Conversations with Rick Landers

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rick Landers.

Rick, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?

It’s been a long road since I first sang on the radio when I was six years old in Florida, then after my father retired from the Navy, we ended up in Michigan where I was born, and some friends and I started a garage band downriver from Detroit. I played rhythm guitar and sang a bit. 

Later, as a staff assistant at a college in England, I played borrowed guitars, worked a brief stint for Virgin Records, and made it down to Abbey Road studios to hang out with Roy Harper in Studio 2, with Pink Floyd next door laying down some tracks. I wasn’t playing, just watching Roy do his thing, who was very impressive.

When I got back to the States, I worked for the federal government, but in my spare time, I performed in a couple of clubs in D.C., and busked in Georgetown, down the street from the legendary Cellar Door. From my time in the Detroit area to D.C., I was able to catch some great performances: Cream, Vanilla Fudge, The Frost, the MC5, the Psychedelic Stooges, Jackson Browne, Jimmie Spheeris, Dion, John Martyn, Bob Dylan, Mitch Ryder, Judy Collins and more.

I continued playing guitar and writing a few songs, but didn’t venture out much to perform, until decades later, when in 2018 I decided to go to an open mic, just for fun. I played two originals and later that night the manager asked if I’d be his first featured singer-songwriter. I was surprised, but of course, I said, “yes.” 

That gig took about eight months to happen, but in the meantime, I played a free event in my community of Reston, Virginia, for its annual Founder’s Day. It was a twenty-minute thing, but the host urged me on and I played originals for about an hour. The next day he offered me four well-paying gigs, and from there I’ve been very fortunate to perform at house concerts, local venues, some festivals, and even the Republic of South Africa embassy, where I performed a song I’d written called, “No Holiday for Madiba,” a tribute to Nelson Mandela.

Then I played another open mic, and an audience member, Ron Goad, approached me with some kind remarks about a poem, and a song I’d written and performed about two coal mining disasters in New Mexico. 

It turned out that Ron was the recipient of seven Washington Area Music Awards as “best music supporter” and had played as a percussionist on over one hundred albums. That was around 2019, and since then he’s become a great friend, and now plays things he hits and bangs away at with my band, Heartland. 

Our band also includes: John Werntz (bass), Jim Nagle (dobro), and BillyO (lead guitar) and we’re working with Dustin Delage (sound engineer) and multi-platinum awardee and producer, Les Thompson (Co-founder of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) recording some all original tunes. 

I’ve also been working with Stacy Hogan at A Writers Paradise studio, in Nashville, Tennessee, on several songs and he’s been a great advisor and very professional arranger and producer on my behalf. I’ve also been working with an amazing Virginia producer on several of my vocal tracks, Marco Delmar, at his Recording Arts studio. I write the songs and those guys offer up their own very special kind of magic!

Pre-Covid, my wife, my friend Mike Davis and I have sponsored house concerts with such artists as Johnny. Farina (#1 hit song “Sleep Walk”), Craig Bickhardt (Tender Mercies soundtrack album), Tim Grimm (“The Lake” in Robert Redford’s film, A Walk in the Woods), and other local or touring musicians.

Since 2004, I’ve published Guitar International magazine and have been honored to have interviewed Les Paul, George Gruhn, Joe LaMond (President of NAMM); Buddy Guy; Judy Collins; Roger McGuinn, Jimmy Webb, Robert Cray, Cindy Cashdollar, Vince Gill, Tommy Emmanuel, and many more legends. More than a few are your neighbors in Nashville!

A shout out to Caroline Galloway, a past publicist for Gibson Guitars in Nashville, who now owns M2M public relations. She’s lined me up with some wonderful interviews, including two recent ones tied to the Presley family. Working with great professionals is one of the benefits of my magazine, especially when they become friends.

I’ve also served as a judge for the respected, Mid-Atlantic Songwriting Contest (MASC) in its Americana, Adult Contemporary, and top awards categories. And, in 2020 and 2021, I was a recipient of two MASC songwriting awards for my songs, “Maria,” and “Angel on the Wing.”

And, of course, given my magazine’s focus, I’ve found myself purchasing a lot of guitars over the years, which have included: pre-war Martins and Gibsons; Mosrites; a Gittler; an Erlewine; several Tokai electrics, Fenders, and some strange beasts. Most recently, I picked up a 2021 Gruene OG-30 and a vintage 1946 Gibson Southern Jumbo, although on stage I’m usually performing with the Gruene and my old 1946 Gibson J-45.

