PLEASE VISIT THE RIK AVALOS WEBSITE http://wwww.rikavalos.com
A note about the song American Soldier...
This song is dedicated to the loved ones who have lost their family members in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The song was inspired by our desenstitized view of war. Statistics that try to calm the public that we have endured minimal losses, when in fact any life lost in war means the world to those who have lost a loved one. It also stresses that losses aren't just on one side. An American Soldier has to learn how to kill and if you have ever been faced with the decision to take a life, it requires an enormous amount of will and the scar on the soul is forever. This isn't a political song, it's about learning to talk about our differences and that blowing up our enemies and spending billions to rebuild their infrastructure, when our countries roads, bridges, schools, are in such horrible shape, wasn't the right decision.
BE NICE TO PEOPLE EVEN WHEN THEY AREN'T WITH YOU... IT FREAKS THEM OUT...
A QUOTE FROM AN INTERVIEW WITH DWEEZIL ZAPPA ABOUT HIS FATHER'S OUTLOOK ON TECHNOLOGY AND TODAY'S MUSIC...
What do you think Frank would say about all the digital sampling and computer-generated stuff that people are usingto make records these days?
DZ: I think he would be a proponent of the use of technology but I don’t think he would be thrilled with all of theresults. Computers are used to make virtually all aspects of records now and their rabid use is responsible for thede-humanization of music. I also believe they are in large part a major contributor for the overall decline ofactual musicianship. Computers are mostly about instant gratification, that’s what they offer. Point and click andsuddenly you’ve made music. This can be a fantastic source of creativity in many instances but in many cases peopleare merely arranging or re-arranging pre-composed pieces of audio including samples of catalog artists’ records, andacting as if they wrote them. Derivative works should be classified as such. I find it annoying that simply speakingor rhyming things on top of other people’s prior recorded work is considered music by many people.
I have been in love with music from the day my parents had me singing Charlie Rich and Nat King Cole to the familyand their friends at the age of four. (Fun little imagery of a little kid singing 'Behind Closed Doors' and 'TheMost Beautiful Girl in the World'.) Growing up, I listened to my parents big band music, which became a tremendouscatalyst for my love for music (Nat King Cole, Benny Goodman, Frank Sinatra, Vicky Carr, etc.). At age 11, I learnedhow to read music and play trumpet. At 12, I inherited my brother Louis' beat up acoustic guitar. I somehowconvinced my parents to buy me an electric guitar (it was a Peavey Patriot that was later painted to match Eddies5150 I still have it.) and the dream began.
I learned guitar by ear at first, learning guitar riffs and licks by 80's bands like Ratt, Iron Maiden, any OzzyOsbourne and of course Eddie Van Halen. That was challenging and rewarding, but I then wanted to educate myself onthe rigors of musical theory. I studied jazz and classical guitar theory under my first musical mentor, NestorArzola, at Burges High School, and later studied advanced classical guitar at the University of Texas at Austinunder Adam Holzman.
I began playing in rock bands as soon as I was able to tune the guitar, performing at high school parties and manyhigh school proms. After I graduated from high school, I moved to the 'live music capital of the world, Austin, TXin 1988. I got my first professional gig Sixth Street Country Club with my first band, Dirty Oliver. The originalDirty Oliver consisted of Lance Merkin, Jimmy Springer, Garth Faigley and myself. Band members came and went, but Iremained the lone constant... Dirty Oliver reached it's peak in '95 with the addition of front man Brent Stone, thevery talented and good looking singer we were missing, Toby Mejia and Paul Ramsey. Dirty Oliver recorded andreleased a CD of original music titled 'Step by Step' in 1995 (Sounds a little like Stone Temple Pilots) and weenjoyed tremendous success from 1989-1996.. The band's dependency on playing cover music for our funding wore onus, however. Performing 300 days out of each year left little opportunity to perform at original music venues andafforded us even less time to write new material. I was burnt out heavily on the cover music scene and I knew Ineeded an outlet for my writing so I left Dirty Oliver after seven years and the band dissolved soon after.
Later that year, I joined up with a soulful, funky and original rock group called Jumptrain. Jumptrain had beenplaying the Texas circuit and had attracted my attention with their great sound. With the amazing talents of DougWilson and Paul Renna, I had found two writers I could collaborate with and the original group I was looking for. Wewrote and released the self-titled CD, 'Jumptrain' in 1997 and we opened for some top-rated acts across the country.We were also fortunate enough to be on primetime rotation on Austin's KLBJ. A few years later, Doug Wilson, theband's lead guitarist, left the band. We were never able to find an adequate replacement and Jumptrain soon brokeup.
The break up of Jumptrain had been especially difficult for me because of all the hard work and opportunity that hadbeen lost. Our band had established a large following and was playing Austins premier venues (Steamboat, The BlackCat, Antones, The White Rabbit, etc). We were receiving airplay, and were at our peak of popularity, so the band'sbreak up was an opportunity lost. I realized starting over was going to take a lot of effort and a lot of time, so Iwanted some stability for my next endeavor.
I began writing music and soon started recording what would become my first solo CD, titled 'Real Vices'. Later,with the help of my band mates (Joe Cieplinski and Tom DiPiazza), we released a second CD, titled 'Glimmer of God'.The title offers a glimpse of hope, although many assume it is a religious reference, which is furthest from myintentions. After originating in Austin, we moved to Boston, San Jose and Seattle but weve made our home in SanFrancisco, CA.
My greatest influences today are Dream Theater, Jeff Buckley, Kings X, Steve Vai, Radiohead, Steve Morse, FrankZappa, Jordan Rudess, Dream Theater, Nuno Bettencourt, Eric Johnson, Eddie Van Halen, and Dave Matthews.
I would like to extend the greatest thanks in contributing to his musical growth to: my parents, my family, LanceMerkin, Toby Mejia, Brent Stone, Jimmy Springer, Paul Renna, Doug Wilson, Tom DiPiazza, Rob Malak and especially JoeCieplinski, whose musical talents and writing ability have contributed heavily to making the 'Glimmer of God' CDpossible.
Always try to remember, great music shouldn't be measured by what is popular... what is popular is notalways art because some 'suit' in the record industry says so and pays radio stations a lot of money to play itover and over again... money, while nice, isn't the end all goal to an artist. Art and good music should becompelling, it should make you think/reflect, it should possess a deep feeling or meaning to it... it's not solelyabout whether you can dance to it, drink or party to it, it's about whether it left an impression on your soul...Think outside of the box and find good music... don't wait for the radio stations to force feed you!
Create your own visitor map!
CHECK THIS BAND OUT!!!!!