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July 2010: At my CD Release Celebration at Has Beans in Eureka, on July 4th, I'll be joined by the Fabulous Doug and Lori, from just over the rise there in Myrtletown, he on harmonica and guitar, fresh from the Jambalaya Jam and the Pump Station Jams, and she on vocals, providing a little Lucinda Williams "Can't Let Go" tuneage while I noodle away on slide guitar in the background. That one is at 11 AM on Sunday, the Fourth of July, and don't forget the Very First one, at Has Beans on Friday July 2 at 3 PM.
The new CD is receiving airplay in the Sierras: tune in KFOK Internet Radio out of Greenwood, CA, and check the time for "Fat Kat Country," the show airing the tunes. And in case you forgot, the CD is "Mr. Gen-U-Wine Plays Bottleneck Slide Guitar," remastered and with one new tune recorded by Mike Kapitan at "Groove Time" Studios here in Arcata, then duplicated by McKinleyville's "Bongo Boy" Studios, who also provided the graphic work on the CD cover. So it's "Locovore Slide" we'll be playing, folks!
My art exhibit in Greenwood (what a coincidence!) is now in place. One painting has sold ("Last Days of the One Lane Bridge"), and ten more pieces are on display, a few of them never previously exhibited ("Disproof of Evolution" is one of these, a petrified and framed 25,000-year-old fossilized war ribbon, showing that this species, at least, hasn't evolved much recently). I made the trek to Greenwood, 20 miles above Auburn in the roasting foothills, in my 31-year-old Honda Civic, the Bluesmobile, which survived the 700-mile,108-degree return through Redding and the mountains of 299 better than its driver...
Watch for new photos from the exhibit. At least 6 of the paintings previously displayed there have been revised, some of them substantially, and there may be a surprise or two when the veils are withdrawn! That is not all, quite yet - the 11 tunes from the CD have now been transcribed, in tablature and notation, and I'm hard at the copy work for the method book to accompany the CD.
Kindest Regards, Rick
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Music News:
June 2010: The new slide guitar CD, Mr. Gen-U-Wine Plays Bottleneck Slide Guitar," has now been printed. Rick has advance copies at $10 for the CD only, while he is still working on the book to accompany the CD. Contact Rick Park to order the CD only, or wait for the full package of CD, booklet and slide. View CD image.

July 2008: Only a few dozen copies remain of the second edition of Rick's latest major musical work, Shakespeare and the Sonettes: The Bard's Blues. On this CD, there are five songs telling the stories of the great plays in blues form and five actual Elizabethan guitar pieces. Rick has since written two new Shakespearean blues songs: "MacBeth's Blues" and "Julius Caesar's Blues", the latter actually telling some of the story of Antony and Cleopatra as well, the tales being continuous. "MacBeth's Blues" was debuted at Peacemas '07. There is certain to be a third edition of the album, and it may include these 2 new pieces. Read 3 reviews of this CD. Please see Recordings Page to listen to songs and for more information on all of Rick's recordings.

Rick Park is accepting guitar students in the Arcata area! Rick is beginner-friendly, can teach note-reading and tab, but can also teach advanced melodic fingerstyle a la Hurt, Kottke, Kaukonen, and in slide guitar. Musical styles include blues, folk, standards, some jazz and classical. Call Rick at 707-826-0357 or contact Rick by email for more info or to set up a lesson. Listen to Rick playing guitar.

Art & Poetry News:
July 2010: Rick's "Cowboy Haiku" 3 poem suite, as published last year in The Idiom, the poetry magazine out of New Jersey, have now been anthologized in the (more or less annual) Idiom anthology. Google The Idiom, and navigate to the publications list.

June 2010: "Last Days of the One Lane Bridge" sold in May 2010. It will join the collection of Cathy Rohm of Greenwood, CA, who is already the owner of "Patriotic Toothbrushes". Cathy has arranged a small exhibit of Rick's paintings at the KFOK radio station during the month of July. KFOK is reachable by internet radio. The exhibit will be in Sierra Foothills, in a radio station building in Greenwood, CA (above Auburn and near Cool). Rick has significantly revised seven of the paintings, including the prize-winning oil painting (he changed a perspective detail on the right-hand side of painting). See Art Page for more details.

