Randell Young
Randell Young began his professional career right out of high school playing initially in R&B clubs in his hometown of Washington, D.C. He has since gone on to work with numerous recording artists of note including: Canned Heat, Poncho Sanchez, Max Bennett, Mayuto Correa, Alphonse Mouzon, Shanica Knowles, David Garfield, Nicolette Larson, Tony Guerrero, Jeff Suttles, Billy Mitchell, John Bolivar, Mickey Champion, Rob Mullins, Nate Phillips, Dan St. Marseille, Reed Gratz, Tyrone Brunson, Melvyn “Deacon” Jones, Harvey “Harmonica Fats” Blackston, Jeff “Skunk” Baxter (of Steely Dan), Nesbert “Stix” Hooper (of The Jazz Crusaders), Jerald and Julie Harris (of Slapbak), Margot Chapman (of The Starland Vocal Band) and Rusty Cox (of The Dazz Band). As a solo artist he has opened for such luminaries as Larry Carlton, Etta James, Steve Lukather, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Leon Russell, Canned Heat and John Mayall.
Randell Young holds an honorary doctorate in music (D.Mus.) from City University Los Angeles and has written instructional articles for such publications as Jazz Review, Guitar Review, Just Jazz Guitar, Indie Music, GuitarNoise, Six String Soul, Future Music, Music Gear Review, Guitarist, InterMusic, Galaris and Jazz Guitar magazines. His piece entitled On Soloing is still archived by FenderForum as The Best Guide to Soloing I’ve Ever Read!
A former member of the house band for NBC’s The David Allen Grier Show, Young has also served as music director for B. B. King’s Hollywood Country All-Stars (house band for B. B. King’s Legend in the Making Country Star Talent Search). His composition Don’t Know How To Love You is featured on MP3.com’s original Best of MP3 CD and in The Complete Idiot’s Guide to MP3: Music on the Internet (illustrated text with CD published by Alpha Books). He has also written and produced original music for film and television including the soundtrack for Beverly Skyline Media’s Zarbie and The Martians.
Randell Young was signed directly by Artie Mogull to produce 20/20: Bob Dylan Revisited, a tribute to the prolific songwriter set to feature guest vocal performances by 20 stars originally discovered by Mogull, the late former Chairman and CEO of United Artists renowned in the music industry for having signed Bob Dylan to his first publishing contract (while an executive at Warner Brothers) and for launching the careers of such artists as The Kingston Trio, The Band, The Beach Boys, The Electric Light Orchestra, Hootie and the Blowfish, Anne Murray, Laura Nyro, Richie Havens, Crystal Gayle, Olivia Newton-John, Helen Reddy, Gordon Lightfoot, John Denver, Kenny Rogers, Deep Purple, Lynyrd Skynyrd and the iconic folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary.
Though the original vision of 20/20: Bob Dylan Revisited was derailed by Mogull’s untimely and unexpected passing, the mutual respect shared by Young and Mogull had developed into a such a sincere friendship that, rather than pocket the remaining budget, Young completed the project as an homage to the man that, in the history of the music business, ranks second only to Clive Davis in terms of discovering new talent. Needless to say, Mogull never got to review the finished product but he did hear and comment on the first five tunes: “The tracks sound terrific!” was the message Artie left on Randell’s answering service. The Blues of Bobby Zimmerman (a collection of 11 Dylan tunes featuring Randell Young on guitar and vocals) and 20/20: Bob Dylan Revisited (the entire two-album project) are both in the can but remain unreleased.
Randell Young’s most recent projects include writing, producing and recording a trilogy of concept albums (Deo Juvante, A Rising Tide and Soiree at the Café Liberte) for Libertalia, a nine-piece ensemble performing all original material which can best be described as modern American Rhythm & Blues with elements of Jazz, Rock, Reggae and WorldBeat thematically aligned with the values of freedom and free enterprise, tolerance and respect for the rights of others and the dream of the creation of a new and truly free libertarian microstate, La République de Libertalia. Pre-Release (no CDs or videos) just free tracks available at SoundCloud, Libertalia has already attracted nearly a quarter of a million facebook fans.
