RADFORD WINDHAM & STEP BACK CADILLAC

100 Public Square North,Dahlonega GA 30533

19 February, 2023

Description

Dahlonega's Radford Windham has a long musical history, beginning, as many musicians and singers do, in a church that his father pastored. When he turned 15, Zac Brown moved to Dahlonega and joined Radford's high school chorus. They immediately became friends. Zac would bring a guitar to school every day, and we would sit in the hallway (for locals the hallway was known as "The Bridge") and sing during the breaks. During that time Zac taught Radford the basics of playing the guitar, and when they needed money, would go to the square in Dahlonega to find a bench start playing and singing from. Often, this earned the budding 'duo' over $100 in a couple of hours, which was pretty good money for a couple of teenagers in the mid 90's! "When they were both 17 someone told them they should audition for singing the National Anthem at an Atlanta Braves game. Radford and Zac soon I took a tape recorder into Zac's dining room and recorded ourselves, with Radford singing lead, and Zac the harmony. A week later a representative from the Atlanta Braves called to request they sing the National Anthem the following Sunday. From there the two started their own band that began playing in local talent shows and local events and venues, and ended up opening for artists like Shawn Mullins and The Jay Drummonds Band. After high school, Radford decided to stay here in Dahlonega and procure a music degree at North Georgia College and State University. Zac decided to attend West Georgia and play music full-time. So, their band officially broke up, but they still remain good friends. While in college Radford got a job as a music minister at a Habersham Baptist Church , where he stayed for four years and met and married his wife, Julie. Then, they both got teaching jobs in Dahlonega, had two children, Wyatt and Witt, and Radford became the leader of the Praise Band of the Dahlonega Methodist Church. He always wanted to play and write his own music, so, in 2012 he purchased his own sound equipment and started going out and playing at different venues. Later he formed a band called Radford Windham and Step Back Cadillac. The band includes Lauren Stephenson, Matt Stephenson, Dough Schiff, Chuck Bell, Dr. Bob Christmas and Roman Gaddis, and Ivey Hughes - but all members can't always play, so sometimes they scale down a bit. Radford and Step Back Cadillac have now shared the stage with musicians such as Zac Brown, Darrell Scott, Jonathan Byrd, Amy Ray, Jay Drummonds and Kurt Thomas and have sold out several shows at the Dahlonega's renowned listening venue, The Crimson Moon. FOR MORE ABOUT RADFORD WINDHAM VISIT https://www.radfordwindham.com/ - OR READ HIS CHILDHOLD BIO BELOW: I was born May 17th, 1978, at Womack Army Hospital in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. My parents already had 6 children (Raymond, Russell, Rodrick, Rochele, Randall and Richard), but mom thought it would be good to have another one. At the time, dad was stationed in the Army and mom was a piano and voice teacher. They had bought 11 acres on the Cape Fear River, and not being able to afford to build a home, they purchased two single wide trailers and connected them with an enclosed hallway. From an aerial view our home looked like the letter H. It was a genius of an idea. My brothers and sister have great memories of the land; unfortunately, I can't remember anything about it. We left for Dahlonega, Georgia when I was 2, because dad got stationed at Camp Frank D. Merrill, the Ranger Battalion Mountain Phase. Not too fond of curvy roads, I was car sick everywhere we went. I still get sick to this day. While dad was away, mom kept things going around the house like a well-oiled machine. She would make us practice piano and voice every day. Since there were so many of us, mom thought it would be a good idea to form a family gospel singing group. She would dress us all up in matching polyester suits and take us to church homecomings to sing. I was born in the middle of this whole musical adventure and came in time just to make the cover of our first anD only album. I was only 6 months old at the time we made the record. My first taste of music lessons came when I was 4. Mom started me on piano, and I hated it. That didn't matter much because there was no way mom and dad would let me quit. I took lessons all the way till my senior year of high school. When I was 7 I got the fever to want to learn how to play the guitar. So, mom and dad bought me a Harmony guitar from Sears for my 8th birthday. My parents pastored a Pentecostal holiness church. Dad would do the preaching; mom would play the piano and one of my brothers would lead the singing. I would help out with the music by standing to side and playing my out-of-tune Harmony guitar during the music. I didn't know one chord at the time. It had to sound horrible. Of course, we did the special singing in the church. Dad wasn't much on technique but was a stickler on posture and presentation. He would say it didn't matter what happened while we were singing, we better stay still and have our hands behind our back. Well, it just so happened that while I was singing a solo in church a fly landed on my nose. All I could remember is my dad's drill sergeant voice telling me I couldn't move. The fly stayed on my nose the entire song. That whole time of my life is a weird memory.