May 29, 2025 • 25 mins
The Josie Show with special guest "In the Heat of the Night" star and singer/songwriter Randall Franks.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
Br br bro bro bro Bro around the world on
the world wide Web. Ladies and Gentleman period is the.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Most The other stations are tuning in too. Oh yeah.
Broadcasting live from the Josey Network studios in downtown Madonna, Tennessee.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
It's that time of week again.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
It's time for the Josie Shoe, bringing you the most
exciting music, moves and guests from around the world right
here on the Jersey Show. Please make walking beautiful. It's Hannity. Hello,
(01:00):
Dy America's Riddy Elslida Business, Josie Assizen Overs.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Welcome to the Josie Show. I am so thrilled to
be back with you all. We've been on quite a
hiatus due to some medical issues and all that fun jazz,
but I'm so excited to be back and with a
thrilling guest. I'm so excited. He's a JMA winner. He's
currently nominated for JMA this year twenty twenty five. And
of course it is the wonderful Randall Franks. So stay
(01:31):
tuned to the whole show. You will not want to
miss a second of it.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
All Right, here we go, Please, Welcome to the Josie Show.
Randal Franks, Hello.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Hello, Josie. So good to be with you and your
wonderful audience.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
Oh, it's an honor to have you. Thank you so
much for joining me. I've been looking forward to this.
It's gonna be a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
I have too. It's been a wonderful, wonderful time as
I've been preparing for this show, and I know that
everybody tuning in it's going to have a lot of.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
Fun with you and I you know it, you know it.
I am really looking forward to this. First off, I
have to start out by saying big congratulations for your
win last year at the Joke and Music Arts for
Musician of the Year under the fiddle category. And of
course now more congratulations are in order because this year
nominations have already started being announced and you have already
garnered a couple of nominations. Congratulations.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Well, thank you so much.
Speaker 5 (02:27):
And we're so excited just seeing the opportunity of getting
to come again and be with all of the wonderful
artists who make up the Josie Awards family and just
enjoying that time.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
I'm so looking forward to it.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
Yes, it's always just such a wonderful experience to get
to be in a room with such wonderful musicians and
songwriters and artists, and it was so wonderful having you
there last year. And what was that experience like when
you heard your name, you know, being called and you
had to go up there on that opera house stage.
What was that for you?
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Well, you know, it's hard to describe, to be honest,
because of course I've had the honor of playing on
the Opry stage back.
Speaker 5 (03:14):
Forty years ago.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
I made my Opry debut as a as an artist,
and it was just an amazing thing to be able
to walk up on stage and thanks so many of
the people who made it possible for me to excel
as a musician and entertainer and to help me grow.
(03:37):
The people who were encouraged, like Bill Monroe with Jim
and Jesse Oppy stars obviously and no longer with us,
but still I was able to pay homage to them,
and y'all gave me that opportunity. On a special anniversary
night the day that I received the award at the
Josey Awards, I was literally on stage with Bill Monroe
and the Bluegrass Boys performing forty year So it was
(04:02):
an amazing thing for me personally in my career to
be able to say thank you, Oh.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Yeah, that's incredible, meant to be. It really was definitely
deserving of it. And you're just so incredible just from
the many different things that you do. Actually, a cool
story is my husband, Matt, he actually introduced me to
you before I really even knew you because growing up,
his favorite show was In the Heat of the Night,
(04:32):
and I remember when we were dating he was showing
me the show and I didn't connect the dots until
you came to the award show and my husband's like, hey,
that's office right. I was like really, So it was
really it was a really neat moment for him and
and I. So can you tell us a little bit
(04:53):
about playing that role because so many people even still
to this day, love it, remember you you from it.
So what was that experience?
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Like, well, Josie, God has blessed me and so many
was by opening so many doors from me, and you know,
those early years of getting to grow in country music, uh,
you know, allowed me the visibility to cross over into
active My first role was in a movie called Desperate
(05:22):
for Love with Christian Slater and Brian Gloom and Tammy Laurien.
It was the CBS Movie Week and then some of
the nice folks who were involved in that allowed me
to make the transition over to in the Heat of
the Night, and he opened doors there for me, and
they actually created Officer Randy Good that character for me.
(05:44):
And I had so many wonderful encouragers there. Carol O'Connor,
who many people still remember so chief blessed me on
our show. But Archie Bunker, who he will always be
that character for so many people. But that's a wonderful man.
