We recently connected with Randi Rae Friedl and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Randi Rae, thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I first noticed I wanted to pursue a musical path when I was I was about 5 or 6. I would go over to my grandmother’s house everyday when I was that age. She had nearly 20 instruments, and all the musical equipment you could think of. Her house was her and I’s musical playground. I always looked up to her from a young age; wondering how she managed to make a living doing this profession? My grandmother has been a successful musician and entertainer for the last 69 years. I want to keep music in my family just like she did for me. You could say I was passed ‘the musical torch’. I knew I never wanted to drop it.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

As I mentioned before my grandmother, Betty Rydell, has been the most influential person in my musical life. She is now 85 but has been singing, entertaining, playing multiple different folk instruments for the last 69 years. She has played with names such as; Barbara Mandrell, Charlie Pride, Conway Twitty, Ernest Tubb, Tex Ritter, Carl Perkins, Marvin Rainwater and LeRoy Van Dyke plus other name performers.

If it wasn’t for her being in the music industry, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

I started out singing/playing music at a really young age. My grandma, at this time was my babysitter. She would take me across the Midwest to all of her various shows. She would always beg me to sing something onstage. Me being nervous, young, and stagestruck, I would always say no. Eventually, I would get up with her to sing, and really the rest is history.

From there I would travel with Rydell to copious amounts of fairs, festivals, and other venues, performing as a Grandma and Granddaughter act. To this day, I will still do shows with her whenever I am free!

In 2013, I started studying music at Anoka-Ramsey Community College. In a short amount of time, my band Midwest Mayhem evolved. Midwest Mayhem started out as a way for 5 of us college kids, to start making some money while playing music. Our goal was to get a three hour setlist created, and take it to our local venues to get some gigs. And we did just that! Over the years we would have a lot of different lineup changes but ultimately the vibe of Midwest Mayhem had always stayed the same. The bands mantra was this; young people, playing B-side 70s/80s rock tunes, with a female lead. I always wanted a shock factor with MWM. I had wanted people to say things like, “how do young folk know that song, you weren’t even born yet?”, and we eventually got that a lot! We would go on to play regional festivals like Moondance Jam, Lakes Jam, and Jam by the Dam playing alongside people such as Steve Miller Band, Kid Rock, Kansas, Bret Michaels, 3 Doors Down.​ Lita Ford, Autograph, Kip Winger, and RATT. We had a great run with this band, but ultimately, COVID made it hard for us to recover. Nowadays, we get together for reunion shows about once or twice a year!

With Midwest Mayhem subsiding, I knew that I couldn’t be done with music. I knew that starting a new band would be a lot of work, and that wasn’t something I was interested in at that time. I reached out to James Gross, the leader of a band called Shirts & Skins, and eventually auditioned and accepted a singing/band leading role in that. I currently do about 75 shows a year with this band, and am having a great time traveling the U.S. with them.

Being a musician doesn’t mean you stop at one opportunity. I continually search for opportunities to collab with various artist around the Midwest, and am always looking for any kind of creative work to fill gaps in my schedule. Just this week I had four shows, one radio interview, and was in production for a music video.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

There is nothing like seeing someone’s face light up when their favorite song is being played right in front of them. I not only play music for myself but definitely for other people who enjoy it as much as I do.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Buy the merchandise, stream the album, give some love on the socials, all of these things are overlooked. If you like a band, talk about them. Tell your radio station to play your upcoming artists song, tell your local brewery you want live music. There are so many easy ways to support an artist, without even spending a dime. If you need help supporting ask your local musician how you can help them. I’m sure they would love it!     

Contact Info:

• Website: www.randiraefriedl.com
• Instagram: @randii_rae
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/randiiraemusic?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Image Credits
Scott M. Mohn Eric Collier