About Us
Our Story
Lonesome Day Records began in Booneville, in the hills of eastern Kentucky, and it still lives there. Randall Deaton grew up on a small family farm in the region, and that upbringing still shapes the work. We are a recording studio and an independent record label built around one simple idea: make roots music that sounds honest, and treat the people who make it like family.
The studio started in a church. Randall Deaton's grandmother, Minnie Mae Deaton, left that church to him when she passed in 1992, hoping its spirit would keep going. In 1999, the family turned the building into a recording studio. Three years later, in 2002, Randall founded Lonesome Day Records — named after a Bruce Springsteen song — so he could produce the kind of records he believed in. The first release was by Eastern Kentucky bluegrass artist Sam Wilson.
Founder, Owner, Audio Engineer, and Primary Producer
Over the years that followed, Lonesome Day released charting bluegrass and country albums and singles by artists such as Ralph Stanley II, Larry Cordle, Blue Moon Rising, Lou Reid & Carolina, Steve Gulley, Darrell Webb, Randy Kohrs, Jeff Parker, Richard Bennett, Fred Eaglesmith, Shotgun Holler, Girls Guns & Glory, Sarah Borges, and Tim Shelton. Randall has produced most of the label's releases and engineered some of them. The work favors a warm, organic production style that lets artists' voices and instruments come through naturally. The catalog has ranged from high-lonesome gospel and family-themed collections to tribute records — including a Hank Williams tribute by Girls Guns & Glory and a Jackson Browne tribute by Tim Shelton — while the work has always leaned toward bluegrass, Americana, country, and gospel: music rooted in place and story.
Over the
years, Lonesome Day releases have been reviewed and
featured by Bluegrass Unlimited, Bluegrass Today,
The Bluegrass Situation, Lone Star Music Magazine,
and Americana Highways. Ralph Stanley II’s “This One
Is II” debuted at No. 10 on Billboard’s Bluegrass
Albums chart. Label artists have also performed on
national television, including Fred Eaglesmith on
“Late Show with David Letterman” and Shotgun Holler
on CMT’s “The Josh Wolf Show.”
Today the Lonesome
Day Studio sits on the same Booneville property,
with rooms built for sonic quality and comfort, a
mix of classic analog gear and modern digital tools,
a guest house with kitchen and porch, and access to
a pool, home gym, and hiking trails. Artists come
here to record, mix, and stay a while.
After
working on a resort business in the Upper Peninsula
of Michigan for eight years, Randall returned to the
studio. In 2024 Lonesome Day released Silver Bullet
Bluegrass, an all-star bluegrass tribute to Bob
Seger. Grammy- and Juno-winning engineer Jimmy Nutt,
a partner since around 2013, has been a key part of
that return — mixing the Seger project and traveling
from Muscle Shoals to Booneville to help relaunch
studio sessions with artists such as Jacob Fultz,
Evan Curren, Jared Shoemaker, and Walker White.
Longtime partners Billy Holland (retail marketing,
distribution, and artist management) and Martha
Moore (publicity) continue to support the label's
releases.
We are still here in Booneville —
making records, opening the studio doors again, and
carrying forward the same faith-and-family spirit
that started in Minnie Mae's church. Explore the
Studio, browse the Albums catalog, or reach out
through Contact if you have a project in mind. For
more memories along the way, visit LDR Journey.
Featured Albums
