Biography
Rick Graham lives and breathes music. Since as far back as he can remember, music has been a vital part of his life. During his upbringing and from a very young age he was exposed to music such as Genesis, Yes, Peter Gabriel and Santana as well as music by Ravel, Debussy and Bach.
At the age of 7, he began to study the violin and although this only lasted for several years it was an extremely important part of his musical development. During his teens he spent time studying the piano and took drum lessons with a friend. It was at 17 years of age whilst studying performing arts at college that he finally discovered the instrument that felt most natural to him: the guitar.
Totally inspired by his love of the instrument Rick spent as much time as he could perfecting his technique, studying music theory and searching for any opportunities where he could apply what he had learned in a live situation. This insatiable thirst for improvement led him to explore other musical styles beyond the realms of his Rock roots including Jazz and Classical studies. It was through a friend that he was exposed to the Classical playing of John Williams and Julian Bream which led to the decision to put his electric playing on hold to study the Classical Guitar. Being accepted into the prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama in The Barbican, London presented him with the opportunity to study music intensively whilst gaining invaluable performing experience on a regular basis.
Rick returned to electric playing with fresh inspiration and in 2005 released his first recording, the EP 'Re-Invention', which was co-written and produced by his brother Lee. This recording featured a cover version of 'Training Montage' by Vince DiCola from the Sylvester Stallone film 'Rocky IV' which prompted contact with Vince himself who stated: "Your version of Training Montage is the best and most faithful I've ever come across". Their version has received over 5,500,000 views on Youtube alone. In 2006 Rick relocated to the South of France and worked as a session guitarist recording and performing throughout Southern France and has appeared on French Television and Radio on numerous occasions. He has performed for Flaxwood Guitars at the London Guitar Show 2008, Frankfurt MusicMesse 2009 and played for Suhr Guitars at NAMM in California in 2010.
2010 saw the release of Rick's much anticipated debut solo album 'Insideout' which received rave reviews and continues to sell across the globe. The album was mixed and mastered by fellow Suhr Guitars artist Carl Roa at Magic Elf Studios in New York. Rick has also recently been collaborating with the phenomenal jazz fusion guitarist Tom Quayle and they have just completed their first 3 day guitar workshop in the UK teaching students from the USA, Spain and the UK. The workshop was so successful that they will be conducting it in the USA next year as well as the UK. In a further teaching capacity Rick has recently recorded the first of a series of guitar tuition videos at LickLibrary studios in London. Rick was recently crowned 'Guitarist of the Year 2011' in a competition run by the UK publication 'Guitarist' magazine.
At the age of 7, he began to study the violin and although this only lasted for several years it was an extremely important part of his musical development. During his teens he spent time studying the piano and took drum lessons with a friend. It was at 17 years of age whilst studying performing arts at college that he finally discovered the instrument that felt most natural to him: the guitar.
Totally inspired by his love of the instrument Rick spent as much time as he could perfecting his technique, studying music theory and searching for any opportunities where he could apply what he had learned in a live situation. This insatiable thirst for improvement led him to explore other musical styles beyond the realms of his Rock roots including Jazz and Classical studies. It was through a friend that he was exposed to the Classical playing of John Williams and Julian Bream which led to the decision to put his electric playing on hold to study the Classical Guitar. Being accepted into the prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama in The Barbican, London presented him with the opportunity to study music intensively whilst gaining invaluable performing experience on a regular basis.
Rick returned to electric playing with fresh inspiration and in 2005 released his first recording, the EP 'Re-Invention', which was co-written and produced by his brother Lee. This recording featured a cover version of 'Training Montage' by Vince DiCola from the Sylvester Stallone film 'Rocky IV' which prompted contact with Vince himself who stated: "Your version of Training Montage is the best and most faithful I've ever come across". Their version has received over 5,500,000 views on Youtube alone. In 2006 Rick relocated to the South of France and worked as a session guitarist recording and performing throughout Southern France and has appeared on French Television and Radio on numerous occasions. He has performed for Flaxwood Guitars at the London Guitar Show 2008, Frankfurt MusicMesse 2009 and played for Suhr Guitars at NAMM in California in 2010.
2010 saw the release of Rick's much anticipated debut solo album 'Insideout' which received rave reviews and continues to sell across the globe. The album was mixed and mastered by fellow Suhr Guitars artist Carl Roa at Magic Elf Studios in New York. Rick has also recently been collaborating with the phenomenal jazz fusion guitarist Tom Quayle and they have just completed their first 3 day guitar workshop in the UK teaching students from the USA, Spain and the UK. The workshop was so successful that they will be conducting it in the USA next year as well as the UK. In a further teaching capacity Rick has recently recorded the first of a series of guitar tuition videos at LickLibrary studios in London. Rick was recently crowned 'Guitarist of the Year 2011' in a competition run by the UK publication 'Guitarist' magazine.
