1991 - Rick started playing the electric guitar at age 16 whilst living in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. After learning basic pop songs by the likes of The Smiths, The Cure and Depeche Mode his musical direction was changed radically after hearing Metallica's 'Master of Puppets' album. Fuelled by the creativity of this music, he began to seek other sources of inspiration and was gradually moving in the direction of instrumental rock guitar more and more.

1992 - This was the year Rick discovered two pivotal albums which would indefinitely carve out his future as a rock guitarist - Extreme 2 (Pornograffitti), and 'Flying in a blue dream' by Joe Satriani. The former featuring Nuno Bettencourt's high-tech fretwork, and the latter's compositional skill and melodic content were a pure inspiration. During this period he increased his practise regime to 10 hours a day.

1994 - 1996 - In order to gain some live performance experience, Rick joined local jazz funk band FBI and performed many gigs around the midlands. After gaining invaluable experience Rick left the band 2 years later to commence A - level music studies. He also began to teach the electric guitar privately and found he was very successful in this area. In order to expand his musical scope further, Rick also took up classical guitar and studied with a local teacher. He was particularly inspired by the playing of Julian Bream.

1997 - 1998 - Classical guitar performances include:

Walton Hall, Warwickshire

North Warwickshire college, Warwickshire

St Mary's Abbey, Warwickshire

St Mary's Church, Warwickshire

Rick also won first prize for 2 years running in the Leamington music festival and gained Grade 8 distinction with the Associated Board of the Royal School of music.

In September of the same year he began a Degree course at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama studying classical guitar under Professor Robert Brightmore.

2002 - After completing his studies he then formed rock band Sheer with his songwriter and producer brother, Lee. They recorded their EP 'Courage Through the Dark Years' and received radio airplay on FM102 The Bear. It was so well received that the station decided to replay the entire EP over two weeks.

2003 - Sheer disbanded during this year which gave Rick the opportunity to concentrate on writing his debut LP and also to begin building his own project recording studio, Loveridge Studios.

2004 - In early 2004 Rick commenced the writing and recording for his debut solo LP 'Magnetic Horizons' at Loveridge Studios. Enlisting the help of his brother Lee as co-producer of the album proved to be a winning move early on as the material took on a new lease of life and direction. Rick's knowledge of recording and production techniques improved dramatically during this time as he became more and more involved in computer sequencing, musical arrangement and keyboard skills. The album was completed in September of this year. Rick's aim was to express himself through various different musical styles whilst maintaining the common thread of melodic rock instrumental music. The CD confirms Rick's ability as a superb solo rock instrumental guitarist and classical performer of the highest calibre.
 

Music

Magnetic Horizons MP3 (1.3Mb)

One Fine Day MP3 (1.6Mb)

Video

Prelude and Presto from suite No1 in E minor
BWV 996 by J.S. Bach
Real (13.7Mb)

Moto Perpetuo Op.11 by Paganini arranged by R.Graham
Real (2.8Mb)