News/Thoughts

From Wood To Strings

Award-winning Rick Lang calls New Hampshire home, even though his songs have given him world wide credentials. With over 70 song cuts to his credit, Rick’s songs have been recorded by Bluegrass artists, Southern Gospel artists, and even Jazz singers.

Of course, Rick is not just a songwriter, he has also recorded six studio CDs, including his latest released in February of 2018, Undertow.

While Rick is a serious songwriter and musician at heart, he also has another passion; wood. Rick tells me that his wife and he are entering into their 33rd year in the hardwood business. “My wife and I started a hardwood lumber company in 1986, where we sell high-end hard woods like walnut, and cherry, and other quality woods to furniture makers.”

When it comes to Rick’s experience with the two parts of his life, they are not as far apart as you might think. “Songwriting for me is a very organic experience,” Rick told us. “And working with a natural resource like hardwoods is also very organic. I spent a lot of the early part of my life in the woods marking timber and working at saw mills. It has always felt like working with the wood, and songwriting feeds off each other – very compatible.”

Rick says he stumbled upon Bluegrass music in the 80’s. “I was totally captivated by it. And that’s where my interest in songwriting and playing music started. And it’s been growing over the last 30 years or so right along for my passion for the hard wood business. I spend most of the time in my life doing either one or the other. I feel very, very fortunate to have a life where the two central parts of it are things that I absolutely love and have a passion for.”

In addition, Rick is a free-lance writer, conducts song-writing workshops, and currently chairs the IBMA Songwriter committee as a mentor in the IBMA Songwriting Mentor Program.

To find out more, visit
www.ricklangmusic.com