Smith was born in Beckenham, England. He picked up the guitar when he was five years old after watching his father playing an Atkins and Travis version of "Down South Blues". He begged his father, a longtime Atkins admirer, to introduce him to the fingerpicking style. Smith soon became a child prodigy on the guitar. As a kid he could play the entire discographies of Django Reinhardt and Chet Atkins. At the age of 11 he shared the stage with his idol when Atkins invited Smith to play with him at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London.
Richard is considered one of the foremost fingerstyle guitarists. His repertoire includes county, bluegrass, blues, ragtime, folk, jazz, pop, and classical music. His career achievements include:
2001 National Fingerstyle Guitar Champion
2008 Thumbpicker of the Year
2009 National Thumbpickers Hall of Fame Induction
Played with Chet Atkins, Les Paul, Nato Lima, Boots Randolph, Tommy Emmanuel, John Jorgenson, Marcel Dadi, Tommy Tedesco, Joe Pass, Biréli Lagrène, Mark O'Connor, Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, Martin Taylor, Jorge Morel, Earl Klugh, Suzy Bogguss, Victor Wooten, John Cowan and countless more.
Please join us for what promises to be an incredible concert, tickets are on sale now.