And so many behind the scenes producers and directors, my
(06:05):
co stars like Alan Outre who was Bubba on the show,
David Hart who was Parker, and Jeffrey gown Sweet, so
many of the others who played a day to day
role in my life for five years. It was a
wonderful time in my life. Of course, it's always a
blessing to get to be to fulfilled childhood dreams. And
(06:30):
I watched, as many people did when I was coming up,
the Beverly Hill Billies and the Andy Griffith Show, and
for me, the best shows were the ones that the
Dillards came on as the Darlings and the Andy griff
Show and Lester Flatten Earl Strokes came on to Beverly
Hill Billies, and as a kid, I told my parents,
(06:51):
I want to do what they're doing. I want to
play on television like they're playing. I want to play
a character and I want to play. And so in
a roundabout way, I got to eventually got there. It
took a lot of years, but from that childhood dream,
but I eventually got to be able to play and
(07:13):
share my music in character as Officer Randy good On
in the heat of the night along with playing that
police character. So so that was a that was a
really an outstanding dream fulfilled after so many years, and
Carol O'Connor and Leo Penn, who was the director at
(07:34):
that time, made a big, big part of my life
come those dreams come true with that, and you know,
I got to be part of a very exclusive club.
There weren't there aren't many entertainers who got to actually
portray from our music genre of Appalachian and Blue Dash
(07:55):
music got to portray characters on television because Lattin's Gross,
the Billard's my old fiddling friend Byron Birdline who actually
played a fiddle on Star Trek, which was interesting. But
you know, there's not many that got to be on
network television in a series television, whether drammer, comedy and that.
(08:16):
So I was very blessed in that. And and of
course playing in police character was a lot of fun.
You know, we we were the cutting edge police drama
at the time. You know, we had NYPD Blue, which
was the city cops, and we were the country cops,
right right.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
I love it. I love it. I love it so much.
And uh, yeah, it's really cool. And you did you
get to fulfill such a dream of yours. But and
you continue to. I mean you've been If you look
on if anybody wants to and is interested, if you
look at Reynold's IMDb, you'll see all of the stuff
that he's done and been in, which was really cool
(08:54):
to look at. I mean, you've been in multiple films,
including the American's Creed, making of the American Creed documentary,
The Cricket Stance, and soon to be in a film
titled Two Brothers. Can you tell us a little bit
about this new film coming out?
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Well, it's a story, it's a Christian film and it's
centered around a modern day tale of canaan Abel and
I'm playing the character. And once again, a lot of
times I get to do musical pieces, and in this piece,
I'm doing a musical cameo playing Joshua Moses and going
(09:34):
to be performing in the film. So and looking. I'm
looking forward to that coming out. It's supposed to be
out in the fall, but I think people will enjoy
the message in that film. My friend Katherine Turner is
the producer on that, and she's got a lot of
things Christian projects. Let's say in the pipeline that I
(09:55):
was privileged to be a part of this one. And
then you mentioned the Cricket Stance, which was outstanding, a
film that crossed centuries in its storyline. Now, you know,
you get opportunities as an actor. You know, you do
some really if you're lucky, you can do some what
you call good acting work. You get to work with
(10:18):
really tremendous actors. I've worked with Academy Award winners, William Heard,
I've worked with Elizabeth of the Government, of course, so
many Emmy winners. But Crickets Dance it had the feel
to me of the wonderful movies that were made by
(10:38):
the studios back in the in the fifties and sixties.
They just had a rich feel. When you watched them,
you felt like you were watching something and you became
engaged in watching that film. And I was blessed to
be a wonderful ensemble cast. And we actually won an
award as an ensemble cast in that film just a
couple of years back. And so that was a wonderful project.
(11:03):
And like I said, it covered, I played a character
from the eighteen hundreds, and in fact, that's what I
seem to be doing more of now, just like the
American's Creed, I was playing my actlutely playing one of
my great grandfathers as a patriot in the Revolutionary War.
So so you know, and I enjoyed that. I like
playing in period pieces.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
So absolutely I love watching those, just saying the costumes
just seem like the costume designs just seeing, you know,
just just watching it. I really do enjoy those kind
of pieces. And how fun it is it for you
to be able to recreate you know, that time, You
know what I mean, it's a it's really neat. And
for those who want to see the crickets dance, because
now listen, now that you mentioned it, you know, people
(11:46):
are definitely going want to check it out. So are
they still able to sign that somewhere or get a copy?
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Certainly, I know the DVDs are atal Tecture. They can
go to my website, Camrandall Franks dot Com to our store.
We've got some there if they want to get it
directly from me. But most people are streaming their movies today,
and if you're doing that, I'm sure you can put
The Crickets Dance in your search engine and you will
find it on one of the whether it's TV or
(12:14):
Netflix or some of the other providers, you'll find find
it out there. Some work, so you can download it
watch it tonight if you want to watch it. It's
a love story, I mean, and it crosses centuries, but
it also deals with some very serious topics, so it
(12:34):
may not be a film that you want to sit
down and have the little kids watched without you looking
at it first, but it's a it's a good it's
a good film. So in so many I've been blessed
to work in some wonderful, wonderful films and some uplifting
films that I mentioned William Hurt the list with the
Government course, I'm a big dubt Maddie fan, so I
(12:58):
love it. I was blessed to work with Man years
ago for Hallmark and we did a wonderful film with
William Hurt called The Flamingo Rising and it's just a great,
great project and so many, so many things I think
you could do, but like you said, you know, you
never know where God is going to take you and
what doors are going to open. Music and acting and
(13:21):
I've got to do, Josie, so many things. You know,
from playing in molodgrass and Christian music and country music
and now I'm Marikana. You know, so many different venues,
so many different groups of entertainers that I've been able
to include in my circle of friends. I've just been blessed.
