Randy
by Shannan Keenan
It’s Randy Kurtis’ 40th birthday. On top of the pending mid-life crisis facing this professional dishwasher living in Bazine, Kansas, his favorite guitarist, Stevie Ray Vaughan, abruptly dies the same day a discriminating tornado destroys Randy’s mobile home – concert t-shirts and all! Among the ruins, Randy discovers a 1984 AAA Texas Guide and an odd looking guitar with tattered stickers that may or may not spell out S.R.V. Is it all a sign?
Randy, who has never crossed the Kansas state line, has an epiphany. He must take his newly found guitar and hit the road to Vaughan’s funeral in Dallas. It’s at the funeral where Randy hopes to discover the meaning of his life. But first he has to get there.
In a comical trek through America’s Heartland, Randy goes on a pilgrimage, during which time he encounters several colorful characters including a young stripper protégé; a philosophizing truck driver who’s been on the road a little too long; a devoted Christian family with more revelations than the Bible; a charismatic Australian tiger trainer; and finally Valon, the voluptuous former hooker-turned-circus acrobat who leads Randy to the realization that indeed the world’s winners can’t survive without the losers. But it’s Vaughan’s own words which enlighten Randy to finally realize that sometimes all you need in life are your friends…and of course, a kick-ass concert.