Early Beginnings at Lavonia Bluegrass Festival

Randall Franks’ connection with bluegrass legends Jim & Jesse and the Virginia Boys began in the 1970s at the Lavonia Bluegrass Festival in Georgia. As a young musician, Randall and his youth band, the Peachtree Pickers, camped out, jamming for hours and drawing inspiration from heroes like Jim & Jesse, The Lewis Family, Ralph Stanley, Jimmy Martin, Curly Seckler, Don Reno, and others. Randall also became a disc jockey at Atlanta’s WRFG, spinning bluegrass music, where Jim & Jesse appeared at the WRFG Peach Blossom Bluegrass Festival. During these formative years, Jim and Jesse, along with band members Keith McReynolds, Mike Scott, and Blaine Sprouse, became early encouragers, fueling Randall’s passion for music.

“I have many musical fathers and mothers who encouraged me along the way such as Bill Monroe. There are no other professional music artists who encouraged me more, invested more into my success and provided more opportunities for me to touch the hearts of audiences than Jim & Jesse,” said Randall Franks. “Year after year, they were always there to guide, uplift, teach, or just sit around and talk about our shared experiences and how to make things better. I miss them both and I am so thankful, they were in my life.”

Listen to Their Music

Radio stations can find Randall Franks & Jim & Jesse recordings on AirPlay Direct.

Mentorship and Grand Ole Opry Connections

Jim and Jesse were Randall’s first Grand Ole Opry friends. He joined their fan club, working with his mentor Eugene Akers alongside president Jean Osborn and Jesse’s daughter Gwen McReynolds at events like the CMA Country Music Fan Fair. Both Jim and Jesse took Randall under their wings, sharing invaluable advice about the music business.

Jean Osborn opened doors for Randall and his band within country music fan club networks and the Country Music Association, fostering his early career.

Rising Star and Continued Support

Through the 1980s, Randall’s promotional skills helped bring new eyes to Jim & Jesse and the Virginia Boys as his own youth act gained traction, including guest appearances for the Grand Ole Opry. Aspiring to play fiddle with the Virginia Boys, Randall honed his skills, but his solo career began to soar. When his youth band members left for college, Randall considered joining the Virginia Boys. Instead, Jesse encouraged him to pursue a solo album, offering to contribute to the project.

Overcoming Challenges and Career Milestones

Handshakes and Smiles CD Cover

In 1987, Randall began recording his album Handshakes and Smiles, but a serious illness nearly derailed his plans. After recovering, his acting career took off with a role in a CBS Movie of the Week and a starring role on NBC’s In the Heat of the Night. Despite his acting commitments, Randall continued performing at festivals, concerts, and for the Grand Ole Opry in 1987, collaborating with artists like The Marksmen Quartet and Doodle and the Golden River Grass. In 1989, Randall served as publicity agent for Jim & Jesse during their 25th Anniversary Year at the Grand Ole Opry.

Released in 1990, Handshakes and Smiles climbed the Christian Music Sales charts. Available on Amazon and iTunes. Randall joined The Jim & Jesse Show on festival and Grand Ole Opry package show lineups, filling a position once held by Grand Ole Opry star Ray Pillow and country/bluegrass singer Carol Johnson. Jesse appeared in the music video for the album’s title track, which aired nationwide on The Nashville Network and other outlets.

Virginia Boy and Opry Highlights

In the early 1990s, Randall performed intermittently with the Jim & Jesse Show on tour. He became a regular guest in the home of Jesse and Darlene McReynolds, included like a family member in celebrations and sorrows.

Christmas Time’s A Comin CD Cover

On November 21, 1991, Randall returned to the Grand Ole Opry, bringing In the Heat of the Night co-stars Alan Autry and David Hart. The trio appeared on the Opry warm-up show with Hairl Hensley alongside Jim & Jesse, promoting the Christmas Time’s A Comin’ CD, available on Amazon and iTunes. Jim & Jesse featured on the album, with Jesse contributing his unique mandolin style to recordings for Carroll O’Connor, Alan Autry, and Randall. That night, Randall made his first Grand Ole Opry appearance as a Virginia Boy, twin fiddling with Jim Buchanan, before Jim & Jesse introduced Randall, Alan, and David to the show.

In 1992, Jim & Jesse and the Virginia Boys backed Randall for his Opry appearance and on Ronnie Reno’s Old Time Music Festival on television.

Further Collaborations and Hollywood Hillbilly Jamboree

Randall’s collaboration

Mississippi Moon EP Cover

with Jim & Jesse continued in the studio and on stage. In 1994, Jesse wrote the title track for Randall’s cassette EP Mississippi Moon and recorded four songs (“Mississippi Moon,” “Gotta Lot of Rhythm In My Soul,” “Georgia Rain,” and “You Gotta Know the Lows to Appreciate the Highs”), later re-released on a 2013 Americana album Mississippi Moon: Country Traditions with Alan Autry, available on Amazon, iTunes, and CD in our store. In 1996, Jim & Jesse recorded “Mean Joe Blake” with Randall for a TV show theme Randall and Alan Autry were developing, also included on the album.

Alongside his work with Jim & Jesse, Randall led the Hollywood Hillbilly Jamboree country variety show, which grew in popularity through the early 2000s and promoted Share with DARE concerts featuring Randall and bluegrass stars like Jim & Jesse, The Osborne Brothers, Mac Wiseman, and The Lewis Family.

