Richard March goes a bit beyond new Americana strum and twang. A San Francisco native who landed in Sacramento by way of Nashville, March should be considered a true California bard.
As a songwriter/storyteller, March is a modern day throwback to the melodic, progressive country music stars of several decades ago when folks like Mickey Newbury, Kris Kristofferson and Glen Campbell were regularly heard on radio and seen on evening television. Creating the Wallflowers-esque sound heard in his buyoant live shows and on his latest (fourth) album, Levee Road, is March's long time bandmate, bass player and cowriter Tyler Ragle, drummers Kevin "the Father" Priest or Phil Speer, and occasional guest soloists Chris Ivey on pedal steel, Ken Burnett on mandolin, or the Beer Dawgs' Steve Wall on guitar and midi. His live performance skills have garnered him opening positions for Johnny Cash's legendary backing band the Tennessee Three, folk icon Ramblin' Jack Elliott, the popular Steve Forbert, bluesmen Nick Gravenites and John Hammond, Straycat Lee Rocker and western soul cult heroes the Hacienda Brothers.
Where he began sharing stages with favorite contemporaries Matt Nathanson, Box Set and Noe Venable in his San Francisco days, his more recent Sacramento and greater Northern California experiences have included the likes of Jackie Greene, the Bittersweets, Johnny Dilks, Mother Truckers, Julie Roberts, and Mumbo Gumbo.
Richard is a Sacramento Area Music Award (SAMMIE) winner for Outstanding Male Vocalist, received a Best of Sacramento award from Sacramento Magazine for best local Americana artist, and was awarded Best Locally Produced Album in the Sacramento News and Review's 2007 "Best of" issue. Richard is on rotation on NPR's Blue Dog Jams and has been heard on Air America as well as other various outlets in California and Oregon, has made several local television appearances, and is considered to be at the forefront of the Americana scene in the Sacramento area.
Most recently, the song "Libraries" has found a fan in Rosalie Howarth at KFOG in the Bay Area and has been heard on her shows Acoustic Sunrise and Acoustic Sunset and was at the top of her favorite albums of 2007. More info can be found on Richard's site, with songs and press links on the music page or on the myspace, but Ramblin' Jack Elliott may have said it best last August--
"That young man can turn a phrase... he's a good 'un."
"That young man can turn a phrase... he's a good 'un."
