Rand Bishop, Grammy Nominated Singer-Songwriter

Oregon Coast Council for the Arts is thrilled to present Newport-based singer-songwriter, Rand Bishop, in this world-debut show described as a “journey through the dynamics of human life.” The performance takes the audience through a lively range of original songs and monologues culled from Rand’s life and his 50 years in the music business.

The creative inspiration for the show started with the David Ogden Stiers Theatre itself. Bishop shared, “First of all, I’m in love with the Stiers theatre – it’s so great! But also, I’m a big project person. I always have to have a big goal to shoot for to motivate me. And I felt the need to express something. I have so many songs that really have never been heard! You labor over your creative work and if you don’t tour, those songs might languish.” Rand shared that he knows that songwriting and singing were what he was put on this earth to do, “The more personal you make your writing, the more universal it is. The more honest the expression, the more people are going to respond and relate to it.”

Rand Bishop Bio

Oregon native Rand Bishop grew up in the Portland suburbs torn between two highly improbably career paths: classical stage actor or rock star. After a season of playing bit parts at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, he chose the rock route. Bishop enjoyed a 45-year music-business career as a major-label recording artist, touring musician, hit songwriter, platinum record producer, talent development executive, and music publisher. He garnered a Grammy nomination, several BMI Awards and more than 300 songwriting credits with artists as diverse as the Beach Boys, Tim McGraw, Indigo Girls, Heart, and Sheryl Lee Ralph. Toby Keith’s release of “My List,” (Tim James/Rand Bishop) spent five weeks at number one, becoming 2002’s most-played single on country radio. The song’s lyrics provided the basis for a book published by McGraw-Hill, the first of five tomes Bishop has authored thus far. Bishop’s “Makin’ Stuff Up” column was featured in American Songwriter Magazine for seven years. In 2017, Bishop walked from Southern California to the Central Oregon Coast, a 90-day, 900- mile adventure recounted in the memoir, TREK: My Peace Pilgrimage in Search of a Kinder America. Bishop’s essays have appeared in the Medium publications Crows Feet, An Injustice, Prism and Pen, Politically Speaking, and Backyard Church. A lifelong liberal activist, he lives in Newport, Oregon, where he is the Music Director for the Oregon Coast Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.

Tickets for “Rand Bishop – Songs, Observations & Confessions” are $10-25 and are on sale now at CoastArts.org