Rick Randol is one of the founding members of New Harmony, along with Danny Canerday and Don Meadows.  Rick plays the resonator guitar, often called a Dobro and sings baritone.

Rick, a lifetime Indianapolis resident, started out learning to play the banjo because his hero was Steve Martin and Steve played a banjo.  He thought of doing stand up comedy and Steve was funny and played a banjo, so he thought he should learn to play the banjo to be funny also.  Later on, while doing a musical at the University of Indianapolis, he discovered live bluegrass music that was accompanying the musical and he was hooked.

In the late 80's Rick was president of the Indiana Friends of Bluegrass. This is where he met Danny Canerday and started picking on a regular basis. That picking led to the first band which was called Union Grass Works and also included Don Meadows. When Danny, Don and Rick met the Collier brothers a new group was formed, New Harmony. Rick was the original banjo player for the group, but a problem with dry skin on the fingertips made him find his way to the resonator guitar.

Rick has enjoyed playing music with all the guys and says without hesitation, "you could not meet a nicer or more fun group of guys to play music with".  He continues, "I just hope we can keep on playing music and enjoying friends and family for years to come".

Along with playing bluegrass, Rick has a large collection of bluegrass music which he listens to on a regular basis and enjoys his favorite Dobro picker Rob Ickes of Blue Highway fame. Other hobbies include model rocketry and working on bicycles. Rick is married to his very understanding wife Jenny and they have 2 "growing up too fast" boys, Taylor and Luke.

Email Rick at  mailto:rickr@newharmonyband.com