What qualities of the
I grew up playing piano. My mother was a classically trained pianist and I took lessons from the age of 6 until I was around 12 years old. I was dyslexic so reading music was hard for me and the process was never fun. I played a neighbors drum set whenever I could, and he finally let me borrow them and take them home to play. Needless to say, my parents were not thrilled! My dad told me he’d buy me anything I wanted if I got rid of the drums, so that Christmas I got an electric
What one single bit of advice would you give students with respect to how they can improve their musicianship?
You really have to invest time and energy into your playing if you’re going to learn to play. To best insure you invest your time and energy wisely, this usually means finding the right teacher, someone who can teach AND inspire you along the journey.
How long have you been playing and what’s the toughest challenge you’ve faced as a guitarist over the years?
I’ve been playing for over 35 years– supporting myself with music my entire life. The actual business of music is hard, so the greatest challenge I’ve faced throughout my many years as an artist is finding ways to remain inspired, to not give up, and to not let the passion I have for playing my
Who’s been your biggest influence as a musician? What is the best advice you ever received musically?
Jimi Hendrix is my greatest influence. He had no limits to what he tried to achieve as a guitarist or as an artist. The best advice I ever received was from Albert King. I had the opportunity to play with him shortly before he died and he told me, “Your
What projects are coming up for you? How should students stay in touch?
I have a number of exciting things going on this year. I’m currently touring in support of a new live CD I released in March of this year titled, “The Kelly Richey Band Live At The Blue Wisp”. We are touring the USA, Canada, and Australia. I just finished shooting a new TrueFire