Pioneers of CCM: Randy Stonehill
Randy Stonehill appeared abruptly on the Contemporary Christian Music scene in 1971. Born in Stockton, California in 1952, Randall Evan Stonehill and was raised an agnostic. I previously wrote about how rock musician and CCM pioneer Larry Norman met Stonehill, befriended him and then led him to Christ. Norman later signed Stonehill to his One Way label and went on to produce several of his early albums. To date Randy Stonehill has released more than 30 albums since his debut production, Born Twice. He is a singer/songwriter who falls neatly within the folk rock genre. His songs and style are reminiscent of the music of James Taylor with shades of CSN , and some melodic West-Coast rock influence can also be heard. Some of Stonehill's tracks are insanely comedic in their approach, and he is inevitably zany in his live performances too. Several of his compositions contain critical commentary on American life, with humour used to good effect on songs such as Ameri...