Rik Emmett

Rik Emmett PROFILE [revised Oct. 2006]

Rik Emmett has his fair share of gold and platinum hanging on the wall after surviving three decades in the music biz. Awards like Best Guitarist at the '81 Junos, induction into the Canadian Rock Hall of Fame in '93, and Best Smooth Jazz Guitarist in 2005 highlight an ever- evolving career. There's a true singer/songwriter at the heart of it all - a multi-dimensional artist, with nothing to prove except the dignity and maturity of his continuing commitment to great music.

"I played 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 last year," says Emmett, "and I love the challenging range of it all."

Audiences marvel at the versatility of the tenor singer/songwriter as he continues his prolific run of solo indie CDs, from classical to jazz to acoustic pop & folk vocal stylings. While this wide catalogue of original songs garners radio airplay on easy-listening, smooth jazz, and CBC formats (while the heritage classic rock stuff keeps on rolling right along), his dozen years as a writer for Guitar Player Magazine and his continuing 22 year relationship with Yamaha have kept his international reputation as a musician alive and well. A former VP of the Songwriter’s Association of Canada, Rik teaches a Career Development course in the Humber Music program, and is the Artistic Director of the Humber Songwriting Workshop.

History and Background [revised, Oct. 2006]

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 was inducted into the Canadian Rock Hall of Fame in '93 as one of the band’s original members.

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. Perhaps a bit more of a surprise was the ballad "When a Heart Breaks", which 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 Vaughn, 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. Following those 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 and piqued 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. 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 in the summer of 2006, the wide range of Emmett's abilities went on display - from a smooth jazz festival in Canada to a heavy metal festival in Germany: from Artistic Directing a songwriting workshop to hanging & jamming with Alex Lifeson of Rush at the Guitar Workshop Plus: and from five classic rock outdoor shows, to an idyllic afternoon acoustic duo gig at the Chateau-des-Charmes winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

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 our 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 has held true to his dreams of the magic power of the music, and he shares that with every audience, of every stripe - every night that he performs.