Speaker 4 (13:44):
Absolutely you have you have and it's just incredible. I
mean just reading your bio, everything that you do. I mean,
we would have to do like maybe like a five
part series on The Josie Show just to cover it
all money I would love to do too. I mean, it's
just so interesting. You know, everything that you have done
from I mean of course your music, you're acting, but
(14:05):
also you've written books which I really want to talk
about as well. You release Yeah, you release a book
titled Southern Crossing, and I don't wanna. I don't want
to mess up. So is this a doctor's legend? How
how do you say that?
Speaker 1 (14:19):
It's cus legacy?
Speaker 4 (14:21):
Thank you, legacy perfect. I just want to butcher that.
Tell us a little bit about that one and where
our listeners may be able to find it.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Okay, And that's that's a book that you can find
on ramblefranks dot com slash uh Southern Dash Crossing and
you can get an autograph copy directly from me. If
you're a Kindle book reader, you can go to Amazon
and you'll find it there. But it's a it's a
crime drama set in a small town in southern in Mississippi. Uh.
(14:52):
It's sort of like in the Heat of the Night.
So if you like in the Heat of the Night,
you'll probably like this book. And in fact, I started
the book while I was on in the Heat of
the Night, and yes, I it sat in my It
sat in my filing claminate for several years and I
finally said, I've got to get that out and finish it.
(15:14):
And a couple of years ago I took it out
and started finishing up the final touches. But back when
I originally wrote it, I was blessed to have Carol
O'Connor read it and several other you know, directors and
giving me advice, you know, because that was really my
first foray because it started its life as a as
(15:36):
a script and uh you know, for for for television,
and so you know, we're just getting their advice and
uh so I learned a lot. And that's when Carol
actually started teaching me about screenwriting. So and Alan Autry
as well. Alan was another who was Bubba who was
(15:57):
another one who reviewed it and gave me some early
notes in the project. And of course I incorporated those
things back then, and so you'll still find them in
there today. But I think folks will enjoy it. It's
centered around a matriarchal character by the name of ali
Mae Wilson in the small town of Hinton, Mississippi, and
(16:17):
what her family goes through over about once again, similar
to a cricket stance, it covers a little more than
one hundred and fifty years of history. It's a novella,
so it's a short one, so it's an easy read
if folks enjoy that. And I've got another fiction book
called A Badger and Old Guitar, which is centered around
(16:40):
obviously a music story, but that's a murder mystery. I
didn't kill anybody in Southern Crossing. It's not like in
the heat of the night. You know, if we used
to joke about in the heat of the night, if
you came to town or fell in love with one
of us, you'd be dead before the hour was up.
Speaker 4 (16:57):
It's true, that's right. All hilarious. That's hilarious. It's so good,
all of it. I hope everyone checked out the books
as well. Your oncoming book is actually titled Seeing Faith,
a devotional on the second Well, can you tell us
about that one already? Any kind of sneak peeks that
you could tell us a little bit about on this one.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Well, it's the second in the series. Now, the first
one is already available. Folks can get Seeing Faith Devotional,
which is a thirty one lesson devotional, so it's a
month devotionals. I worked with seven pastors on that, and
I took experiences from my life as well as just
(17:37):
insights and developed Bible studies with those, and that will
be the same format for the second in the series.
We were so we had such a wonderful response to
the first volume. Of course it's available and people can
get it. If you enjoy devotionals and read those, it
would be a nice addition to your collection and to
(17:58):
your Bible study. But the second one will be more
of the same and hopefully better. You know, you always
work to make something a little bit better when you do.
Speaker 4 (18:07):
It right, absolutely, and I'm sure it will be. So everyone,
right now start reading the first one so then you
can get to the second one. Let's do it in order.
I love that, so yes, everyone, please make sure you
check it all out. And also now we have to
chat about the music we're getting. We're getting little here,
a little bit of everything you know from you, which
(18:28):
is very exciting. So I want to talk about because
on Amazon and iTunes right now we can find your
album titled The American's Creed and you're currently in the
studio working on a new album right which will be
titled Zippity Doodle Day, which this project is to raise
funch for Appalachian music scholarships for the Share America Foundation. Well,
can you tell us about your upcoming album that's so exciting?