May 8, 2010: HSU literary magazine, Toyon, was released with Rick's poem "I Never Told Her I Saw Her Naked," in it. It's a very pretty 92-page publication, and while stuffing his face with some wonderful catering, Rick was invited to read his piece, to a kind and enthusiastic reception, and afterwards relax and bask in the music of the quartet, "Seven-Oh-Heaven," whom Rick has been wanting to see and hear for some time. Rick was able to nab 15 copies of the magazine, so while they last, he can make them available to those of his friends who are interested in supporting his poetry habit, at $9.95 postpaid if he has to mail it.

Rick completed his first-ever oil painting in January 2010, a simple front view of the Wagner House, in which there are the offices of KHSU radio. They were having a contest. Rick entered the painting and won some sort of as-yet-unnamed prize, but the main thing was to learn how to use oils. It was exhibited during Eureka Arts Alive! and a similar event in Crescent City. KHSU has scanned the painting and will sell prints of it to their listeners. See Rick's oil painting debut: Old KHSU building, the Wagner House.

Read Rick's 64th birthday poem, which contains some of his thoughts on aging.

August 2009: The summer issue of the Haight Ashbury Literary Journal published Rick Park's poem, "Some Lines for Margot." This is Rick's fifth poem publication of 2009.

July 2009: Rick has mounted another "found" sculpture, part of the "Proof of Evolution" series. This one is a "disproof of human evolution," a "Petrified War Ribbon," age 25,000 years...the idea being that while the rest of the life-forms evolve, humans keep entering into the same stupid anti-evolutionary war displays. It's a small metal ribbon, bent and folded exactly like those bumper-decals, the yellow-ribbon type.

April 2009 issue of The Idiom magazine published Rick's three-poem suite, "Cowboy Haiku Trilogy." The third one had never been published before. The Idiom, out of New Jersey, is a feisty and spiritedly independent little publication. You can check out their website and access his poems online. Rick has hard-copies of the magazine, which you can get from him for $5 (1000-7th St. #8, Arcata CA 95521). If you wish, he'll autograph it for you.

"The Sad Songs Contest, Collected Poems 1964-2006, a 60th Birthday Anthology". Rick Park has created a lifetime poetry collection of 59 poems with 14 original illustrations in a 32 page book. l8 of the poems have been published over the years in a number of literary magazines. The first sold-out edition was named "Coming of Age", for his 60th birthday. For the second edition, which sold out, it was renamed with its current name, "The Sad Songs Contest, Collected Poems 1964-2006, a 60th Birthday Anthology". The third edition sold out. Rick is now working on the fourth edition of his poetry book, which will probably be re-issued in October 2007. It will sell for $5.95 ($6.65 with postage & handling). It is now being carried at 2 bookstores: Bookpeople in Moscow, Idaho and Bird & Beckett Books in San Francisco, CA. Listen to a clip of Rick reading "Plastered in Stratford" at his CD Release Party at Bird & Beckett Books on February 20, 2006. To order, contact Rick by email, call him at 707-826-0357, or mail him at: 1000 7th Street #8, Arcata, CA 95521.

Joel Dunsany emailed and wrote "I've been meaning to find a moment to e-mail you & tell you that your COLLECTED POEMS are simply A MARVEL. I couldn't have enjoyed them more! They are sparkling & shimmering. They are music. They are insightful & full of the stuff of life. Like they say about the astronauts, you've got the RIGHT STUFF!!!"

If you would like to order anything on this site, please go to Order Page. When you are ready to order, there is a link to a shorter printer-friendly order form on that page. For folks who do not have a printer, you can write down and mail the essential information. Allow 7 - 10 days for delivery.
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