Jim & Jesse were inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor in 1993 and received the National Heritage Fellowship Award in 1997.

A Pause and Return to the Stage

In 2001, Randall stepped back from nationwide touring to care for his late mother, Pearl, ending his appearances with Jim & Jesse. Both Jim and Jesse were diagnosed with cancer in early 2002. Randall kept in touch by phone, but Jim’s wife, Arretta, passed suddenly in December 2002, followed shortly by Jim’s passing, ending country music’s longest-running duo at 55 years. His mother’s condition prevented Randall from attending the funeral, though he reached out to Jim’s family, including his long-time friend, Jim’s daughter Janeen. Jesse recovered from his cancer and carried on with the Virginia Boys, exploring new musical frontiers.

After his mother’s passing, Jesse appeared for her Concert of Celebration. In 2007, when Randall resumed touring, Jesse invited him to make special festival appearances with the Virginia Boys, which he did for several years. The Pick Inn, a wedding and event venue developed by Jesse and his wife Joy McReynolds, became a favorite.

Hear Jesse McReynolds reflect on his friendship and collaboration with Randall Franks in this 2006 interview:

Jesse McReynolds Interview Transcript: [“I’ve been knowing Randy when he was pretty young. He did some shows with us, as a guest… Then he got into the movie ‘In the Heat of the Night’ project and got to be well known. I could see he’s really a good musician. He’s got personality. His personality is probably the thing I noticed the most because he knows how to communicate with people. His mom was the same way. She did a lot of promotion with him. She use to come up to Nashville every year for the Fan Fair program that we have once a year. She would take care of his Fan Fair booth… That’s where I really got to know her at. Our fan club president Ms. Jean Osborn, she knew her pretty well. So we all sort of together like a family I guess, every year we would get together for the Fan Fair. And we would go out and have dinner and run the Fan Fair booths there pretty close together. I wrote a song that he recorded called Mississippi Moon. I was honored that he included the song on one of the projects that he done. I think his presence added quite a bit to the show. He was a young talent and he knew how to communicate with people. There was something about him that I noticed he was going to be a great entertainer. He was a real showman, Randy is.”]

In May 2015, Randall joined Jesse as a special Virginia Boy guest on the Grand Ole Opry.

In the summer of 2015, Jesse appeared in Randall’s documentary The Road to Nashville, performing with Randall and his mentees before their WSM appearance in the Music Valley Drive Shoney’s parking lot. This experience echoed the early days of jam sessions with youth at the Lavonia Bluegrass Festival. These marked Randall’s final performances as a Virginia Boy and with Jesse, symbolizing a passing of the torch as Randall mentored young musicians, just as Jim and Jesse had mentored him.

Honoring a Lifelong Bond

Jesse continued performing until declining health limited his appearances. Randall and Jesse remained in close contact until Jesse’s passing in 2023. Randall served as an honorary pallbearer at Jesse’s funeral, joined by other Virginia Boys, cementing the deep bond forged through decades of music and mentorship.

Randall’s work with Jim & Jesse, and later Jesse, allowed him to share the stage with many of bluegrass music’s most legendary and talented Virginia Boys, including Allen Shelton, Jim Buchanan, Raymond McClain, Blaine Sprouse, Mike Scott, Carl Jackson, Vic Jordan, Jimmy Campbell, Mike Drudge, Ray Kirkland, Wayne and Josh Crowe, Buddy Griffin, Travis Wetzel, Monroe Fields, Rual Yarbrough, Gary Reece, Dickie Mauldin, Jim Brock Sr. & Jr., Donald Earl, Ashley Messenger, and many more, including McReynolds family members Keith, his children Garrett and Amanda Lynn, and Gwen’s son, Luke McKnight.

Virginia Boys Reunion 2007 at the Pick Inn in Gallatin. (Photo Joy McReynolds)

Support the McReynolds Homeplace Restoration

“As a member of Jim & Jesse’s Virginia Boys, this home is special because it’s where the music found its roots,” said Randall Franks. “Even more than that, Jim & Jesse were my mountain kin, and this is one of the shelters of one of our branches which helped to form what we know as country music. I hope you might support the effort to restore the homeplace as a place of importance in that heritage.”

Randall’s and Jim & Jesse’s Shared Grandparents: J&J maternal Robinette side – John and Mary Bates Bunch on Randall’s paternal side; J&J paternal McReynolds side – John and Margaret Stewart Drummond on Randall’s maternal side. Uniquely, Randall also shared grandparents with Jim & Jesse’s wives Arretta and Darlene, who were sisters: Davyd and Mary Hambleton and a grandfather Robert Sempill.

“I’d like to take the old homeplace and fix it up once more, put new shingles on the roof, new carpet on the floor. To re-live the past would be a pleasure there’s no doubt, but the law of average tells me that my time is running out.” – Lyrics from Jesse McReynolds’ ‘My Time Is Running Out’, written about the McReynolds family and Homeplace, from the 1976 LP ‘Jim & Jesse And The Virginia Boys – Songs About Our Country’.

Join the effort to restore the Jim & Jesse McReynolds Homeplace in Carfax, Virginia:

Support the Homeplace Restoration

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