Rick Carlson

My life in music began at age 7 with my first guitar, an electric Harmony Stratotone, and a Dan Electro Amp.

I always put chords together and wrote words and poetry and my playing and writing became a quest when I moved to go to school in San Diego. I spent a year vagabonding in Europe and did my share of playing for money on the streets (now called busking) and in clubs, and hotels when I could get a gig for pay, room, and board. I even performed playing a bazouki in a club in the Plaka in Athens.

Upon returning to San Diego I played professionally for several years exclusively as a musician and subsequently in L.A., Northern Calif, other states, and Las Vegas, where my band played on the bill with B.B. King for a week.

Along the way I have also been blessed to have a career in the music instrument manufacturing industry, mostly as a head of Sales and Marketing for several companies including a few that I helped get off the ground. This has allowed me to get to know and see many of the best musicians and bands in the business.

I have always written tunes and the main purpose of this website is to have a place where many of those tunes are in one place. I’ve had a song “Diamondland” played on KABC for opening day at Dodger Stadium and another tune published for Natalie Cole and Smokey Robinson. There was also a song titled “Running” selected as the theme song for a Hollywood marathon.

Several of the songs feature my band with the core of Russ Deddo, Dave Hill, and Roger Reid while most have been recorded in my home project studio with me playing the instruments and laying down the vocals. There are still many more to get done.

• Website: https://rickcarlsonmusic.com/