The Rick Strickland Band R&B, Soul, Beach, Rocknroll
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The Rick Strickland Band R&B, Soul, Beach, RockNRoll Well known for penning some of beach music’s most beloved hits including “Something Smooth,” “One Step Closer,” “Nice While It Lasted,” and “My Heart Belongs To You,” Rick Strickland is also considered one of the best voices in Beach music. His soaring vocals, smooth harmonies and high energy performances have delighted music fans young and old for decades. Now event goers can enjoy Rick’s award winning, fan pleasing music and energy LIVE along with the outstanding musical talents of The Rick Strickland Band! Rick received a Cammy Award for Solo Album of the Year for "Something Smooth" at the 2007 Carolina Beach Music Awards and a Cammy Award for Songwriter of the Year at the 2005 Carolina Beach Music Awards for the song Something Smooth which was #1 on the Beach Music charts the entire year of 2005. It was voted the #1 Beach Song of 2005 on a chart compiled by 30 different DJs' top 100 Songs. It also ranked #8 on the top 50 Rhythm and Blues Dance Songs of 2005. Five original songs by Rick Strickland are now in the 94.9 Surf Hall of Fame including: Something Smooth, I Miss You, One Step Closer, Party 'Til The Break of Dawn, and Nice While It Lasted. Other songs which have received heavy airplay include: Bubba White’s, Love the Night Away, Winner, The Devil Made Me Do It, We’ve Got It Made, My Heart Belongs to You, and Counting the Days. His songs have charted in the top ten in Mississippi, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and California. During his career, Rick has performed with some of music’s giants. He was musical director for 3 national tours for Billy Joe Royal. Rick has also performed with The Band of Oz, and Shag Time. In recent years he has been on the road as a solo artist. But in 2009, this award winning artist realized a lifelong dream by forming his first full band, appropriately called The Rick Strickland Band. Their debut performances at SOS Fall Migration Fun Monday, the Spanish Galleon, OD Beach Club, The Charleston Beach & Shag Festival, Fat Harold’s and TJs Nightlife have brought down the house every time and have quickly created some major buzz about the band’s high energy live performances, pristine harmonies and musical expertise. The Band’s talent and energy coupled with Rick’s phenomenal original music makes them a great choice for events and audiences of all kinds including festivals, clubs, private events, wedding parties, corporate events – basically any event where you’d like to deliver a truly unique musical experience. We are not a cover band. The Rick Strickland Band performs 90% Rick's original music with about 10% of our select cover tunes. Our music is typically classified as R&B Soul, Beach and RockNRoll. The musicianship and vocals are stunning, the music is fun to sing and dance to, and the energy and professionalism are always over the top when The Rick Strickland Band takes the stage! "Each member of this band brings an undeniable talent and strength to the group. Each one has achieved many great accomplishments in their own field of music. Together as a team we are definitely a band of excellence," says Rick. "I'm honored and humbled to perform with this group. It's a dream come true.” Band Member Bios: The forever versatile Art Benton (keyboard & vocals) began playing accordion at age 15 in restaurants & private parties. His first band - The Blue Notes – was a James Brown tribute band. He then performed R&B with The Pagans working for Ted Hall out of Charlotte. Art achieved nationwide recognition with the band Pallbearers who had a contract with Mercury Records in 1967 and had 2 nationwide releases “Getting Fired Up” & “Music With Soul.” These songs were played on The Dick Clark TV Show and are still getting airplay in England today. Art later went on to perform with The Platters, Drifters, Sam The Sham and Billy Joe Royal to name a few. Art has been Rick’s main go to guy for all things music since 2006, and showcases his stellar keyboard talents on some of Rick’s biggest hits. For over 35 years, Gary Bruce (lead guitar) has electrified audiences with his amazing guitar virtuoso. He has performed with some of the industry’s greats including The Drifters, The Tams, Billy Scott and the Prophets, Bo Schronce of The Fantastic Shakers, Rick Lee of Too Much Sylvia, and Butch Barnes of Sea Cruz. Gary is very unique as a player in that he is capable of quickly finding the melodic center of a song and exploiting it to the maximum. He instinctively understands how to weave melodies in and out of his rhythm and lead guitar parts – a quality that is very rare in musicians, and yet a talent that makes his live performances fascinating to watch. Eclectic in his