June 30, 2014
Jaijai Jackson -The Jazz Network Worldwide
http://www.thejazznetworkworldwide.com
“Rändi has a style all her own, spearheading a unique blend of genres by way of adding the melodies and lyrics that come to her musical heart with originality and poise... “Falling” captures the essence of the lyrical and melodic ambiance that compliments her vocal style. Catchy rhythms bring this collection of songs to a new way of listening to the templates of older standards with ‘new ears’.”
October 1, 2011
Warren Gerds -Green Bay Press Gazette
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011110010638
Randi Fay has a novel way to avoid the empty nest syndrome. Reinvent yourself as a full-time musician and produce CDs. Growing up in Green Bay as Randi Strom and graduating from Preble High School, she always had music around through her family's interest. Off she went and became a veterinarian. Fay's 20-year career as a vet stopped suddenly 10 years ago. She broke a hand, and it did not heal correctly. "Retiring from being a vet was forced on me in a way," she said. "But I actually was super busy. I had three kids in middle school and high school then. It was kind of an OK time to take that on. That's when I went into the nonprofits." Among other organizations, Fay was president of the board of Encompass Child Care.
"I think I got an MBA there, learning about nonprofits and professionalism," she said.
Encompass figured into her present path. Fay sang with the Dudley Birder Chorale of St. Norbert College, as did Pam MacMullen, who sang with the high-quality Fred Waring Chorale in its heyday. MacMullen asked Fay to sing in a Green Bay version of the Waring group.
"That's when I started to put myself more into music, and also at that same time my second child had gone off to college and my third was in high school, so I had nights free," Fay said.
For Encompass, an idea arose of Fay singing on a CD of lullabies as a fundraiser project. The wheels eventually came off that project, but Fay rolled on.
An important gig for her starts at 7:30 p.m. today with the DMG Trio at A's Dockside Restaurant and Music Café in De Pere. It's a CD release party for "Noel," her second recording that she co-produced. Appearing on the CD are such accomplished musicians as Woody Mankowski, saxophone and vocals; George Sawyn, guitar; and Hans Christian, cello and co-producer. As with last year's "Close to My Heart," a collection of adult lullabies, the new Christmas album features Fay's smooth and colorful voice in handsome settings by the musicians. "Noel" closes with "Silent Night (Stille Nacht)" sung alternately in English and German and at the same time in one verse and "O Holy Night(Cantique de Noel)" sung in English and French.
The ball started rolling about 1½ years ago. John Contratto, a pianist Fay met through MacMullen, asked Fay to perform with him. Contratto suggested making a demo CD at Christian's studio in Sturgeon Bay. Christian liked what he heard and liked the concept of the lullaby album, which includes "Summertime," "Scarborough Fair" and "Love Me Tender." Soon after the first album came out, the second was recorded.
"Producing definitely was a huge learning curve for me," Fay said. "The arrangements are all our own. We did do cover songs, but on both CDs the arrangements are all our own. Some of them were sort of conceived by me but totally filled in by the musicians. They were amazing. The collaboration was amazing, wonderful.
"The complex part comes with me purchasing the rights for the songs and getting the graphic artist and the photos." Fay found services online through which many — not all — songwriters and publishers make songs available for a fee.
"Some songwriters and some publishers go rogue on you, and then you have to track them down," Fay said.
For the Christmas CD, it took Fay two months to get the rights to all the songs not in the public domain. There was more.
"And you have to have rights for selling the CD, you have to have rights for selling downloads and you have to have rights just for people to stream it," Fay said.
Why would somebody in his or her right mind want to do this?
"I don't know," Fay said with a laugh. "It's been a riot, though. It's been fun. I don't know — you kind of get on the train, and then you're on it until you get off."
Fay's family is having a good time.
"My husband (John) is amazingly supportive, both financially and time wise," she said. "He's there for just about everything."
Fay said her children — Kristy, Kevin and Kyle — like to see her perform, even though Kevin lives in Minneapolis and Kristy lives in Milwaukee. Everyone — family, friends and relations — will be together next week when Fay sings at her daughter's wedding. After that, Fay has a dozen public gigs through the end of the year.
"Most people envision where you want to go and what you want to do, and I never even had the nerve to envision any of this," Fay said, recalling when she thought about her nest emptying. "It just didn't occur to me.”
March 1, 2011
Morgan Moran -You Magazine
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/99999999/GPG0902/302160125/The-Accidental-Songbird
Clarity doesn’t always smack us upside the head when we face a tough call regarding the “what’s next” in life. But it has been known to break a couple of bones. Just ask Rändi Fay.
Long story short: It took a series of freak hand injuries to pry her away from her veterinary career (which she loved) to pursue her passion for singing (which she loves, present tense.) That certainly isn’t textbook serendipity, but it’s opened her life and soul up to so many new things.
It all started with the dirty dishes.
Before graduating from the University of Minnesota with a Veterinary Medicine degree, before studying biology at Boston College or falling in love with cats and dogs in general, there was music.
