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Rik Emmett |
Rik
Emmett is a Toronto born virtuoso guitarist, singer, songwriter,
producer, recording engineer and independent record label executive
who started taking guitar lessons at age 12. He sang in public
school and church choirs and played 2nd violin in the high school
orchestra for four years.
Emmett dropped out of lessons in his teens and began learning
Beatles' songs, psychedelic (Hendrix, Led Zeppelin) and the blues
(Charlie Byrd, Lenny Breau).
He got his first electric guitar at 13 and joined his first
basement/garage band. At 14 he played in several bands in high
school where they played at public and high school dances, church
dances, functions and private parties.
He was house guitarist for school assemblies and talent nights and
was also a fixture at local YMCA and coffeehouse "folk" clubs. In
1973, Emmett enrolled in a Humber College jazz program only to drop
out after one semester. Two weeks later he landed a gig with
glam-rockers, Justin Paige who recorded one LP for Capitol Records
in 1973.
He left Justin Paige in late '74 to start Act III, a progressive
rock trio (with Chris Brockway and Denton Young) that played the
Ontario B-level bar circuit for 8 months after which he received an
offer to join Triumph as a founding member with Gil Moore and Mike
Levine in the summer of 1975.
They played their first gig in September 1975 and would go on to
record 8 studio albums, one live double set, and a greatest hits
package called 'Classics' which Emmett was not involved with on a
creative level.
The partnership with Triumph lasted until September 1988 when a
dispute over future musical direction caused Emmett to quit to
pursue a solo career.
Emmett produced other artists before recording solo on the Duke
Street label with 'Absolutely' (1990) and 'Ipso Facto' (1992). In
1993, he was inducted with members of Triumph into the Canadian Rock
Hall Of Fame. Emmett didn't attend sighting irreconcilable
differences (a lawsuit prevented the trio from speaking civil to
each other).
Emmett continued his solo work with the album 'Spiral Notebook'
(1995). In 1997 he released the first two CDs in a three album
instrumental cycle - 'Swing Shift' and 'Ten Invitations From The
Mistress Of Mr. E'.
Both CDs were released by Open House Records, an independent
business venture headed by Emmett which includes a digital recording
studio, web site and mail order business. A third CD, entitled 'The
Raw Quartet', was released in late 1998.
Emmett has been married since 1977 and is the father of four
children. He currently coaches recreational baseball and soccer and
has been both a columnist and cartoonist. He was a regular
contributor to Guitar Player Magazine for over 12 years and his "Rocktoons"
were a popular feature in Hit Parader Magazine, from 1981 to 1983.
Photo of Rik Emmett by Richard
Sibbald
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Rik Emmett Performed by Rik Emmett. Star Licks
Master Sessions (Instructional video). VHS Video. Size 4.7x8
inches. Published by Star Licks. (324375) See more info... |