RIK EMMETT

Rik Emmett has his fair share of gold and platinum hanging on the wall after surviving three decades in the music biz. Awards from Best Guitarist at the '81 Junos to Best Smooth Jazz Guitarist in 2005, along with induction into the Canadian Rock Hall of Fame in '93, the Music Industry Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Junos Hall of Fame in 2008 are highlights in an ever-evolving career. The multi-dimensional singer/songwriter at the heart of it has nothing to prove except the dignity and maturity of his continuing commitment to great music. "Lately, I've been playing everything - from jazz festivals to soft-seater concerts to giant outdoor electric rock band shows to orchestra gigs to folk clubs as an acoustic duo," says Emmett, "and I love the challenging range of it all." Audiences marvel at the versatility of the tenor as he continues his prolific run of solo indie CDs, from classical to jazz to acoustic pop & folk vocal stylings through to the hard rock & heavy metal that made his reputation in the first place. His wide catalogue of songs garners radio airplay on easy-listening, smooth jazz, and CBC formats, while the heritage classic rock stuff keeps on rolling right along, and his dozen years as a writer for Guitar Player Magazine and his continuing endorsement relationships with several music retail companies have kept his international reputation as a musician alive and well. A former VP of the Songwriter's Association of Canada, and formerly the Artistic Director of the Humber Songwriting Workshop, Rik helped to develop the Music Business course in the Humber Music program, and currently teaches songwriting there, as well as consulting on several student recording projects. History and Background [revised, Oct. 2008] Rik Emmett was a relatively unknown singer/songwriter/guitarist on the local Toronto scene in September of '75 when he joined a newly-formed hard rock trio called Triumph. By '79 three albums had gone gold and platinum in Canada - two of these charted in the States, receiving serious radio airplay. By '81, they were firmly established as one of the premier touring rock acts in North America, with generous FM radio airplay support and heavy rotation on the fledgling MTV cable channel. In the next seven years, the band released ten albums, all of which went gold, with four turning platinum in Canada. In the U.S., two went gold. Emmett's name frequently appeared in guitar magazine polls and he won several prestigious awards, including Best Lead Guitarist nationally in 1981. He left the band to begin his solo career in '88, but as one of the band's original members, was inducted into the Canadian Rock Hall of Fame in '93, the Music Industry Hall of Fame in 2007, and the Junos Hall of Fame in 2008. Triumph reunited for concerts in Sweden and Oklahoma in the summer of 2008. Rik's solo career spawned three releases for Duke Street/MCA Records in the early '90s. The first, Absolutely, went gold in 1990, yielding the hits "Saved by Love" and "Big Lie", two songs that provided a transition from arena rock while maintaining continuity at FM radio. The ballad "When a Heart Breaks" surprisingly crossed a rock guitar hero over into other radio formats and revealed a more sensitive singer/songwriter persona. "World of Wonder" also received substantial airplay and showcased an expanding lyrical and stylistic range. The "Ipso Facto" CD followed in '92, offering up the hits "Out of The Blue" (a jazzy-bluesy tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan, Hendrix and Wes Montgomery) and "Bang On", a rocking return to one of Rik's personal themes - positive motivation and inspiration. Ipso Facto was a tour-de-force of stylistic versatility, but no surprise to fans who knew the guy who constantly plugged trademark classical guitar pieces or little jazz tunes in between the hard rock anthems, arena blues riffs and progressive flourishes found on past records. A strong singer/songwriter album called Spiral Notebook followed in '95, which earned notice through airplay of its sensitive balladeer singles "Let Me Be The One" and "The Longing". In '96, Emmett began testing the courage of his musical convictions with work in his own digital studio and through his own independent record label, and these instincts paid off artistically. The first release was Ten Invitations from the Mistress of Mr E., beautifully realized original instrumentals of classical nylon-string guitar. Critics and fans were reminded that the 'rock guitar god' was not a one-trick pony. Part two of his guitar trilogy, Swing Shift, took a completely different musical direction, featuring jazz, swing and fusion. Again, the CD was well received, with the biggest surprise being the emergence of the song "Santa Fe Horizon" as a classic staple in the smooth jazz field, thus piqueing the interest of brand-new fans in growing musical circles. Perhaps more importantly, the spirits of diehard supporters were elevated by witnessing an artistic transformation that defied mainstream classification. Raw Quartet, released in early 1999, became the final CD in the trilogy, displaying Rik's passion and natural affinity for blues. 1999's "Live at Berklee" (highlights from sold out shows at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston) was followed by a traditional "Spirit of Christmas" album, recorded in collaboration with Glass Tiger keyboardist Sam Reid. One of the big thrills in Rik's lifetime occurred in the summer of 2001, when George Benson showed up at one of Rik's gigs during a guitar festival in Buffalo NY and got up on stage to tear the house down with an impromptu version of "On Broadway". 2002 brought the release of a "20th Century Masters: Best of Rik Emmett Collection" through Universal, followed by another widely-acclaimed instrumental smooth jazz masterpiece CD, "Handiwork". In the late summer of 2003, the acoustic singer/songwriter re-emerged with the "Good Faith" CD, and another new chapter was written in an already storied career. In 2005, Rik was honored as Guitarist of the Year at the Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards, and ever since, the wide range of Emmett's abilities have been constantly on display - from smooth jazz and fingerstyle guitar festivals in Canada to heavy metal festivals in Germany and Sweden: from Artistic Directing a songwriting workshop to jamming with Alex Lifeson of Rush at the Guitar Workshop Plus: from huge classic rock outdoor shows with Triumph, to intimate acoustic duo gigs: from nights paying tribute to the song catalogue of Eric Clapton, or The Beatles: through to releases like 2007's hard rocking "Liberty Manifesto", or the all-acoustic "Live at Hugh's Room" released in the same year. A guitar magazine once wrote that Rik Emmett was "... his own worst enemy. He's one of the only guitarists out there who may be too talented for his own damn good". Partly true, in a celebrity/tabloid/sound bite world: but the comment also recognizes the artist as unique, and offers insight on an 18-year solo career, still going strong, based on being a loyal friend to his gifts instead of a slave to superficial fashion, with luggage to match. Rik holds true to his dreams of the magic power of the music, and shares that with every audience, of every stripe - every night that he performs.