Rändi’s world circled around music since she was able to string words together.
“My family is extremely musical, kind of like the [Sound of Music’s]Von Trapps. We sang when we did the dishes. We sang in the church choir. I had the benefit of rocking sisters”—four of them—“and was an avid fan of The Beatles, The Monkees, and anything AM radio had to offer.”
Mom sang. Dad sang. The five girls played piano, with occasional appearances by the French horn, flute, oboe and guitar. But Rändi always had her heart set on vocals.
She sang in her high school choir, grooved in swing choir, basically epitomized Glee (only with ruffly blouses and long skirts), and worked her way through a variety of notable venues with the Boston College Chorale. Still, she only considered music a sort of pastime, a creative outlet, and stuck with her passionfor animals and science through school.
“It continues to surprise me that people actually wanted to hear me sing. I never really saw myself as a professional musician, and certainly not a singer. I sang in choirs, sure, but never as a soloist. And whenever people would say, “Wow, you really have a great voice,” I could only [respond with], “Really?”
The late 1990s/early 2000s brought about many turning points for Rändi, her husband John, and her three kids Kristy, Kevin and Kyle. They made the move from Minneapolis to Green Bay. Rändi was over the moon to be back in the Frozen Tundra, her cherished hometown. And John was just as thrilled, having found the opportunity to have his own dentistry practice.
Life was better than ever. Rändi was even singing in the Dudley Birder Chorale [at St. Norbert College] once a week as her kids were growing older/more understanding of Mom’s occasional night away.
Then the unforeseen took hold.
Rändi broke her hand from pounding on the kitchen counter (in an attempt to chase her puppy down) at just the wrong angle. She had mild carpel tunnel from practicing surgery and playing the piano already, which worsened with the injury.
She was essentially without a right hand for one year. Then she broke her thumb—her right thumb—skiing.
Factor in a spill down the stairs / dislocated shoulder during that recovery, and you get a sense of the pain this woman went through before leaving one passion for another.
A voice of reason.
Leaving her veterinary career was one of the hardest things Rändi has ever done. Though she still has her license and offers plenty of advice and guidance, she will never physically help an animal heal again. That reality is pretty tough to swallow. But she’s learned to find the good in everything.
“You have to open your mind to opportunities and embrace them to see where they take you. You have to live without regrets. I can’t allow myself to go back to veterinary medicine. I miss it desperately, but I don’t think of it as a possibility anymore. That was then. This is now. I needed to keep looking forward to do the best I could with what I had. And I had singing.”
It’s been five years since Rändi refocused her career towards music. And she’s accomplished some pretty amazing things. For instance, she:
• Began to sing in more public places than her shower or garden, including the Dudley Birder Chorale, the Symphony Chorale / Green Bay Choral Artists, Regency Singers, Steppin’Out, and Broadway Mania.
Making the move from Boston, to the Twin Cities, to Green Bay.
A love of music accompanied Rändi through college out East and in Minnesota while studying veterinary medicine. But as her family started growing, late-night rehearsals took a back seat to being Mom. So she sang when and where she could—to anesthetized dogs and cats by day, to her children and husband by night, and to the eager Sunday School choir she co-directed. In fact, her homemade sing-along recordings for the kids at church more or less inspired her current album—but more about that later.
• Created a multitude of musical shows for the YMCA under her producing name, Emerald Heart Productions. Show themes have explored everything from the lives and emotions of women to the Roaring Twenties to Christmas in Hollywood.
• Partnered with pianist John Contratto in early 2010 to create the jazz duo Rhapsody. As of late, Contratto has retired from both his career and Rhapsody, and Rändi plans to gig with guitarist George Sawyn until she finds a new pianist. The name Rhapsody will be replaced with Rändi Fay and .
• Recorded her first CD— Close To My Heart; Love Songs and Lullabies—with the help of Contratto, Sawyn, Woody Mankowski, Tom Smith and Hans Christian. This collection of reinterpreted classics was inspired, as we said earlier, from her experiences with the Sunday School kids back in Minnesota. It is available in Green Bay and De Pere at Butterfly Books, Petal Pusher, Taylor Creek and Thornberry Cottage as well as in Door County at Sister Bay Café and Village Café.
“I was starting to do more singing when I was the president of the board for Encompass [Child Care]. People said I should do a lullabyCD, and [they] really liked the stuff I created at the church, so that was kind of the goal. I wanted the album to be peaceful and soothing for everyone, something that parents would actually want to listen to in the car with their kids.”
• Has been dedicating the proceeds of her lullaby album to programs that support the early education and care of children, including Service League, Encompass and the YMCA.
• Is releasing her first Christmas album in 2011.
“I look to 2011 and I see new partnerships and recordings in the works. What a joy, and what a blessing! My children are now grown, but our house is not quiet. I have three dogs, two cats, a horse (who lives on a farm way too far away) and a very supportive husband who takes a fair amount of Claritin.”