itself and sharing it with as many people as possible.

After many years of living in Colorado and splitting time between Colorado and Maui, Randal now resides full-time in Hawaii (Maui). Besides his passion for music, he embraces life through his love of "…puppies (all dogs regardless of age are 'puppies' to me), my wife, kids and grandkids and the island of Maui." When pressed to express the impetus of the last two albums, he states "These albums are about feelings, emotions, love, and loss, but with hope of a life ahead always just around the corner."

Bill Binkelman