What makes someone tick? Depends on the individual. In my case it is creating things, many of them musical. While my day job is all about ideas (and making them come to life), the nostatic existence is inextricably tied to music.
Here is the “just the facts” data:
- multi-instrumentalist: bass, guitar, dobro, keyboards, vocals, and some banjo
- award-winning composer (for Orbital Redux)
- read, have a great ear, a car that works, and I’m not a flake
- have gigged on and off for over 40 years, doing everything from solo singer/songwriter shows to small jazz ensembles to jazz big bands to musical theater pits to funk, soul, and rock shows.
- steeped in jazz, funk, soul, rock, folk, and most anything in-between
- playing out in front of people (no matter how many or how few) or in the studio – as long as there is music to be made I’m in
If it makes a difference, I have a phd in chemistry from Caltech. I also am an amateur extra-class radio operator (K6GS), photographer, filmmaker, perpetual tai chi student, ex-car and bicycle racer, motorcycle tourer, and seeker of the illusive green room. In the early 00’s I spent four years playing with Kaz Takeda, appearing on three albums and performing shows in LA and Japan. I was bassist and producer in Simpleflower, and since 2007 have played over a thousand shows in Southern California with a number of different bands. I’ve studied with Grammy-award winning bassist Victor Wooten, worked with Anthony Wellington on both bass and keyboard, and way back when, guitar and banjo with Walt Richards.
At the end of 2019 we escaped LA for Lompoc on the central coast just in time for the pandemic. While gigs went away, I went back into the studio, leading to an album a year (discography below). In 2021 live gigs came back (at least a fair chunk of them), and I played a lot of great shows over the last couple years including resurrecting my solo act (“yachtcoustic”) in 2022. In 2023, the gigs kept flowing, with a lot more solo shows, introducing the Acoustic Juke Box.
As 2024 rolls in, the woodshedding continues along with some possible new projects. Only so many hours on the planet, trying to make as much music in as many different ways as I can.
enjoy the ride – todd richmond