Randy Gilkey (born September 16, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and recording engineer from

Oak Hill, West Virginia Oak Hill is a city in Fayette County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 8,179 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Beckley metropolitan area. Country singer Hank Williams died in Oak Hill on his way to a concert on January 1, 1 ...

. Gilkey lost his eyesight shortly after birth when too much oxygen was pumped into an incubator, where both of his retinas became detached. Gilkey began playing piano aged two. He tours, records and performs with his band "The Boatmen".

Musical career

Gilkey's instrumentation can be found on albums by artists such as

The Drifters The Drifters are an American pop and R&B/soul vocal group. They were originally formed as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead tenor of Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1953. The second group of Drifters, formed in 1959 and ...

and Maurice Williams and The Zodiacs. Randy has played on stage with artists such as

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...

and David Holt and has appeared on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

Mountain Stage ''Mountain Stage'' is a two-hour music radio show, first aired in 1983, produced by West Virginia Public Broadcasting and distributed worldwide by National Public Radio (NPR). Hosted by Larry Groce from the show's inception until 2021 and curr ...

several times. In July 2011, "The Boatmen" released their self-titled debut album at FloydFest. In November 2017, Gilkey announced that he would audition for

America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is an American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distributed by) and ...

to help him reach a national audience. He is a nominee for the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Gilkey resides in his hometown of Oak Hill, West Virginia, and continues to regularly play events in Beckley and the surrounding areas.

References

External links

*
The Boatmen website

Randy Gilkey Music
on

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilkey, Randy 1976 births Living people American male singer-songwriters People from Oak Hill, West Virginia Musicians from West Virginia 21st-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American male singers Singer-songwriters from West Virginia