musical influences, Gary draws inspiration from a wide variety of artists and musical styles, and weaves bits and pieces of each to create his own unique style. As a young kid, James Watkins was naturally drawn to the bass beat. When he began mimicking some of music’s greatest bass players, he was considered a child prodigy. Now 36 years into his career, James’ stellar musicianship has afforded him the opportunity to perform with bands that backed up national artists including Steppenwolf, Isaac Hayes, Sam Moore (Sam and Dave), and Chuck Jackson. James was honored to perform with 2 international tours sponsored by the US Department of Defense to entertain our military troops stationed abroad. On his first tour in1980 with the group Alley Cat, James travelled for 2 weeks throughout Panama, Antigua, Puerto Rico, and Cuba at Guantanamo Bay. In 1985, he returned to Guantanamo Bay with The Foundations (of “Build Me Up Buttercup” fame) in what was supposed to be a 1 week tour, but ended up staying 2 weeks at the troops request. He has performed for 26 years with Columbia based band Fresh Air. James has developed his own special technique of bass playing that is inspired by the works of Joe Osborne, James Jamerson, Chris Squire and Stanley Clark. Drummer Don Hamrick’s professional career began at the age of 13 with his uncle Harold and “The Night Lifers”. He wrote his first song, “Eyes of Gypsy Brown” at age 16. At 17, Don was performing with Nashville Recording artist, Jerry Moore. At 18, Don helped formed the band “Truant” which later became “Fever.” During his career, he has toured with many national and regional acts such as “The Clovers” (who had hits such as “Love Potion #9” and “Blue Velvet”), “ Billy Scott & The Georgia Prophets Band” and “The Rick Elder Show” (formerly of “The Main Street Singers”). Don made his TV acting debut as the drummer for Bill Haley and the Comets in the 1999 CBS mini-series “Shake Rattle and Roll”. He attended Winthrop University as a full time music major from 1979-1983 and earned a B.M.E. as a percussion major. Don’s professionalism, musicianship, natural talent and all around good guy attitude have been a winning combination throughout his career, and have afforded him much deserved recognition abroad as a well known drummer, clinician, session player and instructor. At the ripe age of 10, Debbie Anderson (vocals, acoustic guitar & percussion) entered a talent competition at school. She played drums and sang the song “I Got The Music In Me.” She brought down the house that day and took home the winning trophy too! Debbie has a natural musical talent that enables her to play multiple instruments and is versatile in many music genres. She taught herself how to play acoustic guitar, bass guitar, drums, and her natural rhythm instincts make her a fantastic percussionist. She is also a versatile vocalist having performed over 20 years and currently sings with The Andersons (southern gospel), Three Day Funk (rock funk blues), The Lesa Hudson Band (country, soft rock, blues, praise & worship), and she is a member of her Praise Team at church. Debbie is also a founding member of Contemporary Christian trio N’Accord, whose distinctive and powerful harmonies brought many opportunities to perform throughout the Southeast. N’Accord released 3 CD projects. After the release of her first solo CD in 2006, singer/songwriter Lesa Hudson (vocals & keyboard) quickly gained popularity in Inspirational Country Music circles. Three of her original songs from this CD project peaked in the Top 10 on the nationally acclaimed PowerSource Christian Country Top 100 radio chart. She is a 3-time finalist for ICMA Female Vocalist of the Year, and 2-time finalist for ICMA New Artist of the Year, Lesa has performed at some of Nashville’s most legendary venues such as the Acuff Theater, BB Kings (during CMA FanFest), Gibson Guitar Café and Trinity Broadcast Network. Also a sought after National Anthem singer, her most notable anthem performance at the 2007 Dodge Avenger 500 at Darlington Raceway was televised on Fox-TV. Along with Debbie, Lesa is a founding member of N’Accord, performs with Three Day Funk, manages and performs with The Lesa Hudson Band and is the Contemporary Worship leader at her church. She has released 5 CD projects and 1 Live DVD project. Rick’s Recent Accomplishments & Awards: 2009 - Radio releases: “Lifeboat” & “I’ll Give You More.” Both are currently rising the charts. 2009 – Cammy Award Nomination for Solo Album of the Year for “Island Soul” 2009 – Cammy Award Nomination for Songwriter of the Year for “Nice While It Lasted.” 2007 – Cammy Award for Solo Album of the Year for "Something Smooth" 2005 – Cammy Award for Songwriter of the Year for the song Something Smooth 2005 – Something Smooth was #1 on the Beach Music charts the entire year of 2005.