Randy Steele writes songs about people making sense of their lives. Some are fictional, others come from experience, but each is grounded in the details that make a song feel lived in. With a lonesome banjo sound and a voice shaped by his Tennessee roots, Steele moves comfortably between bluegrass, folk, and jam influenced music. Raised in Bradley County Tennessee, Steele grew up around gospel music. His grandfather was a Pentecostal preacher, and his mother sang with the Henson Family. As a teenager, he discovered the jam-band scene through his uncle Paul Henson, who toured and recorded with Aquarium Rescue Unit. His songwriting influences range from John Prine and Townes Van Zandt to Robert Earl Keen and Garcia/Hunter. Steele spent 25 years as a Chattanooga firefighter and began learning banjo as a way to decompress at the firehouse. He went on to play with Slim Pickins Bluegrass before releasing his own music and forming Randy Steele & High Cold Wind. His solo shows center on song, banjo, and voice, while High Cold Wind brings a fired up bluegrass sound with room for improvisation. Following extensive East and West Coast solo touring in 2026, the band went to Colorado to place second in the 2026 Telluride Bluegrass Festival Band Contest and performed on the main stage. Later that weekend, Steele joined Sam Bush during his Saturday night set at Bush’s invitation. Steele’s songs include “Mobile Soon,” which received an Independent Music Award, and “The Age of Ben,” an American Songwriter Song of the Year semifinalist. More recent releases include “The Extra Mile is a Gravel Road,” produced by Nick Lutsko, “Cheers to Rob,” written in memory of a friend, and “New River Gorge,” a tribute to a place in West Virginia he loves. At home in Chattanooga, Steele hosts a weekly bluegrass jam and hosts Eat the Brick, a podcast about the city’s music community.
