Randy Owen’s Home Still in Alabama

Randy Owen photo courtesy of Broken Bow Records.

March 27, 2009 — "I’ll speak my Southern English as natural as can be": So said Randy Owen in "My Home’s In Alabama," the song that started a groundbreaking career that eventually landed Alabama in the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Randy attended Jacksonville State University before the band made its mark, and one particular creative writing class gave him license to let his roots come through in his songs.

"It helped me understand that a kid who was very poor and grew up in the sticks — that it's OK to speak your vernacular," Randy told The Anniston Star of northeast Alabama. "It makes your communication unique."

Randy did OK in the communication department. He wrote more than 15 of Alabama’s hits, including "Mountain Music," "How Do You Fall In Love," "Tennessee River" and "Feels So Right," which defied songwriting conventions by not having much of a rhyme scheme. His latest writing adventure came with his autobiography, Born Country, which was released in November. He tried to keep all of his songs — and the book — as natural as can be.

"I was never one about correct English," he said. "It was about local expressions. It's what I know about. I don't know about the streets of New York City or the south side of Chicago. I've played there, but the music that took me there was the local expressions and the experience of northern Alabama."

The book takes Randy back to Jacksonville this weekend. He’s speaking at his alma mater Saturday during the university’s annual conference on Southern writers.