Randall Goodgame facts for kids

Randall Kilpatrick Goodgame (born February 15, 1974) is an American singer and songwriter. He is well-known for creating Slugs & Bugs, a popular music brand for families. Randall has released many albums on his own and has helped with many others. He has written songs for famous Christian artists like Caedmon's Call and Andrew Peterson. He also worked with Andrew Peterson on the album Slugs & Bugs & Lullabies. One song from this album, "You Can Always Come Home," was even featured in a VeggieTales show called The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's.

Randall Goodgame's Early Life

Randall Goodgame grew up in Clearwater, Florida. When he was nine, he started taking piano lessons. At 15, he learned from Manfredo Fest, a talented Brazilian pianist who was blind. Randall often performed at local charity events, helping to raise money. In high school, he played in the jazz band and was captain of the swim team. He graduated from Clearwater High School in 1992.

Randall first studied music and biology at Birmingham-Southern College. He won a scholarship from the Clearwater Jazz Holiday festival. Later, he changed his major to English. He believed that reading different kinds of books would help him write better songs. During college breaks, Randall played keyboards for the Black Creek Band. He even toured the southeastern United States with them for several months before finishing his degree.

Starting His Music Journey

In December 1995, Randall released his first album, also called Randall Goodgame. He wrote most of the songs and played many instruments on it. These included piano, guitar, harmonica, accordion, and mandolin. A music critic named Robert K. Oermann called him a "folkie find of the day." He said Randall's first album was "superb" and full of "memorable melodies."

After college, Randall moved to Nashville, Tennessee, a big city for music. A radio station in Augusta, Georgia, started playing his song "Momma Louise." Because listeners loved it, Randall and his new band were invited to play at a music festival. In 2000, he released his second album, Arkadelphia.

Making Christian Music and Slugs & Bugs

Randall Goodgame began writing songs for Christian artists. He wrote for groups like Caedmon's Call and Jason Gray. In 2001, he opened concerts for Andrew Peterson. Later, he toured with popular bands like Caedmon's Call and Jars of Clay. He wrote seven songs for Caedmon's Call's 2004 album, Share the Well.

The Slugs & Bugs World

In 2007, Randall worked with Andrew Peterson to create Slugs & Bugs & Lullabies. This children's album became very popular. Its success led to Randall writing songs for the Christian cartoon series VeggieTales. Randall continued to build the Slugs & Bugs brand. He released A Slugs & Bugs Christmas in 2010 and Slugs & Bugs Under Where? in 2011.

The Slugs & Bugs brand also includes a special curriculum for Vacation Bible School. Randall also performs live shows as part of the Slugs and Bugs LIVE series.

Singing the Bible

In 2015, Randall released Sing the Bible with Slugs & Bugs. This album featured 18 songs that used direct Bible verses as lyrics. A review in Parents Life said the album was very artistic and would help kids memorize Scripture quickly. This album was nominated for Children's Music Album of the Year at the Dove Awards in 2015. Randall has since released five "Sing the Bible" albums, all setting Bible verses to music.

On October 11, 2024, Randall released the Scripture Hymnal at a concert in Franklin, Tennessee. This hymnal contains 106 songs that are word-for-word Bible quotations. Randall worked with 12 other songwriters to create it.