By: Staff
GI publisher, Rick Landers – photo courtesy of Mike Davis.
Guitar International magazine’s publisher, Rick Landers, ventured back into performing and songwriting recently, having left public performing in the Seventies.
Since his early days playing in a downriver Detroit garage band, to busking in the streets of Georgetown and small D.C. clubs, he’s been writing songs and stashing them away for no other reason than to play them later, as the spirit moved him. His songs are an eclectic mix of country, folk, ballads, road songs, many with stylish twists and humor.
Like many of us, he returned to the singer-songwriter fold testing his worth at open mics, the first of which resulted in him being asked to return as a featured performer. He played a few local house concerts, then got a gig at a Northern Virginia annual outdoor event where he played and was later asked to perform four more times by the event’s production manager. He has also been showcased at other venues, including Cafe Montmartre on Lake Anne, in Reston, Virginia.
Later, Rick was invited to play at Herndon, Virginia’s 38th Annual Festival and he volunteered to server as the Entertainment Director of Northern Virginia Parks 45th Anniversary of the W&OD Trail. He’ll also emcee the September 11, 2019, event and perform, along with Siobhan O’Brien, Yasmin Williams, Lindsey Hirshfeld and Marty & Stuart (Bluegrass).
“As much as I’ve enjoyed publishing and writing for Guitar International magazine, songwriting and singing have always been closest to my heart. There’s something joyful in creating a song, especially when it’s a song worth coming back to and singing again and again!”, offered Rick.
After being featured on a local radio, hosted by Dennis Price (Fairfax County Radio), where he played a few songs during an interview, Rick decided to build another website that focused on his songwriting and performing.
On September 24, Landers will perform at the Republic of South African embassy in Washington, D.C. to a sizable audience, hosted by the Ambassador and his staff. Rick will play a brief set of his original songs, including a song he wrote in tribute to Nelson Mandela called, “No Holiday for Madiba”.
Rick Landers – Photo courtesy of Mike Davis.
His new website (HERE!) features songs that are merely “first cuts” that will soon be produced in both Nashville and Arlington, Virginia, as well as full studio productions by Stacy Hogan of “A Writer’s Paradise” studio in Nashville with a full complement of seasoned musicians and vocalists. Rick will later handle vocals himself on songs produced by 13 time Washington Area Music Awardee for “Best Producer”, Marco Delmar, owner of Recording Arts studios in Arlington, Virginia.
Rick’s magazine, Guitar International, has been around since 2005 and been a “go to” website for musicians and music enthusiasts, and industry leaders. The site features over 2,600 pages of free content with interviews of Les Paul, Slash, Judy Collins, Jimmy Webb, Buddy Guy, Johnny Winter, as well as with music industry leaders such as Joe Lamond (President of NAMM), Paul Reed Smith, Chris F. Martin IV, Dick Boak and many more.
