Randall Franks and Dolly Parton
North Georgia actor and entertainer Randall Franks brought home one award in the midst of a whirlwind of events over seven days.
In between hosting the Bluegrass Bands Helping Hands concert in Dalton, and two days of concerts and competition at the 39th Annual Grand Master Fiddler Championship during the IBMA Fan Fest at the Nashville Convention Center, he squeezed in three award shows and a day at the IBMA World of Bluegrass.
He performed at the ASE Awards in Atlanta; joined fellow gospel artists at the 2010 Singing News Fan Awards and Southern Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame induction at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tn., and fellow bluegrass artists at the International Bluegrass Music Association Awards at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.
As all the events came to a close, Mr. Franks took home with him a new honor to add to collection - the 2010 Bluegrass Band of the Year Award with the Georgia Mafia Bluegrass Band from the Atlanta Society of Entertainers.
“I am sincerely touched that the efforts given in a love of music can yield the support of my fellow performers in this way,” he said. “This was a wonderful week of visiting with friends old and new - Ronnie Booth of the Booth Brothers, the Whites, Ricky Skaggs, Jesse McReynolds, Jeff and Sheri Easter, new SGMA Hall of Fame inductee Little Jan Buckner-Goff and so many more. Weeks like these make all the miles on the road worthwhile.”
Members of the Georgia Mafia Bluegrass Band are Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame members Jerry and Helen Burke, J. Max and Teena McKee, Rick Smith, and Dean Marsh.
Among the friends he visited during the week was the new SGMA James D. Vaughan Award winner Dolly Parton. The superstar starred in the 1999 film “Blue Valley Songbird,” in which Mr. Franks made a special appearance performing alongside friend and bluegrass star Sam Bush. He and Mr. Bush visited later in the week at the Grand Master Fiddler Championship.
Mr. Franks is best known as Officer Randy Goode from TV’s “In the Heat of the Night,” a role he performed on NBC and CBS from 1988-1993. He is currently part of the cast of “Robert Townsend’s Musical Theater of Hope” on the GMC.
Mr. Franks’s musical stylings have been heard in 150 countries and by more than 25 million Americans. His musical career boasts 17 album releases, 17 singles, and over 200 recordings with various artists from various genres.
His latest CD is “Appalachian Musical Revival” from the Share America Foundation.
In addition to touring, he hosts ten concerts annually at the Ringgold Depot raising funds for the Pearl and Floyd Franks Scholarship Fund.
The award-winning fiddler’s best selling release, "Handshakes and Smiles" was a top 20 Christian music seller. Many of his albums were among the top 30-bluegrass recordings of their release year.
He has co-starred or starred in six films with superstars including Christian Slater, William Hurt, Stella Parton and legendary western star “Doc” Tommy Scott.