Biography

RICHARD FINDLAY, PH. D.

Keyboard Musician

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Overview

Richard's Instruments include: Piano, Electric Pianos, Organs, Synthesizers (analog synths, or digital orchestrations, horns, choruses, flute, guitars, etc...), and other Keyboard Innovations

Performances have included: Live entertainment as a solo artist, in duos, and with ensembles and bands; and for social gatherings, restaurants, wineries, sound tracks, silent movies; Ambient music; Space music; Special theme/events and Presentations, Aranging for singers; Facilitating song creation; Studio projects; Impromptu creations; Backing other musicians; Music for Media.

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Some of Richard's more unusual projects had included:  A solo piano performance on the H.M.S. Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA; An outdoor wedding on a pier in North Carolina; Performing with a jazz band for a beer festival in Lewisburg, PA; Writing and performing an original score for several silent movies; Writing and performing altered states music for a relaxation CD;  Performing for a Christmas Party for a mortuary company; Performing rock music for a harvest festival;  Writing, performing, and studio recording relaxation and meditation music.   There's always another fun project right around the corner!  

Extended Biography

Rich Findlay has been a life-long musician. With 45 years of music performance experience, Richard is a proficient keyboardist who reads music and is also comfortable with improvising over chord chart formats. He is a versatile vocalist, song writer, and he enjoys creative collaborations.

After 12 years of classical piano training, he studied music theory at college. In the mid 1970s, traveled by VW Bus, from Boston, Mass, to synergize his music career in Los Angeles, California.  Paying his dues, he played sustenance jobs across Los Angeles and Orange Counties, and north to Hollywood.  Eventually, he created the Long Beach, CA rock band Airship, and later, he joined the Hollywood Musician’s Contact Service as a freelance keyboardist. There from a wide variety of high-pressure gigging, he was “baptized by fire,” working pro level as a sub-in keyboardist for various of touring bands, aspiring soloists, and LA studio projects. After completing his BA degree in psychology, in 1979, Eugene, Oregon, Rich joined the Moonlight Express Band, a pop rock/country cross over band that played the “animal circuit” every weekend for 2 years. In mid 80s North Carolina, he had mostly casual solo performances as he improved his vocals while working on a master’s degree in clinical psychology. His 1980s clinical psychology Ph. D. academic training and internships took him to back to S. California, Central CT, and then VT where, for stress relief, at his home studio, he developed electronic music compositions for the piano and synthesizers.

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Rich believes that his music training has made him a more compassionate therapist, and that his clinical training also makes him a more compassionate musician. Enjoying both the technical and creative aspects of music, Rich particularly enjoys synesthesia… where sounds call up visual and other sensory imagery. Synthesizers are amazingly versatile tools for these creations. Synesthesia helps people transcend life’s stressors by healthy escapism through pleasant soothing imagery, unusual fun-escapist sensations, healthy meditative scripting, and awareness of new thinking and feeling possibilities beyond our usual daily routines. Rich has written original compositions for personalized clinical biofeedback and hypnotherapy techniques, but he also includes these techniques in his regular electronic performances.

In1990’s Central Pennsylvania, Rich played keyboards for classic rock bands, where he learned more about music’s role in dealing with group social tension and catharsis. He also learned more about sound equipment, repairs, and hardware. He organized the (original) Folk Justice Band, which enjoyed 7 years of popularity in Central PA. Wanting something more complex, he spent 2 years studying jazz, 1920s thru 1970s. He then organized a few light jazz/pop/rock groups which performed for arts festivals, granted performances, music in the park gigs, arts festivals, the local university’s annual jazz breakfasts, wineries, upscale restaurants, and public benefits. In other creative projects, Rich played in a duo with a cellist performing at weddings, and he wrote and performed original compositions for piano and synthesizers for silent movies and avant-garde synesthesia film projects at a 5.1 surround sound theater.

Most recently, for perhaps his most rewarding project, Rich brought together the Blue River Soul (BRS) Band with Karen Meeks as the primary vocalist. This 5-piece ensemble enjoys performing jazz/rock, soul, blues, 1920s jazz, pop, and other genres of the American Song Book. Rich plays keyboards, sings, manages sound, basic lighting, and equipment repair for BRS. BRS enjoys performing throughout Central Pennsylvania for many and various popular intimate to medium size venues, spreading the message of “Unity in the Community.” As this project continues to grow and develop in popularity, Rich is working up logistics for studio work and a 2023 tour. He is also assisting Karen Meeks with her Jazz Divas production, an exciting project that is sure to be a sensation.

Currently, Richard enjoys many and varied aspects of solo and collaborative performances.

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Contact Richard for your music interests and project ideas. He's reliable, compassionate about sound and wellness, and is always looking for an interesting music project to spread the good word about creativity, the human spirit, and positive potential.

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Synesthesia

Richard enjoys using his keyboard talents to awaken the senses. Synesthesia is when one sense... such as hearing, triggers another sense, such as visualizing beautiful scenes, feeling textures, or even having vivid fantasies come to sensuality. Textured performances can be beautiful and transformative.