Randall Meade

Randall Dwight Meade, 70, of Christiansburg passed away April 5, 2024. Randall was well-known as an accomplished actor and musician. He got his start in the music business by booking gigs for his band while attending Christiansburg High School—when he wasn’t busy acting in school plays, playing football, and serving as Senior Class President. Randall was a learned man, having received his B.A. from Virginia Tech in Theatre Arts in 1975 and his M.A. from Western Illinois University in Acting in 1978. He was the recipient of numerous awards throughout high school and college for his academic and artistic accomplishments.

In the summer of 1978, while performing in the Lone Star outdoor drama in Galveston, TX, Randall and two similarly talented friends, Kerry Phillips and Valerie Tullous, formed the comedy, country, and bluegrass trio, Changing Lanes. The years that followed were some of the most artistically satisfying times of Randall’s life. Randall made his living working in numerous states, sometimes calling New York and L.A. home in between cross-country tours and engagements, primarily through the Reperatory Theater of America, which included two tours on the QE2 cruise ship. Stories about that time are too numerous to recount but include performing as the house band at the bar where Bruce Willis worked in New York and once losing an acting gig to Kevin Bacon. And, lest it be forgotten, Randall always advised carrying at least $20 on your person if you had to walk through East Harlem to get home.

Eventually, Randall tired of chasing the Hollywood dream and felt the call back home to Virginia. He continued to act occasionally and formed and performed with numerous bands, often with his brother and nephews. Randall enjoyed “progressive” bluegrass. He wrote many songs himself, and he could put a bluegrass spin on any song, be it a Beatles hit or Prince’s Purple Rain. A person seeking banjo lessons only paid him once or twice because after that, he believed that coming back just to jam was the best way to learn. Music rang through the trees outside that house on Gate Road on countless weekends and evenings; if only those walls could talk, what stories they could tell.

Ever the history buff, Randall always had a bit of trivia to share with friends, family, or even strangers. Every conversation someone had with him, they were guaranteed to walk away with a new fun fact. That, combined with a sardonic wit, made Randall a good conversationalist and a true Virginia gentleman. 

Randall retired from the Facilities Management Department at Radford University after over 20 years of service.

The family will receive friends on Saturday, April 20, 2024, from 2:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m., at Horne Funeral Home. A Celebration of Life service will follow from 4:00 p.m. until 4:30 p.m.