Gothic Theatre

Rich Price

Rich Price has been traveling from the start. He was born in Nigeria, raised in London, attended high school in California, college in New England and then Oxford for graduate school- and it shows in every note he plays. His songs are as much about the journey as they are about arriving someplace. After a decade of songwriting, Rich has come up with a style that evokes his journeyman background, a seamless blend of sophisticated musicianship and stripped-down verite. His approach to making music is straight-ahead, but the result is anything but simple. Traces of the masters who populate Rich’s record shelf—Dylan, Lennon and McCartney, Paul Simon—lurk at the edges of his compositions to give a warm, familiar feeling. As much as any musical influence, Rich’s songs also find their roots in the train whistle, the bell buoy, and the hum of tires on scalding asphalt. But Rich’s breezy guitar style, his fresh, confident lyrics cut a new path. Set beneath an intimate, soothing voice that conveys the passion of his words, Rich’s music envelops its listeners, drawing them gently into his world. Between tour dates with Pete Francis (of Dispatch), Rich recorded his debut album, Night Opens. Recorded at Lakewest Studio,in Rhode Island, and produced by veteran Jack Gauthier (Dispatch, Pete Francis), Night Opens features the expert playing of Marty Richards on drums and Marty Ballou on bass, both longtime jazzmen who lend the album a backdrop that feels at once improvised and meticulously choreographed. Francis, who co-produced, also plays a searing lead guitar. ‘If Magellan had been a songwriter,’ muses Francis, ‘his songs would sound like the ones on Night Opens.’ ’There is a clarity, an awareness that draws us in, and we know innately where we are.