Profile of Barry Richman

Sitting on the back porch of MudCatz, a small blues bar near Atlanta, Barry Richman sips a water while an ensemble of misfits chug through Free-bird on stage inside.

“Do you mind if my girlfriend joins us?” Richman asks, almost rhetorically.

It's always strange to see a guitar god like Richman hanging out in some tiny bar, but patrons never mind the free show he puts on at those bars.

“Where else can you see someone who's jammed with Eric Clapton, for free?” A patron asked me.

Richman's girlfriend walks out onto the porch and lets the music come out with her for a moment as the door opens. She appears much younger than her boyfriend Richman and is very attractive. An older gentleman is butchering the chorus to Free-bird as the door swings back shut.

Richman purses his lips and the lovely young lady gives him a kiss, then sits in his lap for the remainder of the interview. Ladies really do love the guitar players.

“As a young boy I was really like a lot of us (musicians), I was bitten by the Beatles bug when they played Ed' Sullivan,” Richman said. “But we (my family) were immersed in music growing up, because of my dad, Boomie Richman.”

Boomie Richman was a quite famous Tenor Saxophone Player from the “Big Band Era”. Boomie played with music legends like Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Buddy Holly. Boomie also played in studio bands for several late night shows, one of those shows was the Dick Cavett show.

“Jimi Hendrix was in town and going to appear on the show,” Richman grinned. “So my dad said get out of school today and get over here, it was life changing watching Jimi run through rehearsals, cause at the time Jimi was my absolute god... I was about fourteen I think.”

Although the young Richman was too shy to actually speak with Jimi, he closely observed his every move. The following year Eric Clapton came to town to do the Dick Cavett show.

“Oh I wasn't so shy by then and I got a chance to jam around with Clapton, it's nice to have that when you're only fifteen or so.”

By the mid-70's, it was time for Richman to move out of New York and find his sound; Atlanta would be his destination.

“When I first got to Atlanta you could see groups like Lynard Skynard and The Marshall Tucker Band at little bars like this,” Richman said. “I got involved with the music scene immediately.”

About ten years into his career, Richman had played in several cover bands and jammed around with anyone and everyone in the Atlanta music scene. It was at this point that the guitarist started developing his own “sound”.

“All musicians become a combination of their influences,” explained Richman. “It started with guys like Jimi, Clapton, Paige, and I experimented with all the gear that they used, today i've got a nice combination of things to make my sound.”

Although Richman is not known in the mainstream circle of music, Atlanta musicians are aware of his presence in the scene and his sound.

“We've done a few jams together,” one-armed Atlanta blues guitarist Lefty Williams said of Richman. “The guy knows a million licks and he's grown a lot over the years, he's become the consummate guitarist of our area.”

Richman has played with the greats, he's even played for huge crowds in Atlanta with the Allman Brothers Band, but why has he never enjoyed their fame?

“Fame is a hard thing to achieve in this business, you gotta be in the right place at the right time and I can't speak on Barry's behalf, it's just so tough to do,” said Williams.

Jason Young, an Atlanta based trumpet player who plays with the popular band Party on The Moon, enjoys seeing Richman play at Marietta bar Nik's Back Porch.

“His (Richman's) fluidness around the guitar neck is incredible, it's just effortless for him,” said Young. “The gear Barry uses, the tone he produces, every little thing about his sound works together to create a truly unique Barry Richman sound.”

These days Richman is not so concerned with fame, and he is able to live off playing music. Last June he had a heart attack, and his perspective has changed as a result.

“It was a wake up call, and it helped me finally quit smoking,” Richman laughed. “It's kinda like saying, it's time to live right because you don't know how many years you got left.”

Richman has worked in the community for many years, playing benefit shows and working with young guitarists who aren't so fortunate as to have Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton around. Music lovers and aspiring guitarists would be best advised to experience Richman sooner than later, because after all, you don't really know how many years you've got left.