Richard Bicknell & the Shameless Lovers

Richard Bicknell has been a popular Atlanta performer since the late 1980s. His brand of folk-rock draws from the work of such Texas singer songwriters,Townes Van Zandt, Nanci Griffith, and Eric Taylor. Several of the songwriters and singers whose work strongly influence Bicknell's own have contributed guest appearances to his records throughout his recording career. These include David Olney, Eric Taylor, Robin and Linda Williams, Katy Moffatt, Kelly Hogan and Anne Richmond Boston of The Swimming Pool Q's.Richard and his band , The Shameless Lovers, are currently at work on their fourth album. The third album, Baby Lightning, released in 2003, features Richard’s songs, plus ones by Taylor, Olney, Patti Smith, Ray Wylie Hubbard and Van Zandt. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Shane Harrison said the album "seamlessly blends folk, alt country and pop influences. The Nashville Tennessean's Peter Cooper writes"What stands out most on Baby Lightning are Bicknell's originals — particularly "D.P.L." and "Sebastian at the Metro," two songs that, for the first time, find him taking on gay perspectives in his songwriting. While Bicknell still doesn't want to be pigeonholed, it's this material that turns an otherwise strong album of rootsy pop into a truly unusual, original statement.Richard has opened for artists ranging from Elton John to Emmylou Harris. He’s also opened for Luka Bloom, Peter Case, Don Dixon, Robert Earle Keen, David Olney, Katy Moffatt, Kelly Willis, Lucinda Williams, Robin and Linda Williams and Victoria Williams. Bicknell has performed at Center Stage Theatre, Cotton Club, Eddie’s Attic, The Freight Room, Smith’s Olde Bar, The Point, The Roxy and Variety Playhouse in Atlanta, as well as throughout the Southeast, including at Nashville’s legendary Bluebird Café.One of six children of an Army major, Bicknell was born in Germany and grew up in New York, Hawaii and Georgia. He studied painting at the Atlanta College of Art, and his musical education was enhanced by a stint in Washington, D.C., as country, folk and bluegrass buyer for Tower Records. He returned to Atlanta in the late 1980s and started the Lost Angels, a band that combined rock with traditional elements such as accordion and fiddle. In the early 1990s, Bicknell began working with Geno Montgomery and Exocet Studios to record his first album, Sometimes Blue, and formed a new band with studio musicians Steve Boyes, Scott Patton and Sean O’Rourke. This partnership resulted in two more records, Mayflower and the critically lauded Baby Lightning.