Valley native sings about the Valley

Randy Sharp grew up in Tulare County, attended Fresno State University and captivated audiences in Fresno and Visalia as a young singer.

Sharp, 40 years later, has come out with a new CD of songs about his native Valley.

Blix Street Records will release “Dreams of the San Joaquin” on Tuesday featuring Sharp, his wife Sharon Bays (Sharp), their daughter, Maia Sharp and Jack Wesley Routh, a Grammy winning songwriter and performer.

Sharp and his wife are both from Tulare County and their daughter was born in Visalia. Routh also has ties to the Valley.

Sharp has been a songwriter, record producer and recording artist. He has had seven No. 1 country songs to his credit. His wife, also a singer, is a lecturer on Cultural Anthropology at UCLA.

According to a press release, the album “honors the stories and musical styles of the massive Valley that first welcomed the Dust Bowl refugees and migrant works in the 1930s and 1940s.” The release notes it is being released just as Ken Burns’ series on the Dust Bowl is to air on PBS. According to the record company, both Randy and Sharon Sharp’s families emigrated to the Valley from Oklahoma.

Sharon Weisz, with W3 Public Relations, said the CD will be available where CDs are sold and also on iTunes and Amazon.com. She said the Sharps have no concerts planned yet for the Valley, but are working on performing in the area in the near future.