Pedal to the metal

Musical prodigy Robert Randolph brings a family groove to the Wakarusa Festival

For Robert Randolph, music has been a lifelong family affair.

The pedal steel guitar phenom and his group, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, will showcase their soulful, energy-laden style of jamming at this weekend’s Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival as one of the headlining acts.

The son of a deacon father and a minister mother in the House of God Church of Orange, N.J., Randolph hails from a household in which music has always been an integral part of life. The fact that two of his cousins, drummer Marcus Randolph and bassist Danyel Morgan, are part of the Family Band is testament to this.

“Touring is much easier to deal with when you’ve got your family because you can talk to them any kind of way,” says the 26-year-old Randolph. “We’ve been having fun ever since we started out playing as kids in church.”

Randolph’s style has been growing and changing since he first got involved as a drummer for the youth choir at the House of God. At the urging of some of his friends and relatives, however, he soon picked up the denomination’s signature instrument: the pedal steel.

Under the guidance of several mentors, Robert, Marcus and Danyel became fixtures at the church. Word of their talents soon spread, and Robert Randolph and the Family Band was born. It’s that core group, plus recent addition Jason Crosby (keyboards), which comprises the band’s current lineup.

“It’s cool with us,” he says of having a nonfamily member mixed into the collective. “We know each other’s style and everyone really gets along well.”

Sacred steel

With roots in country-western, Hawaiian and gospel music, the pedal steel guitar has become Randolph’s trademark.

Nicknamed “sacred steel,” the guitar often was used as a second option when his congregation couldn’t raise the money for an expensive pipe organ. Randolph has taken those gospel roots — along with personal influences, such as guitar legend Stevie Ray Vaughan — and exploited the pedal steel to create a sound wholly his own.

His style is more akin to Jimi Hendrix than Jimmy Buffett.

“It’s mainly been played in country music, and guys never really tried to do anything different with the instrument,” Randolph says. “Pedal steel was kinda semi-popular in the ’60s and ’70s. When I learned to play it, I tried to really do something different.”

He has succeeded in that venture, even being named one of Rolling Stone magazine’s “Top 100 Guitarists of All Time.”

That’s no small feat for a kid from Jersey playing an instrument that received almost no attention on the jam-band circuit.

The pedal steel isn’t the only musical influence that Randolph was able to take away from his upbringing at the House of God. His faith has played an integral part in the shaping of the ensemble’s unique sound.

  • Friday-Sunday 06.18-06.20Wakarusa Music & Camping Festival 2004
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“I’ve experienced so many different things growing up, and to be able to have that outlook that other people don’t have — that whole ‘church’ outlook — really helps a lot,” he says. “I was taught about God and how he helps us all, and how if we just had faith in him everything in our lives would turn out fine.

“For me to be able to know these things and give people joy and happiness through our music is just a great feeling.”

Hectic pace

Robert Randolph and the Family Band first established a reputation performing at their worship services at the House of God Church in Orange, N.J.

The Family Band has released two critically acclaimed albums: a concert recording titled “Live at the Wetlands” and a Warner Bros. studio release dubbed “Unclassified.” Plans for a third album are already in the works, with a tentative release date of next Christmas. But for now the studio will have to wait.

Randolph and the band are touring with legendary blues-rocker Eric Clapton. Once that finishes up at the end of the summer, a tour with Lenny Kravitz and a collaboration with Carlos Santana on the guitarist’s upcoming album are in place. Combine that with the various festivals the group will play this summer, in between gigs with Clapton, and it’s easy to see why the band is ready for some much-deserved time off.

“We’re definitely due a break,” says Randolph. “We’ll get one for about a month at the end of this Clapton tour, which will be the first time that’s happened in almost three years.”

Despite the hectic schedule, he’s still looking forward to playing the Wakarusa event this weekend.

“It’s gonna be awesome,” he says. “With festivals you have so many different types of music, so it’s good for us to go and do a festival date to do what we do.”

Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival schedule

  • Descriptions of all the bands at the festival here on our event listings
  • Thursday, June 17
  • Revival Tent
  • 4:30 p.m. — Arthur Dodge5:30 p.m. — Big Metal Rooster6:35 p.m. — The Schwag8:05 p.m. — Mindy Smith9:15 p.m. — Benevento/Russo Duo10:40 p.m. — Moonshine Still12:05 a.m. — Ekoostik Hookah1:30 a.m. — Sound Tribe Sector 9
  • Friday, June 18
  • Revival Tent
  • 2:30 p.m. — Mother Kali3:30 p.m. — Tanner Walle4:30 p.m. — Speakeasy5:30 p.m. — Bockman’s Euphio6:30 p.m. — Green Lemon7:30 p.m. — Woven8:30 p.m. — Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey9:45 p.m. — Perpetual Groove11:05 p.m. — Mofro12:25 a.m. — Jazz Mandolin Project1:45 a.m. — Particle
  • Sun Up Stage
  • Noon — Forty Twenty1 p.m. — Theresa Andersson2 p.m. — Robbie Fulks3 p.m. — Drums & Tuba4 p.m. — Hackensaw Boys5 p.m. — Slobberbone6 p.m. — Bottlerockets7 p.m. — Lucero8:05 p.m. — Split Lip Rayfield9:10 p.m. — Keller Williams10:45 p.m. — Leftover Salmon
  • Sun Down Stage
  • 2:45 p.m. — Papa Mali3:50 p.m. — Tishamingo4:55 p.m. — Greyhounds6 p.m. — Marc Broussard7:20 p.m. — Sound Tribe Sector 98:55 p.m. — Galactic10:30 p.m. — Robert Randolph
  • Saturday, June 19
  • Revival Tent
  • 2:30 p.m. — Four Fried Chickens & A Coke3:30 p.m. — Exit Clov4:30 p.m. — Bockman’s Euphio5:30 p.m. — Motet6:35 p.m. — Tea Leaf Green7:40 p.m. — Greyhounds9 p.m. — Shanti Groove10:20 p.m. — Indigenous11:40 p.m. — Leftover Salmon1:30 a.m. — Galactic
  • Sun Up Stage
  • 11:45 a.m. — Hackensaw Boys12:50 p.m. — BR5491:55 p.m. — Robert Bradley’s Blackwater Surprise3:05 p.m. — Bob Schneider4:15 p.m. — Mofro5:25 p.m. — Robert Walter’s 20th Congress6:45 p.m. — Hairy Apes BMX7:55 p.m. — Pomeroy9:05 p.m. — Spoon10:25 p.m. — Guided by Voices
  • Sun Down Stage
  • Noon — Kaki King1 p.m. — James McMurtry2 p.m. — Monte Montgomery3:05 p.m. — Signal Path4:10 p.m. — Garaj Mahal5:20 p.m. — Big Wu6:35 p.m. — Jazz Mandolin Project7:55 p.m. — Particle9:15 p.m. — Derek Trucks Band10:35 p.m. — O.A.R.
  • Sunday, June 20
  • Revival Tent
  • Noon — Mission 191 p.m. — Dewayn Brothers2 p.m. — Weary Boys3 p.m. — Hello Superworld4 p.m. — Tea Leaf Green5:20 p.m. — Mountain of Venus6:40 p.m. — Barefoot Manner8 p.m. — Robert Bradley’s Blackwater Surprise9:20 p.m. — Lost Trailers10:40 p.m. — Hot Buttered Rum String BandMidnight — Split Lip Rayfield
  • Sun Down Stage
  • 10 a.m. — Steve Poltz11 a.m. — Jennifer Hartswick BandNoon — The Samples1:40 p.m. — Big Wu3 p.m. — Donna the Buffalo4:10 p.m. — Chris Duarte5:20 p.m. — Indigenous6:30 p.m. — Los Lonely Boys7:50 p.m. — Drive By Truckers9:10 p.m. — Dirty Dozen Brass Band10:30 p.m. — North Mississippi Allstars