This is Richard Carr, an accomplished new age solo pianist who is making his mark on the music world. With his 1997 debut album, Through the Mind’s Eye, Richard caught the ears of listeners and music critics alike with his romantic blending of classical, jazz and pop styles. He followed with the release of Fogland in 1998, a personal interpretation of his travels around the United States. Richard’s most recent release,1999’s An American Quixote, is a musical chronicle of Cervantes’ Don Quixote and how he would react in today’s American society.

The creation of Richard’s music is truly a one-man operation. All pieces are composed and performed solely by the artist, with the majority being improvised as it is recorded. His compositions strongly favor American, Russian and French composers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and more modern influences such as Mannheim Steamroller, Tangerine Dream, John Adams, Keith Jarrett, Cole Porter, Steve Reich, George Winston and George Gershwin. The combination of the music Richard enjoys, his music education and the music within him form the sweeping soundscapes that define Richard’s style as uniquely his own.

In addition to composing and performing, Richard manages his own independent recording label, Rec’D Music. Richard does everything in the daily operation of the record label himself, though occasionally friends pitch in to help with special projects such as mass mailings and Internet searches.

Q. Did you study piano as a child?

Carr: Yes, I started formal lessons at age 6. I showed some aptitude, I guess, on one of those tiny Magnus organs, the ones with the numbers and chord buttons. We didn’t have a piano in the house at the time, and I practiced across the street at a neighbor’s house.

Q. Did your parents get a piano later on?

Carr: Yes, after the first year we got a damaged piano from the parish high school for the cost of moving it. $300 worth of repairs later, we had a very nice sounding piano. That was back in the late 60’s; I had that piano until I finished undergrad school in 1985.

Q. Do you come from a "musical" family?

Carr: No, it really wasn’t a musical family as most people think of one. My father played a bugle in a drum and bugle corp, and my brother messed around with a guitar for awhile. My sister had a few years on the piano when she was younger; she recently started taking lessons again, along with her daughter. But music was always on in the house, mostly classical and big band.

Q. You went off to college; what were you majoring in?

Carr: (Laughs) - I started my college life as an Accounting major playing basketball. That lasted two years. I transferred to Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville and majored in Music Theory/Composition. I went to grad school at the University of North Texas for Music Composition; I spent five years there, and felt really frustrated with the last few semesters. I then went to the University of the Pacific in California and got a master’s degree in Sports Management. I spent all of the 80’s and some of the 90’s in college.

Q. Sports management is quite a diversion from Music…..

Carr: I had never really left athletics; I was very active in intramurals and even had a job on campus at SIU-E as an intramural programmer. I developed a men’s volleyball program at UNT, and helped to found a league for Texas college club teams. At UOP I basically got a degree for doing what I was doing for nothing at UNT, but the bottom line is both are fun and relaxation.

Q. When and how did you make the return to your music? Was there anything in particular which sparked that?

Carr: My first and only full-time job in university recreation brought me to New Orleans. It turned out to be a very bad situation and I left under stressed conditions. Before Christmas, I had filled in for a neighbor who played piano a LaFitte’s Blacksmith Shop on Bourbon Street, and the manager told me to come back anytime. I took him up on the offer in January of 1996.

Q. And two years later you released your first cd, Through the Mind’s Eye.

Carr: I had started to play my own music at the number of places I worked. I started writing again, and, more importantly, playing 5-7 nights a week. I actually became a more accomplished pianist. I had been doing some demos in the studio, and we always recorded some improvisations at the end of the recording sessions. Those sessions led me to begin the work on Through the Mind’s Eye.

Q. Most artists depend on the "magic of technology" to perfect their sound; why is it that you choose to use your improvised recordings on your cd’s?

Carr: The magic of technology cannot fix music that doesn’t meet the expected level of the listeners. It can bring it up to professional technical standards, but the music itself has to stand on its own. I have been lucky to be blessed with a talent that can put ideas into music that reaches the listeners rather quickly. Yes, much is improvised in the studio; the tough part is in re-creating the improvisations. Sometimes it is just the mood of the moment; the surrounding atmosphere or where my mind is at the moment. Re-creating it is sometimes difficult, but the resulting sound is pure; not filtered or doctored except to clean up the beginnings and ends. I believe it gives a warmer touch to the listeners’ ears; the emotions of the moment are there in all their glories.

Q. Through the Mind’s Eye did quite well on the charts for a first release……

Carr: Through the Mind’s Eye took a bit to get moving; I didn’t really know how to go about getting airplay, or even who to send it to. It took quite a bit of research and digging to get it out into the country’s New Age programs, but it reached #96 in the November New Age Voice Top 100.

Q. And the following year you released Fogland which was, and still is, very popular. How did the writing of Fogland come about?

Carr: Fogland came from my experiences traveling around this country, much of it in Northern California and many trips back to St. Louis, where my family still lives. Fogland hit #88 in December 98, then #18 in January. It fell out of the charts in April 99.

Q. Which brings us to your most recent release: An American Quixote. Why did you choose Quixote as your inspiration?

Carr: I have had a print of Picasso’s Don Quixote in my bathroom since 1983. When Fogland came out, I traded art from the visionary spray paint artists on Jackson Square in the French Quarter of New Orleans for copies of Fogland. One of the artists did the cover art for Through the Mind’s Eye. One of the pieces of art I traded Fogland for became the cover of An American Quixote.

Everyone has an image of Quixote in their minds; mainly a romantic image, probably because they have not read the book by Cervantes. The image of Quixote is a strong one regardless of whose image it is; I chose to use those images from my impression of Quixote combined with the thought of how Quixote would react in today’s America to create the music.

Q. What projects do you have planned for the future?

Carr: I am contemplating re-recording Through the Mind’s Eye in the later part of next year (2000). Hopefully soon I will have secured some national distribution as well.

Q. Why would you want to re-record Through the Mind’s Eye?

Carr: The main reason is that although the music is quite good, the actual recording could be improved based on what we know now. It would take just a few hours to re-record the music, and I would also change the order to make the album flow better. Rather than sell an inferior product, I would choose to improve it to the standards that the other releases have set. I am also a much better pianist nowadays. Plus, I hope to have many new fans who do not have Through the Mind’s Eye because it was sold out!!!

Another thing about Through the Mind’s Eye; some of the improvisations have grown and have become somewhat different than the original recordings. My Candle Burns and Lauren’s Lullabye stand out in that regard. Both have developed and changed slightly over time and are much stronger, especially My Candle Burns (it is a real monster compared to the original). Lauren's Lullabye might not put too many people to sleep in sections -- the middle section has almost become an Irish jig!