Rick Foster is a guitarist and arranger who lives in the Days Creek, Oregon area, who plays classical and popular music, but who is most closely associated with Christian music. [1]
Foster began playing Hawaiian guitar when he was 10 years old. By age 12, he was playing electric guitar in a surf-rock band. At eighteen years of age, he was teaching guitar. When he was unable to find arrangements for guitar of his favorite hymns, he decided to create a repertoire. [2]
Playing in classical style, but with country flavoring, [3] he has recorded several albums, appearing on Bread & Honey Records, [1] Chapel Records and Edensong Records. He has been nominated for a Dove Award by the Gospel Music Association., [4]
His arrangements have been featured by Chet Atkins [5] and Christopher Parkening. [6]
His guitar arrangements of hymns are published by Rick Foster Edensong, Fingerstyle Guitar Magazine and Mel Bay Publications. [5]
Chester Burton "Chet" Atkins, known as "Mr. Guitar" and "The Country Gentleman", was an American musician, occasional vocalist, songwriter, and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music style which expanded its appeal to adult pop music fans. He was primarily known as a guitarist. He also played the mandolin, fiddle, banjo, and ukulele.
George Hege Hamilton IV was an American country musician. He began performing in the late 1950s as a teen idol, switching to country music in the early 1960s.
Merle Robert Travis was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and guitarist born in Rosewood, Kentucky, United States. His songs' lyrics often discussed both the lives and the economic exploitation of American coal miners. Among his many well-known songs are "Sixteen Tons," "Re-Enlistment Blues," "I am a Pilgrim," and "Dark as a Dungeon." However, it is his unique guitar style, still called Travis Picking by guitarists, as well as his interpretations of the rich musical traditions of his native Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, for which he is best known today. "Travis Picking" is a syncopated style of guitar fingerpicking rooted in ragtime music in which alternating chords and bass notes are plucked by the thumb while melodies are simultaneously plucked by the index finger. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 and elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1977.
Arthur Smith was an American musician, songwriter, and producer of records, as well as a radio and TV host. Smith produced radio and TV shows; The Arthur Smith Show was the first nationally syndicated country music show on television. After moving to Charlotte, North Carolina, Smith developed and ran the first commercial recording studio in the Southeast.
William Thomas Emmanuel is an Australian guitarist who is known for his complex fingerstyle technique, energetic performances and the use of percussive effects on the guitar. Originally a session player in many bands, Emmanuel carved out his own style as a solo artist, releasing award-winning albums and singles. In the May 2008 and 2010 issues of Guitar Player magazine, he was named "Best Acoustic Guitarist" in its readers' poll. In June 2010 Emmanuel was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM). In 2011, Emmanuel was inducted into the Australian Roll of Renown.
Neck and Neck is a collaborative album by American guitarist Chet Atkins and British singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Knopfler, released on October 9, 1990 by Columbia Records. "Poor Boy Blues" was released as a single.
"Walk, Don't Run" is an instrumental composition written and originally recorded by jazz guitarist Johnny Smith in 1954.
Dottie West Sings Sacred Ballads is a studio album by American country music artist Dottie West. It was released in July 1967 on RCA Victor Records and was produced by Chet Atkins. The album was West's sixth studio effort and only gospel music collection to be released during her career. The album did not spawn any singles nor did it reach positions on any national publication charts.
Chet Atkins' Gallopin' Guitar is the first studio album released by American guitarist Chet Atkins on the RCA Victor label. It was available as a 10-inch vinyl record.
Chet Atkins in Three Dimensions is the fifth studio album recorded by American guitarist Chet Atkins. The recording mixes unique arrangements of traditional tunes, pop songs and classical arrangements. Atkins stated in his 1974 autobiography that this album was the first time he strayed away from country, even though he had been fired numerous times from various radio shows for "not sounding country enough".
Chet Atkins at Home is the seventh studio album recorded by American guitarist Chet Atkins. It contains his clever arrangement of Yankee Doodle played at the same time as Dixie.
Chet Atkins Plays Back Home Hymns is the seventeenth studio album of instrumental gospel hymns by guitarist Chet Atkins.
Caribbean Guitar is the eighteenth studio album recorded by American guitarist Chet Atkins, released in 1962.
Street Dreams is the fifty-third studio album by American guitarist Chet Atkins, released in 1986 on the Columbia label.
It's a Guitar World is the thirty-first studio album by guitarist Chet Atkins, released in 1966.
Casa Del Vecchio Ltda. is a traditional guitarmaking company headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil. Since its foundation by Angelo Del Vecchio in 1902, it has produced a wide range of acoustic stringed instruments instruments. In the 1930s, Del Vecchio began producing resonator guitars, resulting in their most famous model: the Dinâmico,.
Edgar Cruz is an independent classical and fingerstyle guitarist from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Having recorded over sixteen CDs in styles ranging from classical to flamenco to pop to jazz, Cruz is perhaps best known for his fingerstyle arrangement of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody". Additionally, Cruz was featured in an OETA documentary entitled "Spanish Blood - The Guitar of Edgar Cruz". Cruz took second place in the 1991 Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas in the fingerstyle competition as did his brother Mark Anthony Cruz in 1993 & 2001. Cruz's career began when he followed in his father Manuel Cruz' footsteps playing for restaurant customers as a strolling guitarist. His marketing strategy was taken from his father who said, "play what your audience wants and they'll pay you well".
Ray Cummins is an American guitarist.
John Doan is an American guitarist and composer.
Garth William Smith is a pianist/composer/musician accomplished in several styles of music including rock, country, classical and jazz. His current endeavor is creating spiritually uplifting piano arrangements of popular LDS Hymns. After living for many years in Oceanside, California, he currently resides in Bella Vista, Arkansas, and is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.