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Well, I am excited about that. It's been a project
that has been underway as far as for me. Yeah,
actually it's about six years we've had the project in planning,
and you know, it's finally risen to the top of
the pile and we're getting in the studio with the
(19:13):
other artists and what it is is back once again.
Going reaching back forty years ago was a big time
for me in my music career. I debuted at the
National Folk Festival forty years ago. This summer, I debuted
on the CMA what's now called FanFest as an artist
(19:35):
forty years ago. This, you know, a couple of weeks
from now. I'm not sure when this will run, but
in gene But so all of those things forty years ago,
working with some of the most outstanding artists, and one
of those artists was a folk group which was the
last Georgia Fiddleman, which, for those who don't know a
(19:58):
tremendous amount about the history of country music, the Georgia
fiddle band era was the nineteen thirties and forties, back
especially twenties, thirties and forties. They were the stars of
country music. Back in those days. People like the skillet liquors,
but doodling Gon River grass was sort of considered the
(20:18):
last of that genre. They started back in the nineteen
sixties as a square dance band and one of the
projects they did in the eighties, I was privileged to
play fiddle for them on and it was never released.
So we're taking that original folk song album or fourteen recordings,
(20:39):
and we're bringing in other artists to pay tribute to
the work that they did and to refocus people's attention
on the wonderful legacy of that string band and what
they contributed from the sixties to the nineties while they
were traveling and performing across the US and their music
was being shared. And you know, I've already having artists
(21:02):
come in. Many are committee to come be a part
of And we've got the wonderful folks like Ralph Stanley
the Second has already done his part. I know, Della
and Brand Bradley, wonderful Bluegrass Female Vocalist Award winner. She's
going to becoming the studio. We've got the Cody Norris Show.
(21:22):
We've got Cody come from the Corty Cody Norris Show,
and so many other wonderful artists too are coming in
and they're going to be collaborating with me. Uh, and
we're gonna we're going to get all this together and
we're going to pay tribute to that wonderful group. And
and Doodle Doodle Thrower was the leader of the group
and that's where the title comes from, a Zippidy Doodle day. Uh.
(21:45):
And because because he was a comedian and harmonica player,
he was just a wonderful, uplifting entertainer and that show.
But as you can probably tell, I'm very passionate about
that project and the people who were paid contribute to
in it.
Speaker 4 (22:01):
Oh, I'm so excited. It sounds so interesting, that's amazing,
and I love the people that you even mentioned that
are going to be a part of it. Cody Cody
Norris from Cody Norris Show has been on The Josie
Show before, so you have some great talent already coming in.
So I'm so so excited to hear it for myself,
but also to share it once it's out. Please let
(22:22):
us know. We'd love to have you back on we
to talk about it. And I just really want people
to check it out, you know, once it comes and
that's so exciting. So it'll probably be at your website right,
Randall Franks dot com and also all those streaming things
as well.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
It will when it comes out, And I forgot then
mentioned Daniel Grivestaff, who was last year's Manger Player of
the Year is also coming in to be a part
of that project. Mike Scott is another one. Uh So
we've got some great people. Uh and there's others I
don't want to mention yet because I haven't got the
mind yet, but in the studio, but there's some wonderful
(23:00):
people and it's gonna be a lot of fun. I
think people will enjoy it once it comes out.
Speaker 4 (23:06):
Oh yeah, some good in, some good people coming in.
I'm so so looking forward to that a zippity doodle day.
So everyone please make sure you keep a lookout, and
I'm sure everyone can follow you and check you out
on social media.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
You're on Facebook right of course, Randall Frank's Entertainer Actor page.
You can find us on almost every social media website
that there is. If you thought if you're on X
you can find me there. You can find us song
Gab and Truth and everything in between. And of course
(23:39):
you can find Randall Clanks TV on YouTube, on Rumble,
on X and follow, and we have weekly videos from
our television program Appalachian Sounds, and you can see a
new music video with me and my guests on that
show every week.
Speaker 4 (23:58):
Check it out, Check it out everyone. That is so exciting.
I just love everything that you do. And for those
who you know, want to check out all of your
other music as well, along with you know, your debut album.
I mean, all of your music is still up there
and available, so please make sure you go and find
all of the music that Randall has to offer on
the website of course, and also on all of the
streaming sites that you know and love, and wherever you
(24:20):
hear you're listening to your music. There's so many out there,
but please make sure you go and check it all out.
And I just have to stay from the bottom of
my heart, it's been an honor to get the opportunity
to talk to you about your career. And there's just
so much that we could talk about, but you are
just so so incredible and it was just so wonderful
getting the opportunity to talk to you today. And please
come back anytime, okay.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
Josie, thank you for your time. Everyone, thank you for
tuning in and listening to the Josie Show. It's been
my honor to be your guest in your home or
your car, wherever you're listening today.
Speaker 4 (24:54):
Thank you, oh God, bless you. Thank you so much.
