Doc Richards-- Guitars and all variations there of, Banjos, Mandolins and all variations there of, Ukeleles, Bouzoukis, Lap Steel, Drums, Percussion, Synthesizers, lead and backing vocals
What Doc plays: Primary acoustic instrument (Live): Gibson J180 EC ; (Recording): Crafter TAO 50 12-fret Slothead.
The collection:
Guitars:
Crafter TAO 50 12-fret slothead 'always in the shop, but sounds like a million', Santa Cruz DPW/M, Taylor 555, Gibson J180 EC custom and Martin DVM 'Veterans Model.
Primary electric guitar: '93 Paul Chandler custom Swamp Ash Strat.
'57 Reissue Gibson Black Beauty Les Paul Custom, 50th Anniversary '57 Reissue Stratocaster, '05 American Standard Stratocaster, '72 Reissue Fender Telecaster Custom (MIJ), '60 Gretsch Single Anniversary, '96 Guild Starfire IV 'made in Rhode Island', Xavier XV 700 Thinline, Epiphone Custom Shop SG in Gibson Gold, Fender Standard Telecaster (MIM), '06 Gibson Explorer.
Basses
'86 Fender Jazz Bass Special (MIJ), '05 Fender Jazz V (MIM), '08 Fender '51 Precision Reissue, '08 Rumley Custom Baritone
Banjo
'86 Flatiron Sweetgrass Banjo.
Mandolins
'69 Gibson A-5 Two Point Custom, Boulder Mandolin F-type Custom, Flatiron Performer A, Michael Kelly Mandola, Michael Kelly Octave Mandolin, Flatiron K Koa Bouzouki, Custom Bowl Back Long Scale Bouzouki, '20s Italian Bowl Back Mandolin, Turkish Oud.
Ukeleles
Oscar Schmidt Koa Concert Uke, '62 Martin T-1 Tenor Uke, Oscar Schmidt Baritone Uke, '52 Martin T-15 Tiple.
Steels
Chandler Electric R-1 Lap Steel, Gold Tone Weissenborn Acoustic Lap Steel, '50s Regal Acoustic Lap Steel, Carter Pedal Steel.
Amplifiers
Fender Hot Rod Deluxe All Tube, '65 Ampeg SB12 'Flip Top' All Tube, Two Vox Pathfinders one with and one without reverb, Fender Sidekick Reverb 65 Solid State, 2 Fender Champ 12s All Tube, Peavey Basic 112 Bass Amp, AXL Solid State Keyboard/Bass Amp. '60s Kalamazoo 123 5-Watt All Tube.
Influences
Beatles, Stones, Dylan, the Band, Roscoe Holcum, Son Seals, Fred McDowell, Leadbelly, Tony Joe White, Danny O'Keefe, Hoyt Axton, JJ Cale, It's a Beautiful Day, Malian music, Bossa Nova, Polyrhythmic Guitarists from Africa, anything musical or related to rhythmic sound.
Sounds Like
Our originals sound like us...for covers we refer to JJ Cale, Its a Beautiful Day, The Band, Dylan, but the covers sound like us, too.
Club Knowledge: What do you like most about being an INDE artist?
Doc Richards: The economics...nobody's hand is in my pocket, I'm not contractually tied to any corporate organization, I own all my intellectual property… my ASCAP catalog and publishing company. Some people would think having that much control would make someone a control freak, but in today's business world, you don't want someone controlling your business for you.
Club Knowledge: What makes you and your band unique?
Doc Richards: Flexibility... willingness to try new things that are currently popular with music consumers... even if it requires a new instrument or sound. Sometimes getting that sound within our budget and as green as possible tests the limits of what I can do. One thing I don't do any more is listen to the criticism of nay-sayers in the business or on it perimeters... they can be a distraction at getting to the heart of your art. There will always be people questioning your decisions, telling you what you should be doing, trying to bend your flow of consciousness to their schedule or agenda. Don't give in, go for your goal and be sure of it before you head off with your heart and wallet in your hand. Be committed.
Club Knowledge: If your band could open for a headlining act, who would it be and why?
Doc Richards: This question is really hard... the reason being is in order to be successful you should identify with the group you are opening for... and these days that means a lot. For example, if you have strong political opinions on world affairs, and you are opening for an act whose art basically says 'kiss my ass,' you are going to have problems with the audience... who basically paid for you to be there in the first place. At nearly 55 years old, it would be really difficult to find compatible contemporary acts to work with... there are a few whose causes I support... Cancer Research, Anti-War, Anti-Poverty, Pro-Choice, Pro-Environment, Progressive Politics... but very few that universally take on these issues as symbiotic to life on this planet.
Club Knowledge: Do you feel that "underground" is just a marketing term like anything else?
Doc Richards: Has been and will always be just another useless buzz word for people working outside the corporate system.
Club Knowledge: What would you like to change about your city's local music scene?
Doc Richards: I'd like to see venue owners take chances again. I see them looking at live music as a way to make the bar profitable rather than making the stage a place for artistic expression. Forty years ago, we were paid to play for the house's clientele, now venues expect us to bring our following to make them money... No, thanks, I'll just sell my records directly to my supporters and eliminate alcohol consumption, oil consumption, and parking congestion.
Club Knowledge: What you feel is the most important thing about your music?
