Musician's style generates buzz

NEW YORK — Robert Randolph may not be a household name yet, but he already counts Eric Clapton and Dave Matthews among his fans, and his unique blend of rock and old-time soul has made him a buzz-worthy artist, even meriting him an appearance on last year's Grammy telecast.

Not bad for an inner-city kid who started out playing the slide guitar as a youngster in church. Randolph soon turned his hobby into a profession, forming Robert Randolph and The Family Band along with a couple of his cousins.

As Randolph's sound began to take shape, he found himself jamming with everyone from Clapton to Steven Tyler to Santana. Randolph sat down with The Associated Press to discuss his second studio album, "Colorblind," what he feels music is lacking nowadays, and why he wants to be a role model for black youths.

AP: Who taught you to play guitar?

Randolph: I grew up in church watching some older guys play slide guitar in church. If you grew up in church, you wanted to do that. In our church it was mainly all guitars. When I started to play, I would be at home playing and everybody would be like, "Yo, what are you doing man? Shut up. Stop playing that country instrument." I didn't care because I still felt cool about it. There wasn't really any pressure from any of the kids because I was a cool teenager.

AP: Is there something in you that is yearning for that top 10 single?

Randolph: Everybody wants the top 10 single. If it never happens, you can't really complain about it. That is one thing I got to understand, because every artist, I don't care who it is, when they are recording a song they go, "That's a hit. That is going to be No. 1." It just doesn't happen. They start complaining and they get down. You can't really worry about that. If it does then it is great. You have just got to continue to keep it going. Stay true to what I believe in. If more artists understood that, then people would have longer careers and not always fall for the trendy thing today.

AP: How easy is it to stay true to yourself in the music industry?

Randolph: You've just always got to be in the right frame of mind and not really settle for anything like that. I grew up in church. I think differently than some of the other people who never had that outlook on life. You have to stay true to what you believe in and what got you here.

AP: Do you feel like music is missing something right now?