Randall Franks, everyone please make sure you check them out
Hanlefranks dot com and all over social media. Thank you
so much,
Br br bro bro bro Bro around the world on
the world wide Web. Ladies and Gentleman period is the.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Most The other stations are tuning in too. Oh yeah.
Broadcasting live from the Josey Network studios in downtown Madonna, Tennessee.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
It's that time of week again.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
It's time for the Josie Shoe, bringing you the most
exciting music, moves and guests from around the world right
here on the Jersey Show. Please make walking beautiful. It's Hannity. Hello,
(01:00):
Dy America's Riddy Elslida Business, Josie Assizen Overs.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Welcome to the Josie Show. I am so thrilled to
be back with you all. We've been on quite a
hiatus due to some medical issues and all that fun jazz,
but I'm so excited to be back and with a
thrilling guest. I'm so excited. He's a JMA winner. He's
currently nominated for JMA this year twenty twenty five. And
of course it is the wonderful Randall Franks. So stay
(01:31):
tuned to the whole show. You will not want to
miss a second of it.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
All Right, here we go, Please, Welcome to the Josie Show.
Randal Franks, Hello.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Hello, Josie. So good to be with you and your
wonderful audience.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
Oh, it's an honor to have you. Thank you so
much for joining me. I've been looking forward to this.
It's gonna be a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
I have too. It's been a wonderful, wonderful time as
I've been preparing for this show, and I know that
everybody tuning in it's going to have a lot of.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
Fun with you and I you know it, you know it.
I am really looking forward to this. First off, I
have to start out by saying big congratulations for your
win last year at the Joke and Music Arts for
Musician of the Year under the fiddle category. And of
course now more congratulations are in order because this year
nominations have already started being announced and you have already
garnered a couple of nominations. Congratulations.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Well, thank you so much.
Speaker 5 (02:27):
And we're so excited just seeing the opportunity of getting
to come again and be with all of the wonderful
artists who make up the Josie Awards family and just
enjoying that time.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
I'm so looking forward to it.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
Yes, it's always just such a wonderful experience to get
to be in a room with such wonderful musicians and
songwriters and artists, and it was so wonderful having you
there last year. And what was that experience like when
you heard your name, you know, being called and you
had to go up there on that opera house stage.
What was that for you?
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Well, you know, it's hard to describe, to be honest,
because of course I've had the honor of playing on
the Opry stage back.
Speaker 5 (03:14):
Forty years ago.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
I made my Opry debut as a as an artist,
and it was just an amazing thing to be able
to walk up on stage and thanks so many of
the people who made it possible for me to excel
as a musician and entertainer and to help me grow.
(03:37):
The people who were encouraged, like Bill Monroe with Jim
and Jesse Oppy stars obviously and no longer with us,
but still I was able to pay homage to them,
and y'all gave me that opportunity. On a special anniversary
night the day that I received the award at the
Josey Awards, I was literally on stage with Bill Monroe
and the Bluegrass Boys performing forty year So it was
(04:02):
an amazing thing for me personally in my career to
be able to say thank you, Oh.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Yeah, that's incredible, meant to be. It really was definitely
deserving of it. And you're just so incredible just from
the many different things that you do. Actually, a cool
story is my husband, Matt, he actually introduced me to
you before I really even knew you because growing up,
his favorite show was In the Heat of the Night,
(04:32):
and I remember when we were dating he was showing
me the show and I didn't connect the dots until
you came to the award show and my husband's like, hey,
that's office right. I was like really, So it was
really it was a really neat moment for him and
and I. So can you tell us a little bit
(04:53):
about playing that role because so many people even still
to this day, love it, remember you you from it.
So what was that experience?
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Like, well, Josie, God has blessed me and so many
was by opening so many doors from me, and you know,
those early years of getting to grow in country music, uh,
you know, allowed me the visibility to cross over into
active My first role was in a movie called Desperate
(05:22):
for Love with Christian Slater and Brian Gloom and Tammy Laurien.
It was the CBS Movie Week and then some of
the nice folks who were involved in that allowed me
to make the transition over to in the Heat of
the Night, and he opened doors there for me, and
they actually created Officer Randy Good that character for me.
(05:44):
And I had so many wonderful encouragers there. Carol O'Connor,
who many people still remember so chief blessed me on
our show. But Archie Bunker, who he will always be
that character for so many people. But that's a wonderful man.