Randell Young’s live performances have generated numerous and favorable reviews from a variety of sources. Los Angeles Times music critic Bill Kohlhaase credits Young with “a tight, cosmopolitan sound”. Author/columnist Alan Bock describes the guitarist as “genuinely accomplished and inventive… one of my favorite artists”. KSBR’s Infamous Aaron Blackwell assesses Randell Young as “a world-class blues master” while Orange County Register music critic Robert Kinsler touts Young as “a masterful blues player”.
Whether as a sideman, guest artist or featured performer, Randell Young emphasizes a groove-oriented presentation with due respect for the idiom yet still manages to bring something unique to the stage. As explained by Robert Kinsler, “Just as every great guitarist from Robert Johnson and B. B. King to Alvin Lee and Stevie Ray Vaughn has performed the blues with a distinctive style, so has Randell Young taken creative strides to cut his own turf”. Happening Magazine adds, “Randell Young’s formula calls for a clean sound built on genuine Blues rhythms backed up with a heavy dose of Soul”. No less of an authority on the Los Angeles music scene than the late Laura Mae Gross, former owner and proprietor of the city’s oldest blues club, Babe’s and Ricky’s (established 1964), frequently boasted, “Randell is the best guitar player we got”.
Ironically and presciently, Randell Young had this to say way back in a 1993 interview with the LA Times, “You know how you hear a track without a guitar and you kind of fill it in? Stevie Ray Vaughn would have played it one way. Albert King would play another way and Albert Collins would play it yet another way. I generally hear it the way Clapton would play it.”
Sound Better Interview with Randell Young
Planet Singer review of Layla
Other recordings that demonstrate why critics tout Randell Young as “a masterful blues player”…
Rain Tonight
Time Out!
Gotta Serve Somebody
Looking for a Woman
Copyright clearance for All Along the Watchtower and Gotta Serve Somebody provided by TuneCore Tune Licensing (All Along the Watchtower ID 9286 License Number 0489-001; Gotta Serve Somebody ID 21808, License Number 0350-001).
Elissa Sophia Metropoulos
Elissa Sophia Metropoulos is the daughter of singer/songwriter Soterios Metropoulos. Raised in a musical family (her mother is also a classical pianist), she was encouraged to pursue formal musical training from an early age and thus studied the piano since the age of four and the French horn since the age of nine. In her formative years, she performed in numerous recitals and won First and Second Place trophies in the Geneva Granquist and Illinois Music Association competitions.
She holds a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Saint Xavier University and has completed the Master Recording II Program at the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences. In Los Angeles, she attended one year of Ekballo Pasadena for worship and, under the direction of Tracy Thomas, participated in writing, recording and editing student songs including her own “No One Like You”.
Starting her musical career in her hometown of Chicago, Elissa worked full time leading worship services for churches such as the Orland Park Christian Reformed Church, Christian Church of Clarendon Hills and Living Hope Church. She worked with neo-soul bands Reel Jem and Chicago Sound Machine and was a member of the Downers Grove Music Club where she chaired their Piano Festival for two years. She accompanied vocalists and instrumentalists at middle and high schools, directed musical theater productions for the Orland Park Theater Troupe, hosted a monthly songwriters showcase at Ballydoyle and performed at numerous events in a variety of prestigious venues including the Chicago Cultural Center and the Chicago Symphony Center.
Elissa relocated to Los Angles in 2016 and has been active ever since in numerous music ministries including SheGathers, the LA Men’s Group, Crossroads LA and Bel Air Church where she served as Associate Director of Community and Connections.
She arranged, produced, played and sang on Soterios Metropoulos’ “Raining on My Heart” CD. You can hear her background vocals on Renee Catrine’s “Arrival” album. Mike Przygoda’s “Sophomore Slump” album features her on French horn. As a solo artist, Elissa has released one album, “A Better Day”, produced by Danya Thompson and Nick Scalise, formerly of the pop duo Bestfriends.