Doc Richards: That has changed over the years... I got into the music business very young and very naive. I thought I you had to have was a good guitar and a few friends. Though there's a lot of books out there... include Dummies and Idiots books... nothing can prepare you for the new lows... and highs you find in the people you will deal with... venue owners, booking agents, managers, fans... contracts that mean nothing... promises that don't materialize. You've got to love your art for the sake of your art and never think in terms of 'I'm going to be a star.' One of the only stars I ever knew... a good friend for thirty years... toured with a headlining country western singer in the eighties for two years, came home disillusioned, went back to scraping by on luthiery work for years... committed suicide last year. Incredible player... his last work was studying the catalog of Wes Montgomery, and he was GOOD at it. Life didn't live up to his expectation. I've never set goals that high... I want to have fun and anything else that comes along the way is gravy.
Club Knowledge: Let us say that you have been just signed by a major label and they say time to move 2500 miles. Now what, would you be able to move?
Doc Richards: Why would you do that when studios, housing and cost of living where you live are cheaper and you can send files to the label over the internet. They can schedule your tours from where they are, you don't have to be there... you're not like a pet that has to be fed every day.
Club Knowledge: What made you want to pursue songwriting?
Doc Richards: I gave you guys a really flippant answer a few years back. Seriously, I had things to say that I couldn't find in cover song. I could write songs that I could hear other people singing. What other reason do you need?
Club Knowledge: If you could put on a show anywhere were would it be?
Doc Richards: That changes... a couple times I thought I had a place in mind that would be perfect, but I always find someplace else that I'd like to do. There's this outdoor amphitheater just beneath the guardrail at Mt. Rushmore that I saw this year... I never knew it existed, looked like it could seat 750-1000 people.
Club Knowledge: Are you looking to get a record deal? Why?
From the foothills of the eastern Montana plains to the Delaware Valley; from the corn fields of Illinois to the red clay creeks of south Texas and finally to Calfornia, Doc Richards rootless existence in the back of an old Ford sedan as his military parents moved from base to base exposed him to the cultures and communities across America finally ending up in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1971.
As the country went into the emotional upheaval of the Vietnam War and struggled with the institutionalization of Civil Rights, Doc joined the military to avoid the inevitability of his draft number being called. Turning the nightmare of war into an opportunity, and much to the disliking of his commanding officers and superiors, Doc found himself as a volunteer program developer and director at Armed Forces Radio in Taiwan. He also made the rounds of service clubs building his own reputation playing covers of popular period acts like Steppenwolf, the Doobie Brothers, and the Band.
Returning to the states in 1974, Doc immediately began to pull in favors from Bay Area musicians who had become sidemen to major acts, Cliff Jones, keyboard player from Taj Mahal’s band and Chuck Quady, Bobby Bare’s lead guitarist on the road. The band became the Wires, playing covers from the major Bay Area bands like Quicksilver Messenger Service and It’s a Beautiful Day. Doc filled in his time by enrolling in college on the GI Bill, majoring in Journalism and working for the Foothill Sentinel and KFJC-FM Radio, the college NPR affiliate. In 1978, he transferred to San Jose State University continuing to major in Journalism, but taking formal courses in guitar and piano.
As the Wires members drifted off into other projects or joined other touring acts, Doc continued as a songwriter, and was a charter member of the original South Bay Songwriters Association. It was through his membership there that a commission for a protest song on the plight of returning Vietnam Veterans came from Country Joe McDonald, an outspoken activist on veterans rights, and a vet himself. Doc wrote one song and pitched to Country Joe, and stayed in touch with the iconic musician for many years.
In 1987, Doc Richards bought a forty acre ranch twenty-three miles from Big Sur, California, where he lived, wrote and performed for the next six years. He took a part-time job as a radio announcer and news contributor at CBS/CNN affiliated KRKC- AM in King City, California, and later moved to free form rock radio station KLUE- FM as an announcer and producer. During this period, Doc met and joined up with former David Frizzell guitarist Troy Everett. For the next five years, Doc worked with Troy and several other musicians who were eventually awarded the President’s Volunteerism Award by President Clinton in 1993 for charitable work in the Lockwood-Jolon valley.
In 1993, Doc pulled up stakes from the Big Sur area and moved home to Montana, but finding the pickings slim and the distance from major market action too little to pay the bills, he and his wife Virginia relocated to Boulder, Colorado in 1997. In 1999, Doc traveled back to Montana to pitch a song to Hoyt Axton for his new publishing company based in Nashville, but ill health and Hoyt’s sudden death stopped a possible collaboration. In 2000, Doc put together a successful act, Coyote Moon, which played the Front Range and mountain region for three years before members finally went their own way in 2002. After thirty-five years as a player, instructor, and bandleader, Doc retired in 2003. He continues to play with friends from the West coast and Nashville, but mostly for fun these days. He is a member of the American Federation of Musicians Local 20-623 in Denver, CO, and ASCAP.
The following businesses are the companies to which I owe so much for their support and help in providing instruments and accessories for my program: The Denver Folklore Center, Denver, CO; Music-Go-Round, Littleton, CO; Wildwood Guitars, Louisville, CO; Woodsongs Lutherie, Boulder, CO; Gryphon Guitars, Palo Alto, CA; Banana's at Large, San Rafael, CA; Chandler Guitars and Electronics, Yuba City, CA; Elderly Music, Lansing, MI; Daddy's Junky Music, Syracuse, NY and Dedhem, MA.
Thank you for commenting! It's good to hear from people.
As to your question, the documentarian now lives in Atlanta but lived in the Jackson Hole area for a while. That is a Hoot plate, don't think it's hers, but we thought it was a pretty great plate.
