Two days ago Randall Kane passed away in his sleep. Randall has been a Santa Cruz fixture for as long as I can remember. In high school the old Catalyst was on the North end of Pacific Ave and was a testament to everything alternative in Santa Cruz in the 70's. In the 80's Randall built the new Catalyst which rose from the ashes of an old bowling alley. With it we saw acts the calibre of Bonnie Raitt, Tina Turner, Neil Young, Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris and hundreds more. I had the honor of opening for Asleep at the Wheel, Ricky Skaggs, Rodney Crowell and k.d. lang, among others. The crew at the "Cat" (as we like to call it) were like family in those days, and Randall was the father figure.
Every Wednesday for two years my band and I played in the Garden room to a loyal and sometimes less than well groomed crowd. We played whatever we wanted, mostly bluegrass and country, songs that grew from our loyalty to KFAT radio. We had players sit in from all over the country and the county.
Only one time did Randall ever say anything to me about the tunes I was choosing. I was going through a bad break up and every song was pretty much a downer. On a break, he patted me on the shoulder and said, "Ginny, maybe that's enough sad songs, any more of those and we're all gonna slit our wrists". There was no judgement , just a suggestion to steer to the lighter side.
I remember well the night we opened for Ray Benson and Asleep at the wheel. They had brought the old black grand Piano down from the rafters. In my excitement I had left my brand new Black leather fringed jacket on the piano after our opening set. When I returned for it the next day it was gone. A few weeks later Randall came to me and said, "I heard about your jacket, Ginny. It shouldn't cost you to play here," He handed me $200.00 cash, with a smile. When I tried to thank him and give him a hug, he seemed suddenly shy.
The Catalyst Christmas parties are legendary. I remember sitting briefly on his lap at one, right after the earthquake, when the Cat was closed for repairs and we had it at the mexican place across the street. We all had a lot of tequila that night and there was a lot of merry singing of Christmas Carols.
There will never be another Randall Kane. Rest in Peace.
