August 16 & 17, 2019
Train Boards - 6:30 pm | train departs - 7:00 pm
Randall Conrad Olinger (RCO) creates a cunning brand of Americana that whips through the saloon doors on a warm breath of wind, settles onto the barstool next to you and keeps you company through the next morning’s hangover.
RCO is an original act, and the music generated by this one-man melodic powerhouse conjures images of a six-string balladeer rolling amid a New Orleans cavalcade on a rickety oxcart drawn by an ornery one-eyed mule.
RCO’s musical journey began as a teenager, jamming with high school friends before enlisting in the Navy with just a rucksack and an old electric guitar. Years of playing incognito in what he refers to as “a floating prison” readied him for the real world -- where music could be indulged in without consequence. His prolific work as the creative force behind legendary Denver band Workhorse and the inimitable Nautilus gradually gave way to his solo act, which he began in earnest in 2011.
RCO’s multi-instrumental attack slings forth an eclectic array of textures. Imagine: percussive rhythms stomped onto self-styled contraptions accompanied by a resonant banjo twang or the amplified caterwaul of slide guitar.
RCO sings of waterways, revenge, wanderlust and redemption with a hybrid howl that is equal parts road-tested rock and roller and soulfully embattled southern bluesman. This former sailor’s musical creations are not merely songs. Rather, they are movements that draw you in, sweep you up and carry you along with the current -- sometimes delivering you to portside solace and other times pulling you out unto the bedlam of the open sea.