About

I’m a guitarist and fantasy author by night, and a professional software developer by day. My degree is in classical guitar even though my focus was composition. I build my own electric guitars, have eight metal plates in my head, overcame a crippling case of severe tendonitis, build my own computers, independently release albums as Guitarosity Records, and run a software consulting company in the Washington D.C. area.

By 2017, I’ll be publishing novels (having written several) and have spent decades working on a fantasy setting.

Music

A composer at heart, I’ve played guitar since 1984 and also play drums, percussion, piano, and bass.  I currently have two bands: Randy Ellefson, an instrumental guitar band where I do all the performances, and Z-Order, a metal band with me on guitars and as the primary songwriter and lyricist.

Randy Ellefson – Instrumental Guitar

These songs can be previewed at iTunes or streamed from my site.

Rock

I’ve released three albums of instrumental rock that earned me good reviews, interviews, and endorsements with Peavey, Morley Pedals, and Alvarez Guitars.  I also used to write lots of articles for guitarists (and which have been published at various sites).

Now Weaponized! (2013)

Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid (2007)

The Firebard (2004)

See a Music Video of Mine

My YouTube channel has music videos from several albums, with one being added once month in 2014. Most show all guitars, bass, and drums onscreen at once, with annotations.

My video for “Keeping Pace” from NOW WEAPONIZED!

Acoustic Guitar

I’ve also released an album of acoustic guitar instrumentals, Serenade of Strings, and a bonus disc, The Lost Art, of classical guitar the same day. I recorded the latter back in 1995 after my classical guitar degree.

Serenade of Strings (2010)

The Lost Art (2010)

Z-Order – A Metal Band

Z-Order, minus the singer. L-R Dave DeMarco, Randy Ellefson, James Goetz

My metal band, Z-Order, has wrapped up recording backing tracks for the debut album and but we’ve been having singer issues for years and are still held up by them!

The release is a concept album dealing with cyberbullying, social media, suicide, child molestation, and our isolation in a world where we tell ourselves we’re so well connected. A few ballads, including a duet, mix with the energetic, melodic metal influenced by old Metallica, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest.

I’ll update this with more in the future.

Writing

I mostly write fantasy fiction but have also authored many articles on guitar playing and songwriting, all available at my official site.  I received Honorable Mention in the 4th quarter of 2013 in the Writers of the Future contest.  One non-fantasy story, The Insultalon, was published in 2009. For nearly 30 years, fiction has taken a back seat to music, but as of 2013, it’s on equal footing and I intend to be publishing shortly.

Fantasy Fiction

I grew up reading Dragonlance, The RiftWar Saga, Conan books, The Gor Series, and Belgariad while playing Dungeons and Dragons and related computer games like Ultima, The Bard’s Tale, and Might and Magic. I soon drafted my first trilogy and wrote the first book, and before long I made it on the audition list for TSR, Inc. (owners of AD&D) to write novels for them.  I almost wrote one of the books in a new series, The Harpers, but didn’t.

Since then I’ve focused on world building, short stories, and outlining novels, two of which I’ve completed. More details will come later.