And so many behind the scenes producers and directors, my
(06:05):
co stars like Alan Outre who was Bubba on the show,
David Hart who was Parker, and Jeffrey gown Sweet, so
many of the others who played a day to day
role in my life for five years. It was a
wonderful time in my life. Of course, it's always a
blessing to get to be to fulfilled childhood dreams. And
(06:30):
I watched, as many people did when I was coming up,
the Beverly Hill Billies and the Andy Griffith Show, and
for me, the best shows were the ones that the
Dillards came on as the Darlings and the Andy griff
Show and Lester Flatten Earl Strokes came on to Beverly
Hill Billies, and as a kid, I told my parents,
(06:51):
I want to do what they're doing. I want to
play on television like they're playing. I want to play
a character and I want to play. And so in
a roundabout way, I got to eventually got there. It
took a lot of years, but from that childhood dream,
but I eventually got to be able to play and
(07:13):
share my music in character as Officer Randy good On
in the heat of the night along with playing that
police character. So so that was a that was a
really an outstanding dream fulfilled after so many years, and
Carol O'Connor and Leo Penn, who was the director at
(07:34):
that time, made a big, big part of my life
come those dreams come true with that, and you know,
I got to be part of a very exclusive club.
There weren't there aren't many entertainers who got to actually
portray from our music genre of Appalachian and Blue Dash
(07:55):
music got to portray characters on television because Lattin's Gross,
the Billard's my old fiddling friend Byron Birdline who actually
played a fiddle on Star Trek, which was interesting. But
you know, there's not many that got to be on
network television in a series television, whether drammer, comedy and that.
(08:16):
So I was very blessed in that. And and of
course playing in police character was a lot of fun.
You know, we we were the cutting edge police drama
at the time. You know, we had NYPD Blue, which
was the city cops, and we were the country cops,
right right.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
I love it. I love it. I love it so much.
And uh, yeah, it's really cool. And you did you
get to fulfill such a dream of yours. But and
you continue to. I mean you've been If you look
on if anybody wants to and is interested, if you
look at Reynold's IMDb, you'll see all of the stuff
that he's done and been in, which was really cool
(08:54):
to look at. I mean, you've been in multiple films,
including the American's Creed, making of the American Creed documentary,
The Cricket Stance, and soon to be in a film
titled Two Brothers. Can you tell us a little bit
about this new film coming out?
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Well, it's a story, it's a Christian film and it's
centered around a modern day tale of canaan Abel and
I'm playing the character. And once again, a lot of
times I get to do musical pieces, and in this piece,
I'm doing a musical cameo playing Joshua Moses and going
(09:34):
to be performing in the film. So and looking. I'm
looking forward to that coming out. It's supposed to be
out in the fall, but I think people will enjoy
the message in that film. My friend Katherine Turner is
the producer on that, and she's got a lot of
things Christian projects. Let's say in the pipeline that I
(09:55):
was privileged to be a part of this one. And
then you mentioned the Cricket Stance, which was outstanding, a
film that crossed centuries in its storyline. Now, you know,
you get opportunities as an actor. You know, you do
some really if you're lucky, you can do some what
you call good acting work. You get to work with
(10:18):
really tremendous actors. I've worked with Academy Award winners, William Heard,
I've worked with Elizabeth of the Government, of course, so
many Emmy winners. But Crickets Dance it had the feel
to me of the wonderful movies that were made by
(10:38):
the studios back in the in the fifties and sixties.
They just had a rich feel. When you watched them,
you felt like you were watching something and you became
engaged in watching that film. And I was blessed to
be a wonderful ensemble cast. And we actually won an
award as an ensemble cast in that film just a
couple of years back. And so that was a wonderful project.
(11:03):
And like I said, it covered, I played a character
from the eighteen hundreds, and in fact, that's what I
seem to be doing more of now, just like the
American's Creed, I was playing my actlutely playing one of
my great grandfathers as a patriot in the Revolutionary War.
So so you know, and I enjoyed that. I like
playing in period pieces.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
So absolutely I love watching those, just saying the costumes
just seem like the costume designs just seeing, you know,
just just watching it. I really do enjoy those kind
of pieces. And how fun it is it for you
to be able to recreate you know, that time, You
know what I mean, it's a it's really neat. And
for those who want to see the crickets dance, because
now listen, now that you mentioned it, you know, people
(11:46):
are definitely going want to check it out. So are
they still able to sign that somewhere or get a copy?
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Certainly, I know the DVDs are atal Tecture. They can
go to my website, Camrandall Franks dot Com to our store.
We've got some there if they want to get it
directly from me. But most people are streaming their movies today,
and if you're doing that, I'm sure you can put
The Crickets Dance in your search engine and you will
find it on one of the whether it's TV or
(12:14):
Netflix or some of the other providers, you'll find find
it out there. Some work, so you can download it
watch it tonight if you want to watch it. It's
a love story, I mean, and it crosses centuries, but
it also deals with some very serious topics, so it
(12:34):
may not be a film that you want to sit
down and have the little kids watched without you looking
at it first, but it's a it's a good it's
a good film. So in so many I've been blessed
to work in some wonderful, wonderful films and some uplifting
films that I mentioned William Hurt the list with the
Government course, I'm a big dubt Maddie fan, so I
(12:58):
love it. I was blessed to work with Man years
ago for Hallmark and we did a wonderful film with
William Hurt called The Flamingo Rising and it's just a great,
great project and so many, so many things I think
you could do, but like you said, you know, you
never know where God is going to take you and
what doors are going to open. Music and acting and
(13:21):
I've got to do, Josie, so many things. You know,
from playing in molodgrass and Christian music and country music
and now I'm Marikana. You know, so many different venues,
so many different groups of entertainers that I've been able
to include in my circle of friends. I've just been blessed.
