Richard Bishop is an American composer, guitarist and singer best known for his work with the

Sun City Girls Sun City Girls were an American experimental rock band, formed in 1979 in Phoenix, Arizona. From 1981, the group consisted of Alan Bishop (bass guitar, vocals), his brother Richard Bishop (guitar, piano, vocals), and Charles Gocher (drums, voc ...

. He styles himself Sir Richard Bishop. In 2005, Bishop began performing as a solo artist, playing throughout Europe, Australia, and the United States. He has done extensive touring with

Will Oldham Joseph Will Oldham (born January 15, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded in collaboration with dozens of other musicians under variations of Palace (Palace, Palace Flophouse, Palace Br ...

(Bonnie Prince Billy),

Animal Collective Animal Collective is an American experimental pop band formed in Baltimore, Maryland. Its members consist of Avey Tare (David Portner), Panda Bear (Noah Lennox), Geologist (Brian Weitz), and Deakin (Josh Dibb). The band's work is characterized ...

, Devendra Banhart, Bill Callahan, and many others. Bishop’s first official solo record, ''Salvador Kali'', was released by John Fahey’s esteemed Revenant Records label in 1998. The album showcases Bishop's own particular obsessions and roots, drawing from a variety of worldwide sources.

Locust Music Locust Music was a Chicago-based independent record label founded in 2001 in music, 2001. See also

* List of record labels Record labels established in 2001 American independent record labels Companies based in Chicago {{US-independent-r ...

issued his second record, ''Improvika,'' in 2004. This album consists of nine extemporaneous pieces for solo acoustic guitar. Up next was ''Fingering the Devil'', which was recorded at an impromptu session at London’s Southern Studios on a day off from the 2005 European tour. This was followed by two more releases from Locust: ''Elektronika Demonika'', a recording of electronics, containing no guitar at all; and ''While My Guitar Violently Bleeds'', which is made up of three extended compositions for acoustic and electric guitar. Richard's 30-minute film ''God Damn Religion'' was released on DVD by Locust in 2006. 2007 saw the first Sir Richard release from the Drag City label, ''Polytheistic Fragments''. It includes works for acoustic, electric and lapsteel guitar, plus two piano compositions. Next up was ''The Freak of Araby'' (Drag City, 2009). This was the first Bishop album to feature a full band of supporting musicians. The record is a tribute to late Egyptian guitarist Omar Khorshid as well as to Middle Eastern music. In May 2010, Drag City released the album False Flag by Rangda, a new group featuring Bishop,

Ben Chasny Ben Chasny is an American indie rock and psychedelic folk guitarist. His primary projects are Six Organs of Admittance (his solo psych folk project) and Comets on Fire (a psychedelic rock band). Biography Chasny made his recording debut in 19 ...

(

Six Organs of Admittance Six Organs of Admittance is the primary musical project of American guitarist Ben Chasny. Chasny's music is largely guitar-based and is often considered new folk; however, it includes obvious influences, marked by the use of drones, chimes, and ...

Comets on Fire Comets on Fire were an American noise rock band from Santa Cruz, California, United States. The band was formed in 1999 by guitarist and vocalist Ethan Miller and longtime friend bassist Ben Flashman, who were seeking to create rhythmically a ...

), and

Chris Corsano Chris Corsano is an American drummer, improviser, and composer. Career Alongside his solo work, Corsano has performed on over one hundred records with artists including Evan Parker, Sunburned Hand of the Man, Six Organs of Admittance, Dredd ...

(Flower-Corsano Duo, Flaherty/Corsano,

Jandek Jandek is the musical alias of Houston, Texas based lo-fi folk singer Sterling Smith. Since 1978, Jandek has independently released over 45 albums without granting interviews or providing any biographical information, releasing on a self-made lab ...

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...

, etc). Bishop was a founding member (along with brother Alan Bishop) of

experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, with ...

, who during their 26 years (1981–2007), produced an extensive discography of over 50 full length albums, 20 one-hour cassettes and a dozen 7” records. In the early 1980s he was also a member of the group Paris 1942 which included

Alan Bishop Alan Bishop is an American musician best known for being the bassist and vocalist of experimental rock band Sun City Girls.Velvet Underground Weave details visible on a purple-colored velvet fabric Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabri ...

drummer

Moe Tucker Maureen Ann "Moe" Tucker (born August 26, 1944) is an American musician and singer-songwriter who was the drummer for the New York City-based rock band the Velvet Underground. After they disbanded in the early 1970s, she left the music industry ...

. In 2003, Richard Bishop, along with Alan Bishop and Hisham Mayet, founded the Sublime Frequencies label, dedicated to acquiring and releasing obscure sights and sounds from Africa, India, S.E. Asia and beyond.

Discography

*''Salvador Kali'' (1998, Revenant Records) *''Improvika'' (2004,

Locust Music Locust Music was a Chicago-based independent record label founded in 2001 in music, 2001. See also

* List of record labels Record labels established in 2001 American independent record labels Companies based in Chicago {{US-independent-r ...

) *''Fingering the Devil'' (2006,

Southern Records Founded 1992 by John Loder, Southern Records is an independent record label (Loder also ran the recording facility Southern Studios). It is based in London and until 2008 had offices in the United States, France and Berlin. The label is closel ...

) *''Elektronika Demonika'' (2006, Locust Music) *''While My Guitar Violently Bleeds'' (2007, Locust Music) *''Polytheistic Fragments'' (2007) *''Earth/Sir Richard Bishop'' (2008) *''God Damn Religion'' DVD, (2008, Locust Music) *'' The Freak of Araby'' (2009, Drag City) *''Intermezzo'' (2012, Ideologic Organ) * Sir Richard Bishop & W. David Oliphant, ''Beyond All Defects'' (2012, Chodpa Media) * ''The Unrock Tapes'' (2012, Unrock) * Sir Richard Bishop & Bill Orcutt, ''Road Stories (Kali)'' (2014, Unrock) *''Tangier Sessions'' (2015, Drag City) * Richard Bishop &

Ava Mendoza Ava Mendoza is an American guitarist, vocalist, and composer. An avant-garde artist whose work is described as traversing a number of genres, Mendoza has performed with a wide range of musicians, including Nels Cline, Matana Roberts, Nick Zinner ...

, ''Ivory Tower'' (2016, Unrock) * Richard Bishop & W. David Oliphant, ''Carte Blanche'' (2019, Unrock) * Richard Bishop & Ed Yazijian, ''Richard Bishop & Ed Yazijian'' (2019, Unrock) * ''Oneiric Formulary'' (2020, Drag City)

References

External links

Sir Richard Bishop official websiteSir Richard Bishop fan websiteSir Richard Bishop at Locust MusicSir Richard Bishop on MySpace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bishop, Richard Living people American experimental guitarists American male guitarists Guitarists from Arizona Sun City Girls members Year of birth missing (living people) Locust Music artists