Randi Driscoll

Finding connection and community, during a global crisis.

Sat, 28 Mar 2020 11:09:30 -0700

What a week. I have so much to say about what we are all going through. But mostly, I simply want to HUG as many people as I can... even if it's virtually.

Last Saturday evening, we launched

"Randi’s Damn Facebook Live", to check in with my friends from all over the country, and spread a little love, hope, song and community. Each night, I shared my day, what Skyler was working on, any important info I thought we should chat about and I even sang a few songs.:) You heard brand news songs like, "Take your Time”, some older ones, like “Cinderella", and some really old ones; like "The Play". I played ukulele live for the first time, and covered a few songs, I’ve never sung before.

Here’s the recap of week one;

Saturday: Episode 1: The pilot

"Dinner at Nana's"

Fri, 17 Nov 2017 19:24:54 -0800

Wednesday night was a particularly strange night, full of nightmares, and restless sleep.

The next day I was in a total funk. I was really missing my Nana, and running on empty to just make it through the day.

After several failed attempts at distracting myself with work, I thought about what might get me out of my misery.

I tried to remember some of my "comfort" places, sights, sounds and smells, so I ran off to the store and purchased all the makings of real “Nana" dinner.

I started cooking the year she passed away. Slowly at first, a few things here and there,

nothing too adventurous. Year after year I’d add a few dishes, some hers, some I picked up along the way.

I purchased a crock pot, printed a few newish recipes off of the internet, and started engaging with my more domestic side, who’d been tucked away for a long time.

So yesterday I decided to once and for all jump into the mother-load - Nana’s homemade red sauce.

I like to call it “Everybody’s Jersey -Italian Tomato Sauce”

No recipe, 'cause, well, you didn’t need one. No measurements, no ingredients list or fine print, just your memory and one big pot of love.

I grabbed a slew of the ingredients I’d shopped for at least three hundred times, and I dove in head first, from memory. I guess watching Nana make her magic for thirty years, counts for something.

While cooking the sauce I also put a pot of coffee on, and when I entered the house, from being out, it smelled JUST like Nana’s…..

All of my memories came flooding back, and I was again, in my happy place.

So tonight for dinner, I whipped up a famous batch of chicken parmesan, complete with Nana’s Jersey sauce.

It was a beautiful reminder of the woman who raised me. Skyler and I sat at our very fancy dinner table, and shared stories about Nana. I even pulled out some pictures, of some of her favorite people, eating "Nana’s" food.

This trip down memory lane was one of the best. Comfort food to comfort my soul.

So, here’s to memories, sharing traditions, celebrating life, and a sink full of dirty dishes, Nana would be thrilled.

xoxoxo

#nana #love #jerseyitalianfoodforever

I love New York.....

Sun, 11 Sep 2016 20:45:39 -0700

There's not a day I miss my hometown in New Jersey, more than today. I remember Noah and I played a show on November, 26th, 2001, at the Bitter End, in NYC. My California friends asked me if I was scared to sing in New York, so soon after the attacks of September, 11th. I said "not at all" because I knew that New Yorkers are brave, full of heart and soul, and that humanity would win. I also knew the power of love, and the importance of healing music, so sharing the stage with my dear friends Noah, David Gurland (whose beautiful voice and presence I miss every day) and Dave Eggar, we performed a song, I've only sung, probably three times. "Fall Away", was written as a reminder to myself to hold my loved ones near, remember that life is short, and to count each day as a blessing. I moved to N.Y.C in 2004, and learned, first hand, how very "deep" the soul of New York truly is. So to all my "Angels" in Chelsea and everyone on that side of the map... we will never forget. Thank you for helping us heal, as you were healing yourselves, and reminding us to live each day, like it might be our very last. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-Hm70kFwzk&list=PL6rE9-MUd9b9C7_c8csO5qdUSZgTBaNXU&index=15oxoxoxo #ilovenewyork #neverforget #love #ryanforbesphotography #fromtheplay

