BOOK

THE STREET CORNER CHING

The Ancient Chinese Oracle in Plain English

(Open Books Press, 2010)

Nashville rocker/songwriter/spiritual explorer Randy Handley re-interprets the ancient Chinese divination practice -- in plain English -- with the blessing of the oracle.

The Street Corner Ching presents the ancient Chinese source of wisdom, the I Ching, in terms a modern westerner can easily understand. Now, with just three coins, paper and pen, and this book, you can draw on this fascinating and uncannily insightful divination tool to examine life, the universe and… pretty much everything!

Author Randy Handley, also a professional musician and songwriter, is a long-time student of world spirituality. He worked with the I Ching for more than thirty years until he realized that he had translated and re-interpreted much of its wisdom and most of its essential fortune-telling aspects into "plain English." With the blessing of the ancient oracle, Handley shares his Street Corner Ching with you.

Read a sample here.

Buy a copy here.

Photo of Randy Handley holding a basket of ceremonial flowers courtesy of Rich Voorhees.

 • Media Info •

TO INTERVIEW RANDY HANDLEY OR TO REQUEST A REVIEW COPY OF THE STREET CORNER CHING

call Sue Havlish, Big Sister Productions, 812-327-5494

email sue@bigsisterproductions.com

HI-RES PHOTO DOWNLOADS (right-click or control+click to download as jpgs). All photos of Randy Handley on this page courtesy of Rich Voorhees. Please credit. Jacket illustration for The Street Corner Ching courtesy of Open Books Press.



Read an excerpt from Randy Handley's Introduction to Street Corner Ching:

"By the time I was out of high school and beginning to make a life for myself as a blues/rocker and singer/songwriter, I had heard of the I Ching, the ancient book of Chinese oracles, and had perused a copy once or twice.

"In my twenties, after I was hired to write songs in LA, one of my first purchases as a nearly middle-class hipster of spiritual bent was a copy of the Wilhelm/Baynes translation of the I Ching which I then read over and over again, it was so fascinating to me.

"I learned to throw the coins to make a hexagram, and set about to know my destiny. I was amazed at the subjective accuracy of the readings using the simple three coin method. [But] I sometimes became childishly, personally angry with the I Ching, even though I hardly ever really followed the advice or heeded the warnings I was given.

"I put it down. I picked it back up and I looked at other translations. I decided it was not for me. I came running back in consternation.

"At some point it occurred to me that the scholarly approach of all the translations I had seen was a little stilted and the language was often as abstruse as it was ancient.

"I thought I should try to write a more accessible version of the book myself.

"I asked the I Ching about it and received the first hexagram, with the sixth line moving. (What this means will be scribed presently, when I explain how to consult the I Ching.) The sixth line is a pretty nasty line about presumptuous arrogance.

"I gave up the idea but decided to ask again in a year.

"That was thirty-some years ago. . . . "

Learn more and read more at the publisher's site here.

Photo of Randy Handley with flowers courtesy of Rich Voorhees. 

The new album You Don't Know My Mind is out! Check it out here.

 . Says Randy, "After years of writing songs for other artists, here are the songs I wrote for myself, and you." 

On sale at CDBaby and more.  

Produced by Mark Robinson. Executive Producers: Tim Hildebrandt, Greg Hildebrandt, M. Beneduce McGrath. Jim Burnett, engineer. Mastered by Paul Mahern. Cover painting by Tim Hildebrandt. Photographs and design by Rich Voorhees, Voorhees Studios Inc. Special Thanks to Mary Flower, Allen Reyolds, Pete Wasner, Bob Berg, Brian Langlinais, Sue Havlish, Rod Handley

The Musicians:

RANDY HANDLEY keyboards & vocals • MARK ROBINSON guitars and whatever else was needed • JACK SUNDRUD bass, background vocals, groove wrangling and rectification • DAVE ROE bass on "back in the saddle" • JOHNNY NEEL B-3 on "back in the saddle," a well of inspiration • RICK MITCHELL sax on "back in the saddle" • STEVE SMARTT trumpet & horn arr. on "back in the saddle" • JIM BURNETT background vocals on "back in the saddle," astounding depth of experience • PAUL GRIFFITH drum artist • BEN GRAVES all harmonicas

Hear a song from Randy's album, This Guy is Blue (available at CD Baby). Click here to play "Above the Powerlines."

ABOUT RANDY HANDLEY, MUSICIAN . . .

    Randy Handley is a bluesman, a singer, and a songwriter. He lives today outside Nashville, Tennessee, where he has performed extensively, including shows at historic venues like the Grand Ole Opry, the Ryman Auditorium (aka “The Mother Church of Country Music”), and the famed Bluebird Cafe. As part of the vital Nashville songwriting community, he has written songs for megastars like Garth Brooks and peerless talents such as John Cowan and Jo El Sonnier.

     Prior to moving to Nashville, Randy was the band leader and singer for his award-winning blues-rock outfit, The Randy Handley Band in Denver, while writing songs for the likes of John Denver and John Mellencamp, and sharing the stage with greats like The Band, Dr. John, and many others.

     Born in Chicago, Randy grew up in Indiana, and was first hired as a songwriter in Los Angeles. His earliest song cuts were written for singing legends including Diana Ross and Charlie Rich. He later logged thousands of miles as a road musician and keyboardist for Lee Roy Parnell, playing Austin to New York, or Lake Charles to Detroit, and back again.

     “At this point, going on the road to most places is like a homecoming,” he says. “I look forward to catching up with people and showing them the new songs and playing the old ones, too.”

     Randy will be recording and touring with fellow Hoosier guitarist Mark Robinson throughout 2011.