Rik’s
partnership in TRIUMPH lasted until September
1988 when he left the trio to embark on a
solo career. He recorded three solo albums,
Absolutely (1990), Ipso Facto (1992) and Spiral
Notebook (1995) on the Duke Street/MCA label.
Happily
married since ‘76, Rik is a father of four
(his eldest daughter has played some keyboard
on two of the CDs) who has coached in his
neighbourhood baseball and soccer youth leagues,
a connection back to his ‘glory’ days as a
keen but highly breakable high school jock.
He still plays men’s basketball weekly. He
is currently on the Board of Directors for
the Songwriters Association of Canada and
in September will begin teaching a Music Career
Development course at Humber College. Rik
has also been a columnist and cartoonist.
He was a regular contributor to GUITAR PLAYER
MAGAZINE for over 12 years, and his "Rocktoons"
were a popular feature in HIT PARADER MAGAZINE
from 1981 to 1983. The history and evidence
of both of these endeavours are on display
in Rik’s four volume guitar instruction series,
"For The Love of Guitar".
Rik
has a large personal collection of guitars,
including some rare and beautiful YAMAHA custom
handmade instruments that have come his way
through a 15 year relationship with the company.
He also frequently does clinics and personal
appearances for YAMAHA.
RIK
EMMETT is one of Canada’s most respected musicians
- an award-winning virtuoso guitarist, multi-talented
singer, songwriter, and a producer with his
own independent recording label.
GUITAR
MAGAZINE once described Rik this way: "He’s
one of the only guitarists out there who may
be too talented for his own damn good."
As a founding member of TRIUMPH, his blazing
guitar solos and trademark vocals helped push
the Toronto-based trio into multiple gold
and platinum sales worldwide in the ‘70’s
and 80’s, and earned him a spot in the Canadian
Rock Hall of Fame. He also branched out as
a magazine columnist and a cartoonist. In
recent years, Rik’s creativity broadened into
more of an acoustic-based singer/songwriter
approach, which married to a trilogy of guitar
instrumental releases, a collaboration with
Sam Reid on a CD of traditional Christmas
carols, and a 4 volume set of guitar instruction
books. His latest CD is entitled "Live
at Berklee", a recording culled from
two sold-out nights of solo performances at
the prestigious College of Music in Boston.
The
CD’s have been released by OPEN HOUSE RECORDS,
an independent venture headed up by Emmett.
The operation includes a digital recording
studio, THE REC ROOM, and a state-of-the-art
web site at www.rikemmett.com, which also
features The E Shoppe, a catalogue of new
& old unreleased songs and LIVE recordings,
immediately accessible and available for sale
in MP3 form. OPEN HOUSE also maintains networking
partnerships with both mail order and 1-800
businesses. In Canada, Rik’s unique artistic
personality convinced EMI to provide national
distribution in an arrangement with their
prestigious ARTISAN label. In 1999, the web
site also spawned the development of a strong
solo concert touring business in North America,
where fans could function as promoters and
directly book Rik to come to their towns for
intimate and intense performances. Fans travel
from all over the world to come to these special
events, and the phenomenal growth of these
gigs has attracted positive media attention.
Information
courtesy of the official Rik Emmett web site.
