Drummer Rick Starr has been playing music professionally in Portland since 1970. He is well versed in all styles, and has performed professionally in dozens of rock, jazz, blues, and country bands in Oregon and California.
In 1973, Rick founded one of Portland's first jazz fusion bands, called Equinox, which was popular in Portland and the Oregon coast for about two years.
For the next several years, he expanded his horizons, from playing mainstream jazz with many of Portland's top artists, to various country bands, and even a stint playing Greek and Middle Eastern music in Old Town.
In 1978, he reunited with some old friends and joined the Burnside Bombers, a popular rock band of the era, until their demise in 1981.
In 1981, he was voted by the readers of Willamette Week as one of the top rock drummers in the city.
Later that year, he moved to LA, where he spent the rest of the Eighties as a regular on the vibrant club circuit, playing such legendary rooms as The Whisky a Go Go, Roxy, Troubadour, Club Lingerie, and many others, while generating session work on the side.
He returned to Portland in 1991 and, with former Bomber Bob Thompson on bass, co-founded The Fabulous Essentials, a favorite in clubs as well as at various fairs and festivals, including a two year run at the (then) Rose Garden performing at Trailblazer games and special events.
After 2000, various health concerns made it necessary to gradually back off from performing, and by 2003 he was out of it completely. A 2009 move to Seattle allowed him to slowly heal. And so after returning to Portland in 2022, Rick has found a new home with PLG and he is ready once again to contribute to the community that first nurtured him over fifty years ago.
Musical Influences: Miles Davis, Frank Zappa, Brand X, Tower of Power, Rush
Favorite PLG songs: Beautiful Dystopia, Predator/Prey, and This Old Church. The originals give us a chance to really stretch out and express ourselves.