ABout

When Richard moved to Nashville in 2005, he feared he might be late to the game. Most 25-year-old drummers in Nashville had a music degree and some touring and recording experience, but Richard was just beginning his professional training at Belmont University and was years older than his peers. He had been interested in the drums since childhood, but hadn’t pursued that interest until he was midway through an industrial design degree at Auburn University. He bought himself a drumset practiced in a storage unit, and began taking lessons with Troy Breaux, who was on the music faculty at Auburn. He realized that many of the design principles he loved also applied to music; filling space in ways that are both creative and functional, and using materials and techniques with intentionality to render a given atmosphere. However, he soon found filling sonic space to be the thing that moved him most. Although close to completing his design degree, he began creating a new blueprint for his life and career.

While attending Belmont University, he studied with Todd London, Chester Thompson, Dr. Christopher Norton, and Zoro. London and Thompson were especially influential. Since Richard had begun his musical journey later in life, it was easy to be intimidated walking into a music school full of amazingly talent drummers who had been playing much longer. London helped him learn the value of community as motivation and inspiration to push himself rather than letting it feed insecurity and discouragement. Having been so focused on the technical aspects of drumming just to get accepted into school, Thompson moved his focus to the big picture of music. (“Everything is melodic, everything is musical. Don’t think, just listen and feel. Use your ears!”) In 2008, Richard earned his bachelor’s degree in music with an emphasis in music technology.

He began playing whatever gigs he could find on the Nashville scene, and the scrounge and hustle paid off. In 2010, he landed his first major touring gig with Addison Road, on the recommendation of his friend Jake Goss (drummer for Jars of Clay at the time). Richard has remained steadily busy since then, touring and recording with Matt Maher, Mac Powell, Francesca Batistelli, Brandon Heath, and many others.

His tenure with Matt Maher, dating back to 2011, has been his longest and most meaningful. He has toured the world, recorded on Grammy-nominated records, performed for Pope Francis, and realized his dream of crafting and recording songs. Richard is now exploring this dream further, recording drum and percussion tracks remotely in his home studio and bringing his design aesthetic more fully to bear. “Anybody can sit down and play the notes, it’s more about the experience of arriving at those notes…intentionality. Serve the song, serve the music, serve the artist, make their vision come to life.”