Rick's Bio Cute Dog Music "It's tail-waggin' good!"
A Wide and Varied Musical Experience Championship hammered dulcimer player Rick Davis sees his job as learning the tunes of the "old-timers" from various musical traditions and passing them on.  Rick is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and international performer and teacher, who, over the years, has played various styles of music ranging from Classical to Folk, Liturgical to Rock and Roll.  His latest instrumental focus is on the hammered dulcimer and the bodhran (an Irish frame drum) which have inspired increasing interest in Old-Time and Celtic music.  Rick has studied music at Florida State University and with such dulcimer notables as Karen Ashbrook, Ken Kolodner, Sam Rizzetta, Maggie Sansone, Steve Schneider and Rick Thum.   The Ebenezer Connection In 2000, Rick (in the middle in the picture) joined with Cindy Ribet and Randy Tobias, in the band Ebenezer which played Old-Time, Celtic and original music.  Ebenezer performed at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC, the Festival for the Eno in Durham, NC, the Winston-Salem Dulcimer Festival in Winston-Salem, NC, the Mountain Home Concert Series in Boone, NC, and various other venues in North Carolina. And Beyond... In 2001 and 2002, Rick was honored to be part of the Swannanoa Gathering Special Guest Artist lineup where he and Cindy Ribet were described as an "exciting duo, featuring hammered dulcimer and percussion". Rick won First Place on his first time entering the Hammered Dulcimer Competition in 2002, and, again, in 2004 at the Fiddler's Grove Ole Time Fiddler's & Bluegrass Festival in Union Grove, North Carolina, the longest continuously running festival of its kind in the US. In addition, Rick has performed and taught at: o the Cork Dulcimer Festival in Cork, Ireland in 2002, 2003 and 2004, o at the Black Nun FolkClub Fest in Ballycastle, No. Ireland in 2003  (For the First Cork Dulcimer Fest, see these reports/reviews, too: Adrian Scanlan's review in FolkWorld, and the online version of Dick Glasgow's article for Irish Music Magazine.), o the Causeway Dulcimer Festival in Bushmills, Co. Antrim, No. Ireland in 2005 (Read Dick Glasgow's review of the festival), o the Upper Potomac Dulcimer Fest (Fall Fest) in Shepherdstown, WV, in 2004 and 2005, and o the Cranberry Dulcimer Gathering in Binghamton, NY, in 2005 & 2006, and o the Chattanooga Dulcimer Festival in Chattanooga, TN, in 2008. Rick has been privileged to perform on-stage with musicians (other than those mentioned above) such as Karen Ashbrook and Paul Oorts, Larry Unger, Lois Hornbostle, Thomasina and Bill Troxler, Marya Katz, Rick Thum, Ken Kolodner, Mara Shea (of "The Elftones"), Dick & Sabine Glasgow (and "Scad the Beggars"), William Rea and Nat Magee, Tommy Peoples, Jim McGrath and Fintan McManus.   More Than Simply A Performer of Pretty Tunes.... In addition to performance, Rick writes instrumental music from time to time, teaches hammered dulcimer privately in the Chattanooga, TN, area, and teaches hammered dulcimer workshops. In the studio, Rick has been involved in recording projects as engineer, co-producer and performer.  He engineered, co-produced and performed on an album of 14 original worship songs written by songwriter Terry Barlow, of Cary, NC, entitled "Ode to the Uncreated God".  He also appeared as guest percussionist on "Sounds of Flight", a CD by Cindy Ribet, and on "No Loose Threads", a CD by Marcy Prochaska, both released in July, 2002. In 2004, Rick produced, engineered, performed on, and designed the graphics for his first-ever CD, Of Things To Come..., which was released on December 1, 2004.  For more information, go to the page for Of Things To Come.... He recorded music which is used in the Arts North Carolina Plant the Arts: Grow North Carolina campaign video and Public Service Announcements (PSAs) which show the impact of the arts on the lives of North Carolinians.  The PSAs were nominated for an Emmy® in the PSA Campaign category of the 20th Annual Mid-South Regional Emmy® Awards. Watch PSA 4, with Rick playing, here. Rick was awarded a 2006 Regional Artist Project Grant by the United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County to help with travel expenses on a trip to Northern Ireland in May 2006 to research musical styles in traditional music there.  This research is part of an ongoing project to study Old-Time tunes with connections to Ulster. Early in 2007, Rick was selected for Arts Move program grants by Allied Arts of Greater Chattanooga through which he and wife moved their home and Cute Dog Music from Raleigh, NC, to Chattanooga, TN, in order to be a part of the growing arts community there. In December 2007, Rick received a Certificate in Documentary Studies from the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, Durham, NC, where he worked on the certificate for about 4 years.  He is currently working on a video documentary on the hammered dulcimer since the 1920s in Co. Antrim, No. Ireland. Currently..... Currently, Rick teaches private lessons and workshops, and appears as a performer on Hammered Dulcimer in concert, for public and private events, and for Weddings.  Contact Rick concerning private lessons, workshops, and performances.
[ About Cute Dog Music ] [ Home ] [ Contact ] [ Performance ] [ Teaching ] [ Slow Jams ] [ Weddings ] [ Pictures ] [ Schedule ] [ Documentary ] [ Store ] [ Newsletter ] [ Definitions ] [ Dulcimers ] [ Links ] All Contents Of This Website (c) 2002-2008 Cute Dog Music.