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The recovery of the master tapes of his first solo album and the start of a new CD mark the return of songwriter/guitarist Richard Pinney to the recording scene. He had slipped off the radar for a long period. The master copies of his albums were lost in a garage Los Angeles and though he was not gigging much, he kept his chops alive with daily practice. He thought he had said everything he was going to say and the songwriting slowed to a crawl. But he never quit, believing that he was meant to be a player. In 2000 he started doing daily internet shows. He also took on regular gigs among the younger acts just starting out, just as often the opener as headliner. He hosted several open mic nights to encourage local music. Through these combined efforts, he found the drive again and created new music and guitar styles. Richard Pinney's classic album "Devil Take My Shiny Coins" (Mountain Railroad Records) was on many critics' lists of that year's best. This fine recording is being re-released on CD in Winter 1999. It will be remixed and digitally re-mastered. It was engineered by the legendary bluesman, Dave "Snaker" Ray. It featured Bob Dylan's backup players for "Blood On the Tracks" and Bonnie Raitt's first producer, Willy Murphy, on bass.
He toured with Bonnie Raitt and has shared the bill with Tuck and Patti, Lucinda Williams, Dave Alvin, Iris DeMent, Joan Armatrading and John Prine. He has been paired with dozens of jazz, folk and blues legends including Pete Seeger, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee, Big Willie Dixon, Stephane Grappelli and Buddy Rich. His songs have recorded by Michael Johnson, Mimi Farina, Jim Post and others. Richard worked in Los Angeles for eight years where he was on the staff of TriStar Pictures and The Olympic Games. At Chameleon Records, he championed the acoustic duo Lowen and Navarro who were signed to record their first album on the label. He encouraged the label to consider Lucinda Williams and others. He was involved with dozens of independent record labels sporting many styles: punk, alternative, metal, jazz, rock, folk and others. Returning to Milwaukee, he was an A&R rep (talent scout) for Narada Records (MCA distributed, later bought by Virgin Records). He managed Willy Porter and created the ongoing Wisconsin Singer/Songwriter Series.
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