Speaker 4 (13:44):
Absolutely you have you have and it's just incredible. I
mean just reading your bio, everything that you do. I mean,
we would have to do like maybe like a five
part series on The Josie Show just to cover it
all money I would love to do too. I mean, it's
just so interesting. You know, everything that you have done
from I mean of course your music, you're acting, but
(14:05):
also you've written books which I really want to talk
about as well. You release Yeah, you release a book
titled Southern Crossing, and I don't wanna. I don't want
to mess up. So is this a doctor's legend? How
how do you say that?
Speaker 1 (14:19):
It's cus legacy?
Speaker 4 (14:21):
Thank you, legacy perfect. I just want to butcher that.
Tell us a little bit about that one and where
our listeners may be able to find it.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Okay, And that's that's a book that you can find
on ramblefranks dot com slash uh Southern Dash Crossing and
you can get an autograph copy directly from me. If
you're a Kindle book reader, you can go to Amazon
and you'll find it there. But it's a it's a
crime drama set in a small town in southern in Mississippi. Uh.
(14:52):
It's sort of like in the Heat of the Night.
So if you like in the Heat of the Night,
you'll probably like this book. And in fact, I started
the book while I was on in the Heat of
the Night, and yes, I it sat in my It
sat in my filing claminate for several years and I
finally said, I've got to get that out and finish it.
(15:14):
And a couple of years ago I took it out
and started finishing up the final touches. But back when
I originally wrote it, I was blessed to have Carol
O'Connor read it and several other you know, directors and
giving me advice, you know, because that was really my
first foray because it started its life as a as
(15:36):
a script and uh you know, for for for television,
and so you know, we're just getting their advice and
uh so I learned a lot. And that's when Carol
actually started teaching me about screenwriting. So and Alan Autry
as well. Alan was another who was Bubba who was
(15:57):
another one who reviewed it and gave me some early
notes in the project. And of course I incorporated those
things back then, and so you'll still find them in
there today. But I think folks will enjoy it. It's
centered around a matriarchal character by the name of ali
Mae Wilson in the small town of Hinton, Mississippi, and
(16:17):
what her family goes through over about once again, similar
to a cricket stance, it covers a little more than
one hundred and fifty years of history. It's a novella,
so it's a short one, so it's an easy read
if folks enjoy that. And I've got another fiction book
called A Badger and Old Guitar, which is centered around
(16:40):
obviously a music story, but that's a murder mystery. I
didn't kill anybody in Southern Crossing. It's not like in
the heat of the night. You know, if we used
to joke about in the heat of the night, if
you came to town or fell in love with one
of us, you'd be dead before the hour was up.
Speaker 4 (16:57):
It's true, that's right. All hilarious. That's hilarious. It's so good,
all of it. I hope everyone checked out the books
as well. Your oncoming book is actually titled Seeing Faith,
a devotional on the second Well, can you tell us
about that one already? Any kind of sneak peeks that
you could tell us a little bit about on this one.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Well, it's the second in the series. Now, the first
one is already available. Folks can get Seeing Faith Devotional,
which is a thirty one lesson devotional, so it's a
month devotionals. I worked with seven pastors on that, and
I took experiences from my life as well as just
(17:37):
insights and developed Bible studies with those, and that will
be the same format for the second in the series.
We were so we had such a wonderful response to
the first volume. Of course it's available and people can
get it. If you enjoy devotionals and read those, it
would be a nice addition to your collection and to
(17:58):
your Bible study. But the second one will be more
of the same and hopefully better. You know, you always
work to make something a little bit better when you do.
Speaker 4 (18:07):
It right, absolutely, and I'm sure it will be. So everyone,
right now start reading the first one so then you
can get to the second one. Let's do it in order.
I love that, so yes, everyone, please make sure you
check it all out. And also now we have to
chat about the music we're getting. We're getting little here,
a little bit of everything you know from you, which
(18:28):
is very exciting. So I want to talk about because
on Amazon and iTunes right now we can find your
album titled The American's Creed and you're currently in the
studio working on a new album right which will be
titled Zippity Doodle Day, which this project is to raise
funch for Appalachian music scholarships for the Share America Foundation. Well,
can you tell us about your upcoming album that's so exciting?
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Well, I am excited about that. It's been a project
that has been underway as far as for me. Yeah,
actually it's about six years we've had the project in planning,
and you know, it's finally risen to the top of
the pile and we're getting in the studio with the
(19:13):
other artists and what it is is back once again.