Right now, my latest song, “Blue World” with a lot of Tim Buckley influence is being produced as an instrumental and I’ll add my vocals to it, so I’ll end up with two releases for a few more bucks. Stacy Hogan’s Nashville based studio, A Writers Paradise, is working on that right now.

I’m also working on a virtual collaborative songwriting project with two new friends from Texas  (Lito Rodriguez) and Vancouver, Canada (Anthony Hutchcroft), and we’re being mentored by Paul Statham, a very successful songwriter and producer. 

My general plan is to try to get some of my originals placed in films, commercials and other media outlets, and perform in places for audiences that steer toward listening rooms, although, like most of us, I’ll play pretty much anywhere.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?

It’s been surprisingly smooth, especially for someone whose focus is performing nearly 100% original songs.

Occasionally I’ll play a cover song, but those tend to be a bit obscure…Tim Buckley, John Martyn, Lisa Hannigan, or some old classics you don’t hear much anymore, and younger folks in the crowd may never have heard them, like the 1966 hit “Solitary Man” by Neil Diamond.

COVID, of course, has been challenging for all of us, but tragic for others, so nothing to whine about from my own perspective. 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?

Well, my professional life now is that of a singer-songwriter, although it took some time to feel like I could count coup on that title, until I began getting repeat gigs and a couple of songwriting awards; and some nice accolades from some well-known artists in the music business.

Before music took hold, I’d worked in many career roles; a training instructor (contracting and acquisition management); senior business analyst; business strategic planner, environmental protection analyst, the head of training for a major federal agency, and a few more. Today, I’m retired from all of that and I’m pursuing a life-long dream.

I have been able to leverage and integrate my past career skills, like strategic planning and my life experiences into my music ambitions.

With respect to music, I have a knack to be able to write solid songs and interesting lyrics. Audiences and friends have been very supportive, and one who’s an internationally known musician recently told me, “You’ve got good songs and you’ve got THAT voice!” So, that’s nice to hear, but to me, it’s just the voice I’ve always known, to others it seems unique, I guess.

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?

In general, I like the music industry’s direction and the vast number of new radio and other Internet music outlets located all around the world. I’d like to see more, of course, it adds to our quiver of songs to hear from the U.S., Europe, and places like Mali, Brazil, Japan and other vibrant cultural places.

I would also like to see more reasonable and deserved compensation for songwriters and other creatives pursuing their craft and dreams. 

The whole money dynamic is not simple. Venues need to make money to survive, bands cost money, and band gigs that are two or three hours long entail many more hours preparing for a gig, several load-ins and load-outs, driving distances, and all the practicing and rehearsal time, that are rarely part of the compensation equation. 

I’d like the industry movers and shakers to continue to do their utmost to discover and promote deserving unknowns – realizing there are a lot more of us now than ever before. Their work is a tough environment and their workload must be daunting. Sifting through so many artists to find “gold” must be frustrating, yet occasionally worthwhile.

I think it’s also a good change to see more emphasis on diversity, where all kinds of people, music styles, even international musicians will be discovered and supported. My free on-line magazine, Guitar International (2004 -present) has tried to do that with our interviews that are diverse, including one I’ll be doing soon with an exceptional musician from India, Debashish Bhattacharya.

I believe the government in Ireland promotes music makers with funding. Benchmarking with them and other foreign entities that support the arts may help us improve our music within our borders, by looking beyond our borders.

I think during the next 5-10 years, we’ll begin to see a major shift from music enthusiasts paying to see expensive celebrity artists to reasonably priced local talented artists. For me, to see some big artist, I’m happy just watching a free video. I think something’s lost when you go to a huge stadium to see someone perform. Local communities in Nashville, Austin, L.A. and even here in the Washington, D.C. area have an enormous number of exceptional musicians and you can see them up close and personal. To me, there’s not a much better experience than a house concert or a smaller venue to hang out and hear local folks who not only have great original songs, but have songs that have something important to say. 

Personally, I’d like to get my songs placed in media outlets or covered by other artists, well-known or not. My ambitions are large, my expectations small. That said, there’s joy when a songwriter crafts some cool lyrics and a solid melody. And in the words of the legendary songwriter, Paul Williams, “That’s enough for me…”

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.ricklanders.com
• Other: http://www.guitarinternational.com 

Image Credits
Mike Davis Photography, Dustin Delage