7 Questions for Paul Richards

1. Who are you and what do you do?
I am Paul Richards, guitarist with the California Guitar Trio. I live in West Hollywood, Los Angeles. CGT has been touring the world for the past 28 years. I enjoy taking photos on my travels across this beautiful earth.


2. Why do you do what you do?
At a very young age I knew I would be a musician. I felt it was more of a calling for me rather than a choice. At age 18 I began to take this calling very seriously and did everything I could to make it happen, including studying guitar with Robert Fripp in England when I was 21. In addition to music, photography has always been very important to me. I was on the photo journalism team when I was in high school and took many photography classes and loved learning to work with film in the dark room. My love for photography has stayed with me and I’m very fortunate to travel to some very beautiful places. I like waking up early to get sunrise photos in beautiful places.


3. How do you work?
My years of study with Guitar Craft and Robert Fripp taught me how to work very hard and very focused. A big part of this is has to do with being present in the moment and learning to focus attention with specific exercises taught on the guitar craft courses. Also always trying to be aware of how what I do affects those around me.


4. What in your life workflow gives you the most freedom to create?
Touring the world with the California Guitar Trio gives me an immense amount of freedom. In the past 28 years, we have traveled to all 50 states, every province in Canada, throughout Mexico, South America, Europe, Eastern Europe, and Japan.


5. What themes do you pursue?
I rarely work with a certain theme in mind. The themes often present themselves through the process and are often determined by where in the world I am while working.


6. What is your dream project?
To continue developing my work in music and photography.


7. What jobs have you done other than being a visual artist?
Music is my main work, but I don’t consider it a job. The same with photography. It’s something I enjoy doing and never think of as a job. Before I became a full-time musician, I worked for over 10 years at a guitar shop called Guitar City in Centerville, Utah.

Paul Richards, Sept. 2019
Los Angeles, California