It was a combination of a songwriting workshop and heartbreak over a girl that jump-started Americana singer Elliot Randall's career.

"I think that every songwriter gets into songwriting because of a girl," he said. "Songwriters can write about heartbreak all day long if (they) experience it."

Heartbreak or not, Randall has made a name for himself in a relatively short time. Since his debut album, Take the Fall, came out in 2007, he's had the chance to open for some of his childhood heroes: Creedence Clearwater Revisited and the Steve Miller Band.

On Friday night, at the Fox and Goose Pub, Randall and his four-piece band will play the first concert of a California tour that he is co-headlining with folk rock singer Gina Villalobos. Local singer-songwriter Kate Gaffney will open the show.

Country music is deeply rooted in Randall's blood -- his father was a country songwriter, and his grandfather was a musician as well. "Once I started getting into songwriting, roots-type stuff just started coming out," he said.

His family moved from the deep South to South Carolina when he was little, and shortly before high school, they moved to California. It was at Santa Barbara City College that he took the songwriting workshop.

"It's a really well-known program run by a professor named Dr. Clark, an amazing songwriting coach and mentor. He really helped me with my craft," Randall said.

Randall mentioned that many people who have taken the class have been successful. One example is pop singer Katy Perry, whose 2008 album, One of the Boys, recently went platinum.

Later, Randall moved to San Francisco, where producer David Simon Baker (ALO, Jackie Greene, The Mother Hips) helped him record Take the Fall. The album reached number 16 on XM Radio's "X Country" charts, and Randall gained a regional following in the Bay Area.

But he won't say that he's successful or that he's "made it." That kind of thinking puts too much pressure on his career, Randall said.

Right now, he's working with Baker again on a new album entitled Caffeine and Gasoline, set for release in October or November. It will feature less heartbreak and include more lively songs, Randall said.

"I don't want to do another singer-songwriter, depress-everyone-in-the-world, sad Grey's-Anatomy-soundtrack record," Randall said of the record. "It's got some sweet ballads, but frankly I don't think there are enough Americana bands out there trying to rock the house, trying to get people moving."

Randall said he enjoys playing in Sacramento because the people who go to his shows (he played at Marilyn's on K Street last time) are willing to have a good time.

"I don't think people (in Sacramento) are as obsessed with being hip as they are in the Bay Area, so it was a nice change. I dig the fact that it's a real hardworking Northern California city, and people have to sort of cut loose a little bit and have some fun."

Randall will debut some of the new songs from Caffeine and Gasoline in the show Friday, which begins at 9 p.m. There will be a $5 cover charge for the show at Fox and Goose Pub, 1001 R St.

Photographs credit Music Fog