Going reaching back forty years ago was a big time
for me in my music career. I debuted at the
National Folk Festival forty years ago. This summer, I debuted
on the CMA what's now called FanFest as an artist
(19:35):
forty years ago. This, you know, a couple of weeks
from now. I'm not sure when this will run, but
in gene But so all of those things forty years ago,
working with some of the most outstanding artists, and one
of those artists was a folk group which was the
last Georgia Fiddleman, which, for those who don't know a
(19:58):
tremendous amount about the history of country music, the Georgia
fiddle band era was the nineteen thirties and forties, back
especially twenties, thirties and forties. They were the stars of
country music. Back in those days. People like the skillet liquors,
but doodling Gon River grass was sort of considered the
(20:18):
last of that genre. They started back in the nineteen
sixties as a square dance band and one of the
projects they did in the eighties, I was privileged to
play fiddle for them on and it was never released.
So we're taking that original folk song album or fourteen recordings,
(20:39):
and we're bringing in other artists to pay tribute to
the work that they did and to refocus people's attention
on the wonderful legacy of that string band and what
they contributed from the sixties to the nineties while they
were traveling and performing across the US and their music
was being shared. And you know, I've already having artists
(21:02):
come in. Many are committee to come be a part
of And we've got the wonderful folks like Ralph Stanley
the Second has already done his part. I know, Della
and Brand Bradley, wonderful Bluegrass Female Vocalist Award winner. She's
going to becoming the studio. We've got the Cody Norris Show.
(21:22):
We've got Cody come from the Corty Cody Norris Show,
and so many other wonderful artists too are coming in
and they're going to be collaborating with me. Uh, and
we're gonna we're going to get all this together and
we're going to pay tribute to that wonderful group. And
and Doodle Doodle Thrower was the leader of the group
and that's where the title comes from, a Zippidy Doodle day. Uh.
(21:45):
And because because he was a comedian and harmonica player,
he was just a wonderful, uplifting entertainer and that show.
But as you can probably tell, I'm very passionate about
that project and the people who were paid contribute to
in it.
Speaker 4 (22:01):
Oh, I'm so excited. It sounds so interesting, that's amazing,
and I love the people that you even mentioned that
are going to be a part of it. Cody Cody
Norris from Cody Norris Show has been on The Josie
Show before, so you have some great talent already coming in.
So I'm so so excited to hear it for myself,
but also to share it once it's out. Please let
(22:22):
us know. We'd love to have you back on we
to talk about it. And I just really want people
to check it out, you know, once it comes and
that's so exciting. So it'll probably be at your website right,
Randall Franks dot com and also all those streaming things
as well.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
It will when it comes out, And I forgot then
mentioned Daniel Grivestaff, who was last year's Manger Player of
the Year is also coming in to be a part
of that project. Mike Scott is another one. Uh So
we've got some great people. Uh and there's others I
don't want to mention yet because I haven't got the
mind yet, but in the studio, but there's some wonderful
(23:00):
people and it's gonna be a lot of fun. I
think people will enjoy it once it comes out.
Speaker 4 (23:06):
Oh yeah, some good in, some good people coming in.
I'm so so looking forward to that a zippity doodle day.
So everyone please make sure you keep a lookout, and
I'm sure everyone can follow you and check you out
on social media.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
You're on Facebook right of course, Randall Frank's Entertainer Actor page.
You can find us on almost every social media website
that there is. If you thought if you're on X
you can find me there. You can find us song
Gab and Truth and everything in between. And of course
(23:39):
you can find Randall Clanks TV on YouTube, on Rumble,
on X and follow, and we have weekly videos from
our television program Appalachian Sounds, and you can see a
new music video with me and my guests on that
show every week.
Speaker 4 (23:58):
Check it out, Check it out everyone. That is so exciting.
I just love everything that you do. And for those
who you know, want to check out all of your
other music as well, along with you know, your debut album.
I mean, all of your music is still up there
and available, so please make sure you go and find
all of the music that Randall has to offer on
the website of course, and also on all of the
streaming sites that you know and love, and wherever you
(24:20):
hear you're listening to your music. There's so many out there,
but please make sure you go and check it all out.
And I just have to stay from the bottom of
my heart, it's been an honor to get the opportunity
to talk to you about your career. And there's just
so much that we could talk about, but you are
just so so incredible and it was just so wonderful
getting the opportunity to talk to you today. And please
come back anytime, okay.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
Josie, thank you for your time. Everyone, thank you for
tuning in and listening to the Josie Show. It's been
my honor to be your guest in your home or
your car, wherever you're listening today.
Speaker 4 (24:54):
Thank you, oh God, bless you. Thank you so much.
Randall Franks, everyone please make sure you check them out
Hanlefranks dot com and all over social media. Thank you
so much,
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