Today we’d like to introduce you to Paul Richards
Paul, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My name is Paul Richards. I’m one of the founding original members of the California Guitar Trio which formed in Hollywood in 1991. The three original members of the California Guitar Trio (Paul Richards, Bert Lams, Hideyo Moriya) met while studying music with British guitarist Robert Fripp in England. In January of 1991, we shared a small house on Bronson Ave near the Paramount Pictures studio and we played our first concert as California Guitar Trio on February 7, 1991 at a small music venue on Fountain Ave in Hollywood. During our first years together, we performed in many Los Angeles music venues including the Troubadour, House of Blues, Cafe Largo and the Key Club. With 33 years of touring adventures and performing over 2000 concerts worldwide, CGT has over 80 million streams on Spotify, Pandora and Amazon Music. My personal favorite venues we’ve played in Los Angeles are Royce Hall and recently at The Greek Theatre. The venue we’ve played the most over the years is McCabes in Santa Monica. For the past 8 years I’ve been living in West Hollywood on Horn Ave, just up the street from the old Tower Records store (now Supreme shoe store) where CGT did an in-store concert when our first album was release back in 1992. I love Los Angeles and I’m happy to be a part of the world renowned music scene.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Being a musician in Los Angeles has benefits and challenges. Back when we first formed the California Guitar Trio 1991, we were often required to enter into the “pay to play” scene of venues that require unknown artists to purchase and resell a certain number of tickets in order to be added to the performance schedule. We made very little money in the beginning and struggled to get by. A big break for us came when Chris Douridas invited us to perform on KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic program. After we played several times on KCRW the size of our audience began to grow and we were able to ask for a fee to perform instead of paying to play.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I specialize in instrumental acoustic guitar music with the California Guitar Trio. CGT is known for our eclectic variety of music. I like to compare it to the street I live on in West Hollywood. On my street there are modern sleek condo buildings next to English Tudor style houses, next to Tiki Hut style apartments, next to French farmhouse style homes and Beverly Hills style mansions. This type of architecture would normally never go together but somehow here in Los Angeles it works. My musical palette and the CGT performances are a lot like that, combining old with the new and everything in-between. We always include some classical music in our performances, a few arrangements of classic rock covers and much of our repertoire are original compositions with a wide variety of influences.
One of the things I’m most proud of is playing at The Greek Theater, one of my favorite venues here in Los Angeles.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
I give a lot of credit to my music teachers and guitar teachers that have helped me along the way. Specifically Don Ayers, Keven Johanson and Robert Fripp. I simply tried to find the best teachers I could, which eventually lead me on a trip to England to study with Robert Fripp. Along with help from teachers and mentors, I did as much as I could on my own and said “Yes” to every good opportunity that came my way, which has helped me immensely to maintain a 33 year career in the music business.
Pricing:
- $15 https://cgtrio.com/store/Live-In-Scottsdale-On-Tour-With-King-Crimson-CD-p467941210
Contact Info:
- Website: https://cgtrio.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/californiaguitartrio/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CGTrio
- Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@californiaguitartrio2558
Image Credits
Gary Bandfield, Ron Essex, Patrick Courtney, Rick Pauline.
