Project Guitar.com :: Rick Beatty

I got into the guitar when I was 13 years old. I had just moved to West Virginia and there was about 3 months of school left before summer break. I hooked up with a guy by the name of "Nick Thipsingh" that played electric guitar in a band. I was completely entranced everytime he picked it up. I of course had seen many musicians up to that point but never really got to "see" an electric guitar up close. I bugged him all night long until he finally showed me a riff from a Metallica song called "Small Hours" (from the $5.98 E.P."). I played that riff for about 3 hours straight (a total of 6 notes all together) and poor Nic was finally annoyed enough to show me something else. ANYTHING that would get me to quit playing that riff!! :-)

Anyhow summer vacation hit and we lived on a major roadway so there was no "playing in the front yard". We lived in downtown Charleston West Viriginia (which is the equivilent of downtown Seattle) so it was not really safe forme to go wandering about. After being bored to tears from my video game system I could not stop thinking of that guitar. So I talked my mom into letting me sell some old motorcycle gear I had so I could buy one. With $30 or $40 in hand I headed to a local pawn shop where I was directed to "the finest guitar in the store for my money". I actually think it was the ONLY guitar in the store for my money. I picked it up, did the "I dont know how to play guitar" strum on all the strings (while it was of course plugged into an amplifier) and the clerk said "Oh yeah.... this guitar is for you." lol The guitar was the cheesiest guitar in the world. It was called a "Terminator" (I think it wasmade by Sears). It had the biggest whammy bar I think I have ever seen in my life on it and it had a little built in amplifier in the body! lol I thought I would never need to buy any more gear. lol BOY WAS I WRONG!!!

Anyhow a couple weeks went by and with no music books or instruction from a mentor, I found my skills to be somewhat lacking in the ways of the instrument. I was frustrated and put the instrument down (possibly never to play it again). I had it set in my head that it was the guitar's fault since it was a cheap instrument and not mine (the ignorance of a 13 year old) until one day I thought "I bet if Kirk Hammet were here (lead guitarist from Metallica who was my favorite band at the time), he could pick this thing up and make it sing!" So with new-found inspiration I found myself in a music store looking for chord charts. I started learning chords and the basics of rhythm and bought my first tablature book "And Justice For All" by Metallica. It was a VERY first tough first book but I started practicing 6 to 8 hours a day. I remember my mom would leave for work and I would start practicing and still be practicing when she came home. You probably never forget the first time you make your fingers bleed from playing so much as a guitarist and I sure never will. I could not play anything for a couple weeks without it hurting after that!!

I moved back to Washington state and started getting professional instruction from the best guitarist I have ever had the pleasure and honor of working with, "Kevin Wyer". As a person would go to a priest for moral guidence, a person would go to Kevin for inspiration and knowledge of the guitar. I have had the pleasure of seeing and meeting MANY great guitar players such as "Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Eric Johnson, Gary Hoey, Leo Kottke, and John Petrucci", but no one is higher on my list than Kevin Wyer. After approx 4 years of instruction in theory and song writing, I began playing in many bands. Up until now I have played in Rock, Blues, Jazz, Pop, Metal, Fusion, Funk, New Age, and Instrumental Rock bands. Currently I am the Lead guitarist and Lead Singer of the "Rikk Beatty Band" and just got done with my latest instrumental album "Pointing at the Moon".

Every band I was in gave me the experience that could not be learned from books or taught in classes. I learned about promoting, advertising, profesional etiquette, and grew as a musician by taking a little of my experience with me into each band. I have never been happier with my music than where I am now. I am surrounded by incredible musicians and have all the support I could ever need to achieve my dream.

I finally realized that "making it big" is not really the dream for me. The dream is to actually be able to do what I am having fun doing now which is writing music, playing in front of people who appreciate it, and having the creative freedom with my instrument to do what I want. Dreams and goals are two different things for me and sometimes it is easy to get them mixed up. Now my ultimate goal is to quit my day job working for the State of Washington and be able to write and record music for a living (commercials, movies, video games.....) which is what my new album is geared for. I think it is a very attainable goal but will just take hard work and determination for it to happen. So until then I will keep doing what I am doing now and having fun doing it!!

"Ad Astra Per Aspera"

Translation: "A Rough Road Leads to the Stars"

Rikk Beatty