May 2006 ~ Featuring Randy Shelnut
As I was looking back through the articles that I have written, I realized that there was someone who I haven't featured that has been, as the old saying goes, right under my nose! I joined the Dixie Echoes Quartet in 1998, after riding with them to the National Quartet Convention. At the time, Randy Shelnut, who owns the Dixie Echoes and sings the lead part, was also the pianist for the group. I was riding along hoping to find a job with a group at NQC. While at the convention, Randy asked me to play with the group during one of their evening performances. Then before we got home, he asked me if I wanted to ride along with them on the next weekend to the Suwannee River Jubilee. Well, I had no job, nothing else to do, so I agreed to go along. I played every night of the SRJ, and then every night since! I've now been with the quartet for nearly eight years, and want to give credit where it is due, to my boss and friend, Randy Shelnut. For taking a chance on a seventeen year old red headed pianist!

Randy Shelnut was born on July 22, 1955, in Birmingham, Alabama. He is the oldest son of Shirley and the late Dale Shelnut. Randy has one younger brother, Andrew, who sang and played with the Dixie Echoes back in the 1970's. Randy grew up around Birmingham, AL, and then moved to Pensacola, FL, when his dad accepted the job with the Dixie Echoes back in 1963. In 1969, Randy joined the group playing the bass guitar. In 1970, when Joe Whitfield left the group, Randy then stepped up to the front line and started singing baritone.

On September 4, 1973, Randy married Paula Vinson (daughter of "Daddy" Paul Vinson, longtime member of the Bibletones Quartet, then later a longtime member of the Dixie Echoes). Randy and Paula have one son, Randy Shelnut Jr., known to Gospel music fans and family as "Scoot".

Randy has written several of the groups most popular songs, including the 1976 hit, "I'll Take Jesus", which was re-recorded by the Crabb Family in recent years. Randy has received the Singing News Fan Award twice for his vocal category, and last year was voted Favorite Lead Singer in the U.S. Gospel News Awards.

When Randy is not on the road, he operates Echo Sound recording studio in Pensacola, Florida. Nearly every week of the year, you can find him and Scoot in the studio recording singing groups from all over the country. Randy plays many different instruments including the piano, bass guitar, electric and acoustic guitar, steel guitar, banjo, mandolin, and probably any other instrument that he puts his hands on. When he's not in the recording studio, he is usually out flying his airplane! Randy is a licensed pilot and recently built his own airplane from scratch! I've seen him fly it, but that doesn't mean there's any chance of me getting in there with him. If you are interested in seeing Randy's website about his plane, visit: http://members.aol.com/rshelnut/index.html on the internet. It is a website about him building his plane from start to finish.

Randy arranges and produces everything that the Dixie Echoes record, and most recently has been instrumental in getting a new television program on the air called "Keep On Singing". It is a thirty-minute program featuring traditional Gospel music by the Dixie Echoes, along with some special guests. Currently, it is available in about 130 markets throughout the southeast, but new stations are being added often. Any stations interested in carrying the show should contact Randy by email or by calling the Dixie Echoes office. For a complete list of broadcast times and TV station information, visit our website.

Visit us online at www.dixieechoes.com to read more about Randy and the rest of the group. We travel about 220 days per year, all over the United States and Canada, and would love to invite every one of you to a Dixie Echoes concert in the near future. I'd also like to thank everyone for honoring us with five nominations this year in the Singing News Fan Awards. Our two new guys, Dallas Rogers and Tracy Crouch, are both nominated for Horizon Individual. The Dixie Echoes Band is nominated for Favorite Band. Scoot is nominated for favorite musician, and I was honored with a nomination for Favorite Pianist. Thanks to everyone who voted, we really appreciate your support!