Band? What band? There is no band, I'm an independent composer/producer/keyboardist. On the other hand, the amazing thing about living here amidst all this talent is that a few phone calls can instantly assemble THE GREATEST BAND IN THE WORLD for whatever needs to go down at the moment. After 25 years it would be impossible to acknowledge all the TGBITW members but I could make a dent by mentioning Sherwood Ball, Tony Braunigal, Adrianne Leon, Rie Sinclair, Bryan Head, Dave Cartwright, Deborah Holland, Andrea Robinson, R.C. Cates, "Little Miss" Robin Mink, Jessie Cooper,"cold brothers" John Ferraro and Gary Herbig, Kenny Aronoff, Tim Pierce, erhu virtuoso Yu Hongmei, Wang Xi, all the great orchestra musicians in Beijing, Josh Sklair, Reggie McBride, Gigi Worth, Dave Marotta, Yvonne Williams, Randall Crissman, Helena Buscema, Chris Boardman, Hutch, Johnny Lee Schell, Tom Bahler, Lenny McDaniel (wherever you are), Rick Braun, David Woodford, Lee Thorenberg, Vicki Randall, Michael and Nora Perricone, Oren Waters, Herb Pedersen, Tom Sauber, Gabe Witcher, Kenny Blackwell, Jimmy Roberts, Siedah, Diane Lindsay, Nancy Felixson, Sue Fink and the Angel City Chorale, and the ten times as many names I'm neglecting to drop now because I can't remember them or they're too famous and it would seem tacky (you know, like "Aretha sang my Wheel of Fortune jingle", or something like that...) Anyhow, thanks to all, mentioned and unmentioned--you'll all always be IN THE BAND.
Influences
New Orleans R & B, Jimi, Elton John, Terry Riley, PhillipGlassPhillipGlassPhillipGlass, Stephen Foster, Scott Joplin, Seldom Scene, Debussy, Satie, Aaron Copeland, Zep, Floyd, Crimson, Procol, Van Dyke Parks, my cousin Will Mercer, Roger Miller, Ziggy Modalese, Randy Newman, Aretha, Paul Revere and the Raiders, erhu and traditional Chinese music, the Gospel tent at Jazzfest, morning's on KCRW, Jonesie's Jukebox, Clyde Clifford from KAAY in the late '60s, Firesign Theatre, those Perry Como 45's my grandma played for me when I was little, and all the great live soul bands we used to dance to in high school. And that just scratches the surface.
Rick has been a composer, producer and musician in Los Angeles for the past 25 years dring which time he has composed themes and underscores for numerous television shows and films, written songs for film and CD, produced records for singer-songwriters, played keyboards around town and generally made a living as a musical jack-of-all-trades, (not to mention picking up the occasional Emmy or Promax Award.) Most recently he spent 4 years as a consultant and composer for CCTV-9, China Central Television's English language channel broadcast worldwide out of Beijing. On his numerous trips to China Rick had the good fortune to meet and work with erhu virtuoso Yu Hongmei and the audio recording students at China Central Conservatory. Together they are creating a CD entitled "Beautiful Land" which features erhu performances of traditional Americana folk music, accompanied by western musicians. Currently Rick is keeping a busy schedule, playing live with 9 piece soul band Floyd and the Flyboys, working on his own production library of traditional Chinese music, and especially enjoying writing and recording a batch of songs with his newest collaborator, the amazingly talented Rie Sinclair.
I just finished producing a new recording by the Angel City Chorale (ACC), a 120-member, multi cultural volunteer choir.
This recording contains a thematically related collection of songs that explores our varied concepts of what "home" means, and contains an eclectic collection of classical, gospel and folk pieces, performed by a 100 voice choir and full band. To give back to our local communities, ACC will be donating a significant share of the CD's proceeds to OPCC, an organization that serves homeless individuals, battered women, and people living with mental illness in Los Angeles. Check it out.
Studio
"Home on the Range" is celebrating 20 years of business. Upstairs in an airy, high-ceiling control room is still the David Abell Yamaha C7, a 2" tape machine (that frankly sees little use), and a Protools HD3 system with Control 24 and a bunch of cool plugins and virtual instruments. Plenty of ins and outs for a collection of boutique preamps, outboard reverbs and compressors, and some nice mics. Monitors are ADAMs S3As and JBL LSR 28s. Downstairs is the tracking room with B-3, Wurly, Rhodes, pump organ and an old wooden Gretsch kit. Room for 4 or 5 musicians to knock out live tracks. Three blocks from Venice Beach and a short walk to Abbot Kinney Blvd. Most importantly, good restaurants everywhere and fresh beach air.
I edited my profile with Thomas' Myspace Editor V4.4
Every time that we listen or write music... play an instrument... dance... act in a play... or work in some audio/image/video engineering process... Something is healing inside...
When we share it with friends... Something is healing all over...
Hey Rick! Thanks for listening and for your good words. I'm glad you like the song. I love Lucky 7, the way you're weaving culture with Shady Grove — your sound is great. I laughed when I read your bio. It's so true: incredible musicians here and it makes up for the fires and floods and gridlock. Take care, Jane
you def kick a$$ :)- Enough said. Thank you. You rock. and......there's more but I don't want this to go to your head...so maybe for a rainy day :) Well, you are def the coolest guy in the room Mr. Ned Schneebly Krizman :)
Thank you so much for the request Rick! I would love to hear from you sometime, anytime. Keep in touch, your support means the world...keep on making music too! With love, Kelsey
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