Randall Grass has been involved with music for more than thirty years as musician, journalist, radio show host, and record company executive. As General Manager of Shanachie Entertainment, he has worked with such artists as Rita Marley, Culture, Leela James, Third World, An Nesby, Bunny Wailer, Inner Circle, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Calvin Richardson, The Skatalites, Sonny Fortune, Lucky Dube, Hil St. Soul, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Soweto Gospel Choir, and many others.
As a radio show host he hosted Roots, Rock, Reggae and The World Beat Dance Party on WXPN-FM in Philadelphia from 1979-1991.
He has written about music, especially African and Caribbean music for such publications as The Village Voice, Spin Magazine, The Beat, Musician, Downbeat, The Philadelphia Inquirer and many others, and was a contributor to the books Reggae International, The Rolling Stone Record Guide, The Alternative Papers, and Reggae, Rasta & Revolution. His book Great Spirits: Portraits of Life-Changing World Music Artists was published in July 2009 by University Press of Mississippi.
As a musician, he has performed with bands in America and Africa, currently performing with the Philadelphia band Philly Gumbo, which mixes New Orleans R & B, reggae, soul and blues. He has appeared on NPR’s Fresh Air, The McNeil-Lehrer Report, MTV’s Liner Notes, and CNN, and was a contributor to the nationally syndicated radio shows Artbeat and Crossroads.
He has traveled and/or resided in more than thirty countries in Europe, Africa, The Middle East, The Caribbean, and Latin America.