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Richard Smith was born in Beckenham, Kent, England in 1971 and started playing guitar at age 5 under the instruction of his father.
Concentrating initially on the music his father loved - the country picking of Chet Atkins and Merle Travis - young Richard digested everything he heard, learning even the most complicated of these tunes with ease, and confounding everyone with his dexterity. It seemed that not only did he possess amazing physical skill, but a photographic musical memory as well. Often, a single hearing was all it took to get a piece under his fingers.
Richard first met his hero, the „Godfather” of fingerstyle guitar, Chet Atkins, when he was only eleven. Richard was invited by Chet to play with him on stage at Her Majesty's Theatre in London in front of an audience of 1 000. He played Chet's arrangement of „Whispering” and Chet played along with him. The audience was so enraptured with Richard that Chet asked him to play another tune. Chet sat in stunned silence while Richard played Chet's arrangement of „Little Rock Getaway” - perfectly. Chet was too amazed to even play along! By the time he reached his early twenties, both Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed began to refer to Richard Smith as their „Hero”.
Richard has been a mainstay at the Chet Atkins Appreciation Society Convention in Nashville since 1991 where he has played with his Brothers Rob and Sam, his wife Julie Adams and many world renowned players including Nato Lima of los Indios Tabajaras, Tommy Emmanuel, Sax legend Boots Randolph, John Jorgenson, Stuart Duncan and many others.
He has also shared the bill or performed with other great musicians such as Marcel Dadi, Tommy Tedesco, Albert Lee, Steve Morse, Brent Mason, Thom Bresh, Joe Pass, Bireli Lagrene, Paco Pena, Bryan Sutton, Les Paul, Mark O'Connor, Martin Taylor, Jorge Morel, Barney Kessel, Tony McManus and a host of others.
Richard has toured around the world with his brothers Rob and Sam as the Richard Smith guitar trio, and with his wife Julie, surprising audiences everywhere with his genius, showcasing a repertoire spanning an incredible range of musical styles from country, bluegrass, mainstream jazz, modern pop and rock, to classical guitar.
In 1999, Richard married the lovely and accomplished American cellist Julie Adams, and settled in the Nashville, TN area. Shortly thereafter Richard went to Winfield, KS and became the 2001 National Fingerstyle Guitar champion. Richard and Julie now tour the U.S. and the world as a duo to rave reviews.
In May 2006, Richard did a 17 date UK tour with Australian guitar wizard Tommy Emmanuel and in July/August, Richard was the featured cover artist of Fingerstyle Guitar Magazine.
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www.richardsmithmusic.com
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