Contemporary country singer/songwriter Jon Randall was raised in Dallas, relocating to Nashville as a teen to pursue a career in music; by age 20, he was playing guitar in Emmylou Harris' backing band, the Nash Ramblers, and a Grammy-winner at 21 for his work with the Nash Ramblers on Emmylou's "At The Ryman." Randall's solo debut, "What You Don't Know," appeared on RCA in 1995; "Cold Coffee Morning" followed on Asylum in 1998, and a year later he resurfaced with "Willin'." Jon Randall is an artist with definite priorities. For him, music comes from a special place: a place where good songs and playing still matter. For the Dallas-born-and-raised artist, music is about something more than radio formats, demographic breakdowns and contrived emotional touchpoints selected to manipulate listeners. For Jon Randall, music is about life, the heart, the soul, the moment - and the unsettling reality that things don't always work out the way you want. "Some of the songs are very personal, and some of them come from no place at all," Randall says of his writing. "But I've always written sad songs, because I love them. Growing up on bluegrass where you murder your lover, throw them in a river then turn yourself in, it strikes you. I grew up on that mournful Appalachian stuff. Regardless of whatever I do, that's really where my roots are." "As Steve Earle said, 'I'm not always feeling happy midtempo positive.' That's real. I don't worry when I record, 'Is this song too deep?' I make the records I want for me, not calculating what can get on the radio, not for what the publisher thinks is a hit." Randall knows a little bit about the artistic grind that comes with being part of the Music Row machine. After six years as a part of Harris' Nash Ramblers, two albums for RCA Nashville (one which went nowhere and the never-released Emory Gordy-produced follow-up), a stillborn Asylum project, and the Eminent release "Willin", what he wants is to keep making his music on his terms. For Randall, who was in high school during the rise of the neo-Nashville stars Steve Earle, Lyle Lovett, Nanci Griffith, k.d. lang and to a certain extent Dwight Yoakam, he understands the gap between art and the majors. "Most of those artists had a clear picture of what they wanted, and it's what they did. It connected with a lot of people like me, but not necessarily those huge numbers, so they were shooed away. This isn't a new thing, it's sad, but there's always a place for those artists with real music lovers - just like there's always a place for Emmylou, Guy Clark, John Prine. "I hope perhaps I can make my music take the same route. Make a record that the people - whether they're at a Sam Bush gig, or an Emmylou show or somewhere else - can relate to and want more of. For me, having a career is about being able to make music." The deal with Jon is making music for the sake of the song and the sheer joy of playing. Certainly, Jon reminds us that what sets roots music apart is heart and soul and consummate musicianship.