Staycation in Paradise

Sun, 04 Sep 2016 23:07:41 -0700

Happy Labor Day weekend. When I was a little girl, Mom, Dad, Nana and Little Randi, would head down the turnpike to spend two glorious nights at a truck stop, in Hightstown N.J. This tradition would carry on for years because, well, this was no ordinary truck stop. The motel had close to fifty rooms and suites, a five star restaurant, and a bright, big, beautiful pool with a diving board, and kiddie section. Every holiday weekend, the car we head town the turnpike to our family destination. Mornings started at seven a.m. when I'd walk over to the adjoining restaurant to get coffee for Nana. Then, I’d patiently watch out the window of our hotel room until the lifeguard arrived. The minute the gate opened, I’d run outside to claim our chairs. Mom and Dad joined us later, because Mom really enjoyed sleeping in on “vacation”. Nana always packed her entire kitchen in her Oldsmobile, so around noon, we’d feed the lifeguards, and ourselves! Sandwiches, pop, and cocktails made from traveling mini bars, filled our sun-soaked tummies, until it was time to jump back into the water, where I’d stay for the afternoon. When they finally dragged me out of the pool at sundown, we’d shower off and head into the "Coach and Four" for a big dinner, in what a I always thought was a rather "fancy" setting, complete with white table cloths, and lots of singing at the piano bar. When I’d return to the motel room I shared with Nana, we’d put on the television to watch the Jerry Lewis telethon, and Nana would give me all of her change to make the massage- bed work. This was heaven! A small contraption connected to our beds, that made the bed shake, in what was supposed to be a relaxing, massage like, motion. I’m not sure if it was the rattle, or the countless hours in the pool and sun, but I was quickly off to sleep, only to repeat the activities the following day.

In all the years of carrying on this family tradition, I never knew we were a mere forty minutes from the shore, had we just kept driving! But, as with many of the lessons I learned from my parents, sometimes it’s not WHERE you are, it’s WHO you’re with. And we, were together, and that was all that mattered.

So happy holiday weekend.~ I hope you're enjoying it, whatever you’re doing, and whomever you are with. These are the memories that make life sweet.

Here’s to making new ones! #truckstop #holiday #pool #staycation #motel #thatslivin' #staycation

Blips of My Bliss

Wed, 01 Jun 2016 20:31:03 -0700

June 1st, 2016

I was reading the comments section of our video “The Rest”, that a friend shared.

(which by the way, I’ve been warned never to do "unless you have very thick skin")

A woman I don’t know posted some very nice comments that I'll paraphrase below:

"Nice song, great vocals"

and then…

"but poor thing, to be so tortured?"

I had to laugh.

Who is she talking about, I thought?

And then I realized.

Oh…. she’s talking about me.

But that seemed so silly. I mean, there I was sitting in my pajamas watching my toddler eat crackers dipped in yogurt, as we listened to the Frozen soundtrack for the seven-hundredth time.

Ok, that’s a certain kind of torture, but surely not what this woman meant.

So I thought about it a little more.

Fine, I’ll admit it. I was tortured. Devastated even.

But now... now, I’m OK!

Really, I’m ok.

I don’t know why I thought I needed to reply with that (and thankfully, I didn’t) but I wanted to.

Which got me to thinking about not only “The Rest”, but the entire CD in general.

To me "Glass Slipper" is a very hopeful, almost, happy, CD.

Sure it’s about the journey of life, the struggles of loss and the parts in between; but within all of that, it’s about an eventual happy ending. Or, at least, the pursuit of one. Unfortunately or fortunately, that devastation was largely responsible for a happy conclusion.

But it did occur to me, that all that, may not translate immediately to the average listener. In fact, if you are not inclined to purchase an artist’s full CD these days,

(which, let’s face it, is a fairly archaic practice anyway)

you may only be getting blips of my bliss.

Four minutes of my journey at a time.

And, depending on which four minutes you select in any particular order, the journey could look very different.

