Randy Perkins B I O G R A P H Y
Born and raised in Portsmouth, Ohio, Randy Perkins (aka Diggy) has performed music for fun and profit when possible since the age of eleven. He began as a drummer, but after three years, changed to bass and then guitar to play with his drummer brother Phil in a band they named CHILD. With his soulful 3 ½ octave voice, a Nashville, Tennessee DJ once introduced Randy to his SRO NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL audience as “the white Jackie Wilson”.
From Ohio, Randy headed out for the eastern USA and Canada eventually taking up residence in Richmond, VA where brother Phil was camped out. The brothers plus fierce bassist Mike Moore started a new band of all original music called The Rules, but after three years and opening shows for Eddie Money, The Call and others, the trio disbanded as so many good bands do. Not to be dissuaded, Randy quickly built a musical name for himself. Randy’s songwriting and performing skills attracted many of the area’s top, and then unknown, musicians. Tim Reynolds (Dave Matthews), Keith Horne (Hot Apple Pie), and Keith Howland (Chicago) performed in Diggy’s highly acclaimed “Randy Perkins Project”, but after viewing the more direct and less cumbersome concerts of Bob Dylan in his “Don’t Look Back” video, Randy set the band aside and began performing solo three hours a night/four nights a week. He became a favorite college circuit performer and frequently requested solo opener for shows featuring The Wallflowers, Tori Amos, Eddie Money, Chris Whitley, Keb Mo, Eric Andersen, Alejandro Escaveda, Gov’t Mule, Jars of Clay, James Cotton, T-Bone Walker, The Call, The Screamin’ Cheetah Wheelies, and others.
At the urging of his ex-bandmate Keith Horne (Hot Apple Pie), who was then in Nashville playing bass for Tanya Tucker, Randy traveled to Nashville to investigate the town’s burgeoning Folk/Rock - Pop scene. After only 9 months of constant performing in Music City, Randy caught the ear of Tim Coats. Tim, veteran Bruce Springsteen bassist Garry Tallent and songwriter Ron LaSalle were forming a record label and signed Randy to a multi-record deal with their D’Ville Record Group. Randy named his band DIGNUS (hence his “Diggy” nickname . . . hey, it just stuck) and IN YOUR WORLD (Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, etc), 12 Diggy songs produced by Garry and featuring George Marinelli (Bruce Hornsby and the Range/Bonnie Raitt) on additional guitars, was released in the Spring of 1996 to positive national reviews. A glowing AllMusic Magazine review crowned Randy’s music style as “Folk-Funk” as the soulful and tight trio burned up the eastern United States highways. The Perkins epic and upbeat song Savhanna Lily Jones was being added to hundreds of college radio stations throughout the USA and Canada. They performed for MacFEST in New York City and began touring with The Screamin’ Cheetah Wheelies. Later, DIGNUS would open shows for headliners such as GOV'T Mule, Duncan Sheik, Jars of Clay, and headline medium-sized venues throughout the eastern USA. Just as things were looking up, D’Ville was “going down”; unable to survive a devastating financial setback. The promising Indie label closed leaving Randy without the muscle needed to continue promoting his recording.
After the D’Ville demise, Randy continued to build his name by writing and performing his own brand of soulful, “thought-provoking” music and releasing it through the DIGNUS website, ITunes and most on-line music outlets. Though the majority of Randy’s performances were solo/acoustic, he followed his tradition of forming DIGNUS variations with musical luminaries like John Jackson (Bob Dylan/Lucinda Williams/Shelby Lynn), George Marinelli, Terry Thomas (The Cheetah Wheelies), and Mark W. Winchester (Emmylou Harris/ Brian Setzer) when the notion arises. His November 1999 release LOOKING FOR A NEW WAY (Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, etc), featuring an appearance by Bela Fleck/Dave Matthews sax man Jeff Coffin, also earned great reviews and some airplay, but without the label muscle, the album only made a small dent in the local Nashville airwaves. As host and performer for the 2001 and 2002 TIN PAN SOUTH (Nashville’s premiere annual songwriter showcase) and a featured BMI performer at the 2002 Folk Alliance, the Nashville music community continued to hold Randy “Diggy” Perkins and his music in high regard.
An all-acoustic DIGNUS CD, MUDHOUSE SERENADE (Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, etc), was released in March of 2002. It features 12 new Perkins songs performed with all the soul and passion that he is known to deliver with his full band. His relentless one-man "Mudhouse Tour" started in November of 2001, earning him repeat invitations to Chicago, New York City, Atlanta, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Annapolis and many other great towns and cities east of the Mississippi. The tour created a devout, grassroots following, as designed, and delivered opening slots for Keb Mo, Alejandro Escavedo, Chris Whitley, legendary folk singer Eric Andersen, The Maryjanes, and Those Darn Accordions.
In the April 2002 Music Row Magazine, contributor and music historian Robert K. Oermann said the benefit of the all-acoustic production of Mudhouse Serenade " . . . is that you get to hear how cool Randy Perkins’ lyrics are." Winston-Salem/Greensboro ESP Magazine writer Anise Cerra wrote "What keeps (Mudhouse Serenade) jumpin' is that Diggy never quite lets the ear rest. There's always some little hairpin turn musically to catch the breath or a fine lyric to stick in the mind." In the May 2002 issue, Music Row Magazine's record reviewer John Hood said Diggy "is in fine voice throughout (Mudhouse Serenade), cementing his status as one of Nashville's most compelling vocalists."
Randy stepped out from under the lights in 2003 to help raise his son (current drummer for The Significant Brothers) and to write his debut novel TENSILE TOWN – A Novel by RS Perkins (paperback and ebook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc and published by INNOVO Publishing). The 410-page journey has been likened to a mashup of Kerouac's On The Road and Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress. The historical novel was finally released in 2021 and his Gospel Rock 10-song album CHRIST IS, performed by his band Saints of Woodbine, dropped in April of 2022 on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon and all streaming outlets. During this time, Randy taught himself to play the sitar and performed weekly for three years in a Nashville Indian restaurant as well as headlining a Vishnu exhibit at The Frist Gallery. He, also, fought a battle with cancer in his throat and won. Randy is now cancer free. Needless to say, Randy Perkins has had very little creative downtime since he was a young boy.
RANDY PERKINS MUSIC took shape in the summer of 2023 after he began writing a flood of new songs. He recorded some of them such as A Million Other Things, Broken Man, The Weekday Blues, and what he considers his “most successful communication of my vision through music” the fifteen minute The Songbirds Suite in 2024 and released them on a new streaming page simply titled RANDY PERKINS on all streaming platforms. More songs are being recorded for a vinyl release in late 2025. Solo, duo with bassist Mark W. Winchester, and full band performances with RANDY PERKINS and The Significant Brothers, which includes his son Gabriel, will follow.
DEFY MEDIOCRITY
Contact for booking and more information at the following:
P.O. Box 121955 Nashville, TN 37212
Booking: booking@RandyPerkinsMusic.com
www.RandyPerkinsMusic.com