The Good Musician

TGM Exclusive: Interview with Rick Blincoe

by csnowden on June 1st, 2008

The Good Musician introduces a new project: TGM exclusive interviews with local Texas musicians.

Today we’re talking with Rick Blincoe, who just released his first solo CD, “Don’t Bet the Farm.” You can listen at Rick’s My Space page, or at CD Baby.

Rick has been a musician most of his life, and paid his dues down through the decades as a solo and band performer. You just can’t pigeonhole Rick. His musical influences come from classical, rock, jazz, country, and he distills his musical and life experiences into thoughtful, highly listenable material. In case you’re wondering, the reason his backup vocals are so tight is that he laid down ALL the tracks for this CD, and he is equally as fluent singing as he is playing. On top of that, he also engineered the CD himself.

Now all this might sound familiar to any musician who has tried to succeed in the business, which according to Rick’s Web page can be as much a competitive sport as an art. What is unique is that Rick is the real thing. He doesn’t need to boast–his music speaks to anyone who loves the independent, well-trained, soulful musicality of an authentic artist. This is a seasoned, satisfying CD, one you’ll want to listen to again and again.

TGM: Who is your greatest unsung influence (as opposed to favorite famous
composer/performer)?

RB: This is a very tough one to answer because I am a total product of my environment, but because you used the word “unsung” in your question, it becomes a little easier. My greatest unsung influence is a friend of mine that molded my musical being at a very young age (~13 to 15 y.o.). When I was about 12 years old I started attending The University Baptist Church, on Guadalupe (the drag), across the street from the University of Texas campus. I began going to this church regularly because my Mother re-married and her new husband was a long-standing member of the church. As fate would have it, there was a circle of friends that I quickly developed that would significantly change my life and mold my thinking. All of my close friends were blossoming young musicians at UBC. Rarely did we actually “attend” church or Sunday School services, but would find some hole in the back alley along Guadalupe and spend hours playing music and discussing life. One of these friends, in particular, stood out above the rest and left me in awe of what possibilities may exist in music. His name was David Harrell. David was about one year older than me. He had long, thin, red hair and was slightly built. He always had a smile and a twinkle in his eye. David was the first person that I would meet in my life that I could truly say was a “musical genius”, and honestly, to this day, I have never met anyone else that has the total package of capabilities to match this guy’s talent. David was a sort of musical savant. He had perfect pitch, perfect recall, perfect expressive technique, and creativity. I learned so much about musical approach and concepts from David, that even now, I am still recalling things that David taught me so long ago, and they are finally making sense to me, and he is still teaching me. I haven’t seen David for more than 30 years now. The last I heard, he was homeless and mentally ill. I guess that he couldn’t handle the world and the world couldn’t handle him. It’s so sad, yet he gave me so much. He is truly one of my greatest influences.

TGM: How did they influence you?

RB: He caused me to shatter walls and eliminate paradigms in my mind.

TGM: What is your musical background (formal and informal)?

RB: Formal Training: Piano lessons from age 4 to age 10. French horn in school band and orchestra from age 11 to age 18. Music courses in High School and College (History, Theory, Composition, etc.)
Informal Training: Picked up the guitar at age 11. Used chord books and friends to learn the basics. Sat in my room for several years with a guitar in my hands. Listened to every rock-and-roll record that I could get my hands on. Gravitated to Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page’s style. Played my entire life and learned something from every musician that I have encountered on the journey.

TGM: How important is it to get a formal music education?

RB: It is extremely important to get a formal music education. Understanding the complexities and relationships between musical notes and scales provides the foundation to open up your creativity. A music education gives you tools in your tool box. Life is so short and knowledge is power. Why would one not want to take advantage of as many short cuts as possible to achieve their musical goals? Why would someone want to perpetually reinvent the wheel when there are so many new frontiers to be explored? A formal music education is simply the dynamic map that shows you what has been done and more importantly, shows you what has yet to be done.

TGM: Do you have an articulated musical philosophy? What is it?

RB: My musical philosophy is dynamic. In other words, it moves and changes as I grow. This is the philosophy that I used when making this latest CD: Keep it simple. Try to paint a picture that can have some level of broad appeal. Don’t make a CD for other musicians. Keep it real.

TGM: What are your goals as a solo musician? Collaborative musician?

RB: My goals as a solo musician is to keep the content personal and speak to those that I love. My solo work is my reach for immortality, so the message needs to endure.
As a collaborative musician, my goal is to listen more than speak and enhance more than detract.

TGM: What is your dream music gig?

RB: Austin City Limits

TGM: If you could perform with anyone, anywhere, any genre, who/where/what would it be?

RB: It would be to work with Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull on any project. That would be the icing on the cake of my life.

TGM: What advice would you have for an aspiring musician?

RB: Don’t listen to all of the negativity in this world. Don’t listen to what you can’t do or why you will surely fail. When someone tells you that you will fail….it is probably because they know you won’t.

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