“I look forward to performing at inspiring venues and working alongside the talented musicians of The Dominos to recreate the music of the legendary Eric Clapton.” — Elissa Sophia Metropoulos.
“Elissa came to an audition and sight read the keyboard and vocal parts straight away, very impressive, particularly since her vocal parts were perfectly in tune and perfectly blended right from the git-go. She has great time and feel on the piano and plays beautifully with passion, precision, purpose and panache.” — Randell Young
Ruby Greenberg
Originally from Colorado, Ruby Greenberg was raised in a musical family and began studying voice, piano, guitar, clarinet and music theory at a very early age. After a few years of performing at numerous local venues, Ruby made the big move to New York City. Working both as a headliner and in support of various Pop and R&B artists, Ruby appeared regularly at Greenwich Village’s most prestigious venues including The Bitter End, Bowery Electric, 55 Bar and Rockwood Music Hall. She continued to pursue her studies in NYC and is an alumnus of The New School for Jazz where she earned a BA in Jazz Performance and Improvision.
Ruby has recorded and released several original compositions and continues to work on her debut album. She cites Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, Chris Hillman, Roger McGuinn, JD Souther, Carole King and Richie Furay as her major influences. You can hear Ruby’s music at https://rubygreenberg.com.
“Ruby anchors our high harmony parts. She has great pitch, tone and range; and can read most parts, even difficult ones, straight away. She does a great job on her solos and so we are always looking to incorporate more tunes that feature Ruby and/or Elissa.” – Randell Young
Aaron “The Wolf” Hice
The Wolf began his bass career around the turn of the millennium while attending Cal State Fullerton. Within six months, Aaron was performing professionally with his first Reggae band, Operation Roots and Culture (aka O.R.C) and was soon thereafter recruited to join Higher Lion, a hot LA-based Reggae band. With Higher Lion, Aaron performed up and down the coast of California with some occasional performances in Arizona.
Affectionately known as “Wolf” to his friends and other musicians, Aaron took advantage of every opportunity to perform with other bands and musicians on the California Reggae scene and shared the stage with such Reggae artists such as Rebel Rockers’ “Princess” Deborah Lee Sullivan, Chaka Demus and Pliers, Eek-a-Mouse, Shinehead and Dakeye. In 2010, Aaron was recruited to join a Rock and Roll cover band and got some great experience performing wide variety of Rock covers while also continuing to perform with Higher Lion.
“After viewing many hours of live concert footage of Eric Clapton, we heard (and had) numerous ideas and resolved to incorporate them into our show. We charted out new enhanced backup vocals, keyboard parts and especially Nathan East’s R&B flavored updates of the original rock bass treatments which proved considerably more difficult to execute. We were very fortunate to connect with Aaron who was able to apply his Reggae skills in an R&B context and groove these challenging new arrangements.” — Randell Young
Vinny Massaro
The Dominos’ newest member, Vinny Massaro is a native New Yorker who spent many years based out of Florida playing the Southeast hard rock club circuit. His move to California coincided with the success of Torman Maxt, a Christian Progressive project Vinny founded which has now recorded four albums. He has worked with numerous tribute bands including tributes to Thin Lizzy, Queensryche, Ozzy Osbourne, Dream Theater, Deep Purple and Hall & Oates. Vinny brings virtuoso chops and a hard rock energy to the Dominos while still holding down the syncopated rhythms characteristic of band’s R&B-based take on the music of Eric Clapton.
“If you’ve seen Eric Clapton in concert, you know he uses a lot of rock show devices particularly during the intros and endings. Vinny is especially talented at this element as well as adding rock show energy during all of the appropriate places in our arrangements. He is a very intelligent and disciplined musician who brings both passion and precision to the drum track. That he is also a fellow East Coast guy is a bonus.” — Randell Young