Rick Dill

The last note is the one you remember, even if you can’t place the song or the songwriter. Rick Dill leaves a lot of notes to remember, and even if you’ve never heard of him - and this may be the only place you can read about him - the songs linger on.

It really doesn’t matter when he started playing, or where he learned to write music. Once a guitar becomes part of your world, it either helps you communicate, or it doesn’t. Rick picked up a six string relatively late in life, and the songs didn’t start to happen for another 10 years. He didn’t feel comfortable recording anything for another 10 years after that, and now he welcomes the release of his second CD, Long Way Back.

Tempered over many miles of living, Dill’s songs tend toward the country side, if you need categories. He spent some time in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, Illinois, Texas and New Jersey. He’s worked for people and had people work for him. He’s found some friends, lost some friends, kept some friends, and he’s always looking for more friends.

A family guy married for almost 20 years, the business aspect of music has never been the focus. He believes in his songs enough to record them with his own money, and present them professionally. If you like the songs, it doesn’t matter anyway who the guy is who wrote them. Who ever thinks about the songwriter if the song is not catchy, appealing, and memorable? But the cutthroat part of music, the scrambling, desperate part, never appealed to Dill, no matter the pay off. Get both of his CDs, and see if you care who wrote the songs.

Maybe he’s just a bridge from something into somewhere. The singer/songwriters of the 80s and 90s left a tiny legacy, compared to the volumes of good songs created by artists like Neil Young, Joan Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, John Prine, and so many others. Dill doesn’t want to be like them, or anybody else for that matter, but hopefully he’s learned to care for the craft of songwriting enough to earn legitimacy.

His first album, Unfinished Business, was all about catching music as it happens, like on a front porch, or in a back room. The songs were short and intimate, played by a few guys on mostly acoustic instruments. Takecountryback.com reviewer Kathy Coleman, wrote that “she loved this CD,” pure and simple.

The second CD brings the volume up a little, with electric guitars and keyboards. A whole band jumps on most of the songs to drive the music into the sunset. This album speaks of the rush of life, the movement associated with holding on, and the sweet feel of being in the game.

Go ahead and get the CDs, and let the music go. It’s the last note that counts, and chances are you’ll want to hear that last note over and over.