Meet Nate Rich

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nate Rich.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Nate. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I was born and raised in a small town in Northwest Georgia called Dalton. We are known as the carpet capital of the world. Growing up I spent a lot of time outdoors playing sports with my family. I had decided at about six years old that I wanted to be a professional baseball player. By the time I was eight, I had learned to pitch and was giving the other 3rd graders a run for their money. At 11, I realized that I wasn’t really improving much, wasn’t having much fun and I really hated getting hit with the ball. I decided baseball wasn’t glorious career of which I had once dreamt and figured I’d take it easy for a few years and play some video games while I pondered my future. My parents had other plans as they insisted that I find an extra curricular activity. I recalled that my dad and sister had taken a stab at learning the guitar and I had enjoyed fiddling around with their axes from time to time. To appease my parents, I told them I’d take some guitar lessons to see if I liked it. I figured a few months would go by and I’d eventually start some lessons after I had a chance to test the waters a bit. To my dismay, my dad signed me up for lessons the following week. I was horrified that I was going to have to jump in the deep end and go into my first lesson knowing next to nothing.

From that very first lesson, I became obsessed with mastering everything I could on the guitar. After a year of lessons, my teacher said he had nothing more to teach me and I was on my own to figure out what I was going to do with this thing. By the time I reached the end of high school I had played in original rock bands, the school marching band, local orchestras, and local musical productions. I started to realize that the best parts of my days were when I was playing music in some form or another and I didn’t want to give that up when I went to college. I decided that I wasn’t going to study to be a lawyer or a doctor but that I was going to be a professional musician.

With a little bit of research, I had decided I would either move to Boston to go to Berklee or to LA to go to Musicians Institute. After being accepted to both, I had a decision to make. To me, LA was the place I wanted to end up regardless of where I went to school. With that it mind, I declined the offer to go to Berklee and made my way to the West Coast. At Musicians Institute, I graduated in 2015 with a Bachelor’s degree in Guitar Performance and became an instructor there just two years later. During my time studying at MI, my esteemed colleagues and I received two Student Awards from Downbeat Magazine. The decision to study music has undoubtedly been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I grew up loving all things rock and heavy metal and had a limited set of musical skills, but the education I received completely opened up a world of different styles and musical crafts that have allowed me to forge a stable music career. The diverse set of professionals I’ve learned from and worked with have transformed my views on life and music in a way that I deeply appreciate.

I primarily write original music but often find myself performing as a sideman or part of a house band for a variety of events. Some artists that I’ve worked with include Fatlip of The Pharcyde, DJ Nu- Mark of Jurassic 5, Illa J, Austin Antoine, Open Mike Eagle, Georgel, and Matt Cermanski.

Through Musicians Institutes’ outreach program I’ve had the opportunity to travel to China and South Korea for workshops and masterclasses across various cities and universities. One such tour was alongside musical heavyweights Scott Henderson, Joe Bagg, Devin Kelly, and Maurice Verloop.

Along with performing and teaching, I am an internationally distributed film and television composer and have transcribed online educational courses for the likes of Frank Gamble and Scott Henderson.

Has it been a smooth road?
I think some of my biggest struggles have been to learn to manage burnout and to prove my worth to myself and others. LA is a big city with a lot of musicians that all play really well. This fact makes it really difficult to stand out and get work. In my case, this resulted in a lot of working for little to no compensation just to show people that I could come in and deliver with no complaints. This was because I loved the work, but also because I hoped that better opportunities would surface because of my efforts. Once the gigs started coming in more consistently, I started to find that proper time management felt nearly impossible. It seemed like every few weeks I was burning out from working too much. I realized that music isn’t just a career, its a lifestyle that takes an even bigger commitment that I could have imagined. A few really demanding projects forced me to try and recognize my own worth and come to terms with the fact that you cannot say yes to every single thing that comes your way. With lockdowns and limited gigs because of Covid-19, its been an interesting time to step back and reevaluate my goals and make sure I’m prioritizing my own health in order to stay inspired and connected with the music I make.

Rich Kid – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
While I’m primarily a working guitarist, I strive to be very well rounded so that I don’t end up as a one trick pony. As an artist, I strive to market myself as a unique amalgamation of styles with influences ranging from rock, blues, jazz, and funk. But as a session player, I can direct my abilities towards the needs of the artist. Reading skills, preparedness and flexibility are the things that set me apart from many of the others in my field. Along with these things, having ample experience in notation, composition, education, arranging, and transcribing give me the necessary edge to be more than just a guitarist but versatile and complete musician.

While I’m immensely proud of the music I’ve made in the last 8 years and the accomplishments it has brought me, I think the thing I’m most proud of is being an educator. A lot of musicians become a teacher because its a good way to make money but I truly think there is great value in carrying on the tradition of sharing skills and knowledge with the new generation of musicians. I’ve been very fortunate throughout my musical life to have several teachers that made lasting impressions on my understanding and development of my craft. To me, I personally feel that I owe it to the world to give back to the music community by helping students find their potential so that they may find success.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/naterich12/

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