“Randle Browning is a songwriter and musician based in Brooklyn, NY. She grew up in Houston, Texas, and as a teen performed with her dad at his LA gigs. In 2019 she joined the Brooklyn indie folk rock group choirgirl and performed widely in NYC. Now in her thirties and raising a daughter, Randle is breaking out as a solo artist in her own right. Her sharp-eyed yet warm songwriting explores deep friendships, difficult relationships, the longing inherent to human experience, and our abiding connection to the natural world. Randle’s music has roots in classic and contemporary folk (Joni Mitchell, Patty Griffin, Erin Rae, Waxahatchee, Laura Marling, Joan Shelley), and ties to indie rock and pop artists (Julia Jacklin, Phoebe Bridgers, Soccer Mommy, Cassandra Jenkins).
Randle has performed widely in New York City at venues including The Sultan Room, Pianos, and The Bowery Electric. After her daughter was born in 2019, her music sharpened into new focus, and her EP Bad Desire (2024) is redolent of all she learned as a new mother making art and building a life with close friends and family. Randle released the indie folk rock/bedroom pop single “Need This” in 2022, about her close friend, long-time collaborator, and producer Noele Flowers. In addition to music, Randle writes fiction and nonfiction, and she co-owns two pizza places that she opened with her partner in Waco, Texas.”
Recently, I stumbled upon an EP by an artist hailing from Texas but currently residing in Brooklyn. This indie folk-pop offering has been a delightful discovery for me. The artist’s beautiful vocals and mesmerizing melodies have been an absolute pleasure to listen to. Each song from the EP has its unique character, yet they all come together beautifully to create a perfect collection. I must say, this EP has easily become one of my favorites in recent times. The melodies are so great that I find myself lost in the mesmerizing guitar sounds. Every time I listen to it, I discover something new, and it’s a feeling that I cannot get enough of.
I wanted to learn more about Randle., so I reached out to and asked our 3 Qs:
What inspired you to start making music and what keeps you making music?
I’ve been making music since I was a kid. I started playing the violin when I was 7, after begging my parents to let me start lessons. I sang in choirs growing up, and performed at my dad’s jazz gigs sometimes as a teen. When I moved to New York from Texas I refocused on my songwriting and started writing and performing with a band in Brooklyn, choirgirl. The pandemic broke us up, by I still work closely with my former bandmate Noele Flowers. They produce my music, and we play duo shows often. I keep writing music because when I don’t, I start to miss it too much. There are certain things that can only be expressed in songs, and I think it’s important that we do the work of making those unspoken things more knowable. Playing with other musicians is one of the most gratifying experiences in my life, because of the trust required and the new, unexpected connection that can result from it. When my daughter was born in 2019, it inspired me to continue songwriting, performing, and releasing music, because I want her to see me doing work that inspires me and fills me with energy, and to feel she can do the same.
What was the most challenging thing in your music (artistic) path?
If I’m being totally honest, the most challenging thing in my relationship with making music is my own belief in what I can do. It’s so difficult to meet your own standards and so easy to quit out of the fear of disappointing yourself. So much of this EP project was about letting go of expectations and letting myself be where I’m at right now. And it was about letting go of critical voices that can slow you down and listening to those that help you move forward. The funny thing is that getting into that more expansive mindset makes the music much better anyway. Also, it’s pretty hard to find time to write, record, and release music while being a parent to a small child. It took me much longer to release the songs on this EP (including Stops With Me, which is the last song on the project) than it might have if I had fewer responsibilities. At the same time, my daughter really inspires me to keep going, and she is a big reason I keep going. I want her to see that it’s normal to struggle with that gap between what you want a piece of art to turn out like and what you end up with, and to keep practicing and moving towards the things she loves. (Right now, that’s mainly drawing!)
What would you dream to do if anything was possible?
To me the most exciting aspect of releasing music is working with other artists who I admire. I’d love to have the chance to keep working with my friends, and also to bring in other musicians and producers whose work I look up to. I’d love to cowrite music with artists I admire. In a way, I make music just so I can keep making music. What I dream of is doing what I’m doing now, but on a larger scale, and still in a way that feels sustainable to me in my personal life. Beyond that, how about a house in the woods with a garden and a dog, all of my friends nearby, a writing studio at the top of the house, and a music studio in the basement? 😜
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