Well, you want to know a little about Jim Richter, the musician?

I've been playing music since the mid-80's. I started life as a teenage 5-string banjo picker. I played banjo/bluegrass for about 5 years in a few different bluegrass bands in southeastern Indiana, among them Inroads and Under the Wire. Each of these also had my brother, Phil, in them.

While going to Indiana University-Bloomington in the late 80's, I drifted from bluegrass and began playing electric guitar. After graduating from school, I played with my brother in a series of rock/county/southern rock cover bands, including Rebel Yell, Black Water Jack, and Recycler. Recycler was the best of the lot. A classic three piece line-up with me on guitar, Phil on vocals and bass, and our buddy Donny "Fudd" Hutton on drums. This band did everything. It was not unusual to hear me play Rollin' in My Sweet Baby's Arms on banjo and then immediately follow it up with Hendrix's Voodoo Chile or Black Sabbath's War Pigs. We were a living, breathing jukebox of classic rock, southern rock, and country music.

After I got married and moved away, I started playing in some blues-based Black Crowes/Small Faces type bands, none of which were any account. It was at this time that I started focusing exclusively on blues. Not the Clapton/SRV second/third generation stuff--I studied the blues of Earl Hooker, Magic Sam, T-Bone Walker, Slim Harpo, and good amounts of cool cats like Jimmie Vaughn or Hollywood Fats. I was in two fantastic blues bands: the Vipers and the Forecasters, both of Bloomington, Indiana.

The Forecasters were by far the best of the two. Led by Will "The Weatherman" Scott (guitar/vocals/songwriting) and J.J. Perry (drums), this band attempted to cover the deep sounds of Magic Slim, Lefty Dizz, and the Fat Possum cats, like RL Burnside. We recorded one album, opened for Anson Funderburgh, recorded a local Austin City Limits -like variety show, did some local festivals, and kicked some major ass. Will has since gone on to become a potentially very big cat in (for lack of a better word) "alternative" blues music. He's been running and collaborating with guys like Preacher Boy and has truly developed an incomparable style which combines the honesty of the north Mississippi juke joint and the poetry of Tom Waits.

During that time, I got a degree in Audio Recording from Indiana University. My wife, child (only 1 at the time) moved to Austin, Texas. It was at that time I had an epiphany and returned to playing bluegrass music. Bluegrass, to me, represented family and community, which was something missing in the blues/rock world of playing guitar.

I occasionally play guitar and banjo, but for the last couple of years I have exclusively been a mandolinist. Drawing from a variety of influences but never straying too far from the rudiments of my hero, Mike Compton, I have started to make a name for myself in my old stomping grounds as a mandolinist, who--though competent in bluegrass--specializes in blues. I have partnered up with a buddy (and former hero) of mine, Gordon Bonham, to do guitar/mandolin blues duets. Gordon had the privilege of performing with blues mandolin icon Yank Rachell the last several years before Yank passed. We try to capture some of the magic that Yank left behind while still forging ahead to shape a sound uniquely our own.

We have done one DVD entitled "Hootenanny!" entirely put together by Richter Digital Arts. The video and audio was editted by me as well as the DVD interface and mastering. It's a slick little project with an hour of extras and is very enjoyable for those who enjoy acoustic blues or mandolin music.