Randy Steele, Chattanooga’s preeminent banjo pickin’ firefighter, just released a music video for his new song The Extra Mile is a Gravel Road.
It’s a rich journey with lots of conflicting emotions. Just like life itself.
Randy has a gift for plainspoken lyrics that pack an emotional punch, whether those lyrics are sweet like A Golden Smile or utterly hopeless like The Age of Ben. In this new song Randy takes stock of his life, all the things he should be proud of, and all the things that will never be finished.
He asks a lot of questions, but doesn’t find any answers. “Am I settled in my lane? Is my bucket overfilled? Have all these years gone to waste?”
He’s talking about being a musician, but in such broad and poetic terms that the song could be about anyone or anything. A final verse that depicts an armored knight on the beach, poised to fight the ocean one wave at a time.
The song was produced by Nick Lutsko, and his instrumental arrangement defies bluegrass conventions. It features piano, synth, electric bass, clapping, and a simple but persistent drum loop that echoes away with every phrase.
All this is extremely subtle, and until the kaleidoscopic final seconds, all you’ll really notice is Randy’s voice and banjo.
In the music video directed by Jakey Lutsko, Randy Steele and his dog wander the woods of East Tennessee, collecting abandoned toys, trophies, and artifacts from his past. He builds an audience of these discarded relics and sings to them through a microphone with a severed cable.
Objectively, the image of lots of stuffed animals adorned with googly-eyes is a happy one. But combined with Randy’s song, that image becomes wistful and elegiac.
Even the song’s chord progression tells its story. Randy starts on one chord, takes one step up the scale, then takes one step back down again. Most of the song is built on this repetition – one step forward and one step back. There are no dominant cadences to imply finality, and the song has no choice but to end on an unresolved note.
Just like life itself.