For example:

If you were to hear "No Song” (written after the passing of my Nana, as an “Ode to a Writer: who cannot write )

and then followed that, with a listen to “Maybe”- only to finish with our video single “The Rest”...

Well... sure. I do seem a bit tortured.

You’d have to "dig in" a little to find, say, track two, "Cinderella Left the Ball, which starts out a bit forlorn, and dreary but finishes strong, with all the empowerment fit for rock-and-roll prince or princess.

You might have to hunker down a bit to discover "You’re My Everything Will Be OK",

which could have easily been a "thank you" to my fans, or even, just the person at the other end of a phone call on a bad day. Of course, if you made it to track four, you’d understand what a girl really wants, when she doesn’t know what she wants, is simply for you to shut up and "Kiss Me".

Either way, if you somehow stumbled across "Beautiful", my "life imitates art imitates life", track, I can only hope you’d feel something close to how I feel when I perform it. The song is forever in my heart- and if any of those feelings translate, well, then we’ve done our jobs in the recording process.

All this to say, where the "365 Days” CD was a musical journey from down to up, over the span of four seasons; "Glass Slipper” is a fairytale ending, eight years in the making.

The CD is the story of my present, with hints of the past, and a peak into the future. It’s the story of my life, and the lives of the people I love; the people I’ve let go of, and the ones I’ve only just said “hello” to.

Now that I really think about it; "Glass Slipper” is the movie version of "The Play".

Much love, and thanks for letting me ramble on…

Randi

"Oh What A Night"

Thu, 28 Apr 2016 20:12:19 -0700

Wow. That definitely DID happen. How do you put into words what an evening like last night feels like? Not sure.
The lyricist is officially stumped. I only know that we were in a beautiful space, packed with friends and fans, who showed an enormous outpouring of love~! We felt so supported and your enthusiasm was CONTAGIOUS! Thank you to everyone who made it so special. We'll be posting the video soon.... ~! So stay tuned.... for....well, "The Rest"

Randi, signing off, somewhere between cloud nine, and the pillow...

Here, There, and Back Again~!

Mon, 11 Apr 2016 14:49:13 -0700

( A wild night on tour...... My daughter Skyler Faith, with Noah's boys, Ethan and Lucas)

Welcome to the new website, which I'm really thrilled about. ( THANK YOU, NOAH!)
I promise to keep this up to date, and user friendly…
(I'm one of the users…and so far, we're friends)

Just got back from a trip to home, which was awesome. Being back in NYC always recharges my battery.
It could be the people, the music or in this case, the cold. ( 28 degrees in APRIL, geeze?)
Didn't win the Hamilton lottery, (#lucky) but had a wonderful visit with mom, got in a show and
reconnected with a bit of my "Jersey" girl. Noah and I played a fun house concert in Brooklyn, ( thanks Paul!) and we both had some much needed time with our families.

Now I'm back in L.A. The weather is…oh you know, it's CA, so the weather just "is".
We're all getting super excited about the next few weeks. So much going on….
It's been years in the making and now that it's here, I'm kind of in shock. The excitement, planning, and anticipation can lead to a whole lot of restless nights, and an over abundance of coffee intake. Or that could just be raising a toddler?
In any case, I'm so looking forward to the music video release, April 27th at El Cid. The space is amazing, and we can't wait to party with everyone to celebrate this launch. Ryan Forbes has done such a wonderful job with this video. The entire cast and crew, really gave so much. I'll post more about that in a few days, but I'm full of gratitude to everyone involved. #happyheart

After the video release, it's a few trips out of state, and then our CD release May 21st in San Diego.
Details will be all over this page in the weeks ahead… so check back. Right now, I'm off to save the princess from the large, and scary, polka-dot dragon, that has her trapped in the bathroom. ( Or so she says) When this episode of "Saving Skyler" concludes, I'll start posting more info about the upcoming gigs.

Thanks so much for checking in.
Love,