Rick Fowler is an American blues-rock

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

originally from

Bowdon, Georgia Bowdon is a city in Carroll County, Georgia, Carroll County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 2,161. History The community was incorporated on January 1, ...

. He learned to play guitar primarily by listening to early British blues and rock guitarists and American blues players.

Career

Fowler's earlier bands included Ziggurat, Deacon Little, and Fortnox. Fowler also recorded with pop singer

Bertie Higgins Elbert Joseph "Bertie" Higgins (born December 8, 1944) is an American singer-songwriter. In 1982, Higgins had a top 40 album with '' Just Another Day in Paradise''. It spawned the hit song "Key Largo", which referenced the Humphrey Bogart and ...

,Bertie Higgins website
/ref> whose hit single "

Key Largo Key Largo ( es, Cayo Largo) is an island in the upper Florida Keys archipelago and is the largest section of the keys, at long. It is one of the northernmost of the Florida Keys in Monroe County, and the northernmost of the keys connected b ...

" reached

platinum sales Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

in several countries. In 1982, the Fortnox song "Storm Inside My Head" went to number 44 in US AOR airplay and the band’s video reached the top 20 on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

. The band toured non-stop for a year in support of the record, headlining medium venues and performing in stadiums as the supporting act for top rock acts. However, their success was short-lived. In 1984, Fowler's band Bombay recorded an album with British producer

Eddy Offord Eddy Offord (born 20 February 1943) is a retired English record producer and audio engineer who gained prominence in the 1970s for his work on albums by the progressive rock bands Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Yes. Life and career Offord studied phy ...

. The record was supported by the MTV video "Rumble Tonight". He moved to

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the sta ...

in 1991 after months of touring overseas with Bad Fun, a band. He began performing with a number of Athens-based artists, including Ralph Roddenberry, Redneck Greece, and The Lonely White Boys (a band he formed with Drivin' N' Cryin guitarist Buren Fowler, Dreams So Real drummer Drew Worsham, and Normaltown Flyers bassist Greg Veale). Fowler played guitar in side band projects with

Bill Berry William Thomas Berry (born July 31, 1958) is an American musician who was the drummer for the alternative rock band R.E.M. Although best known for his economical drumming style, Berry also played other instruments, including guitar, bass guitar ...

(

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternative ...

), Dave Schools (Widespread Panic, Government Mule),

Randall Bramblett Randall Bramblett (born 1948) is an American musician and singer-songwriter, whose career as a solo artist, session player, and touring musician, has spanned more than three decades. He has worked with Gregg Allman, Bonnie Raitt, Goose Creek S ...

(Traffic), and a number of other well-known musicians from the area. In 1997, he organized a band to perform a rock concert benefit for

Tourette syndrome Tourette syndrome or Tourette's syndrome (abbreviated as TS or Tourette's) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence. It is characterized by multiple movement (motor) tics and at least one vocal (phonic) ...

awareness. Bill Berry, who was at the time retiring from the mega-star band R.E.M., made the show his farewell retirement performance, allowing his drums to be auctioned off for charity at the end of the night. ''Welcome Companions'', a CD recorded by the benefit concert band, was released by Polyglot Records under the band name Rick Fowler and Friends in mid-2000. Other accomplishments include playing as a studio guitarist on over 100 CD releases and producing and performing the music for a

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

award-winning documentary movie entitled ''Dirty Work''. Fowler signed wit
Jammates Records
in 2007 and recorded the CD ''Back On My Good Foot''. The album was released in early 2008.

Notes

References

* http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/discography/index.jsp?pid=159167&aid=1110645#reviewcomre * http://www.rickfowler.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Fowler, Rick People from Bowdon, Georgia Living people Guitarists from Georgia (U.S. state) Year of birth missing (living people) Musicians from Athens, Georgia