Rick Forbus: Instructor/Performer/Writer
After playing in rock combos in the late seventies, Rick won 1st place in the Memphis' Ultimate Rock Guitarist contest. Soon after, he moved to San Antonio TX to study under Jackie King and jazz legend Herb Ellis at the Southwest Guitar Conservatory. Upon returning to Memphis, he immediately began giving lessons and playing the local venues. His house gigs have included (but are not limited to) The Peabody, The Grand Casino, This is It (on Beale Street), The Adams Mark and several others. During the 80's, he worked as a music transcriber for Willie Mitchell's Waylo records. He transcribed the back catalogue up to the (then) present repetoire, this included songs by Lynn Swan, Billy Always and Al Green. He was the founding member of the long-running contemporary jazz band "Pacific Flight" and has traveled the eastern United States from central Florida to New York with combos of all styles. He has performed with the Germantown Baptist Big Band, done stints as a sub in rock, country and fusion outfits and has been a regular in church praise teams in the tri-state area. From September of 2014 until September 2016, he had played the Sunday evening service at Germantown Baptist Church. He has performed frequently at high profile venues like The Hard Rock Cafe and Minglewood Hall with the neo-soul outfit, "The PC Band", and classic rock band Rewind. He is currently the guitarist for Spectrum and the Elton John tribute band, Almost Elton and The Rocketman.
He developed “Rock School” in the early nineties, and later, ROCK 3:16. Between those dates, he authored the three-book series; “The Young Christians’ Guitar Method”. It has been estimated that this professional instructor has given over 30,000 guitar lessons, as evidenced by the fact that his former students have sold millions of records and on any given night they may be seen performing on Beale Street, stadium stages, in universities, and in recording studios. He is the conservatory director at The Maxine Moore Music Academy within Christ Methodist Day School (as well as being an instructor and the Rock 3:16 founder). He is also presently an instructor at Presbyterian Day School. Previously he has been an instructor at Lausanne Collegiate Academy, Forrest Hills Music Conservatory and the Central Academy of Music. He was the owner of RixLix L.L.C. which created, developed, published and sold instructional texts for the guitar. Although never published, he has written dozens of songs and has performed them locally. He has played for radio and television and has been profiled in several publications including the Commercial Appeal and Memphis Stars magazine.
After playing in rock combos in the late seventies, Rick won 1st place in the Memphis' Ultimate Rock Guitarist contest. Soon after, he moved to San Antonio TX to study under Jackie King and jazz legend Herb Ellis at the Southwest Guitar Conservatory. Upon returning to Memphis, he immediately began giving lessons and playing the local venues. His house gigs have included (but are not limited to) The Peabody, The Grand Casino, This is It (on Beale Street), The Adams Mark and several others. During the 80's, he worked as a music transcriber for Willie Mitchell's Waylo records. He transcribed the back catalogue up to the (then) present repetoire, this included songs by Lynn Swan, Billy Always and Al Green. He was the founding member of the long-running contemporary jazz band "Pacific Flight" and has traveled the eastern United States from central Florida to New York with combos of all styles. He has performed with the Germantown Baptist Big Band, done stints as a sub in rock, country and fusion outfits and has been a regular in church praise teams in the tri-state area. From September of 2014 until September 2016, he had played the Sunday evening service at Germantown Baptist Church. He has performed frequently at high profile venues like The Hard Rock Cafe and Minglewood Hall with the neo-soul outfit, "The PC Band", and classic rock band Rewind. He is currently the guitarist for Spectrum and the Elton John tribute band, Almost Elton and The Rocketman.
He developed “Rock School” in the early nineties, and later, ROCK 3:16. Between those dates, he authored the three-book series; “The Young Christians’ Guitar Method”. It has been estimated that this professional instructor has given over 30,000 guitar lessons, as evidenced by the fact that his former students have sold millions of records and on any given night they may be seen performing on Beale Street, stadium stages, in universities, and in recording studios. He is the conservatory director at The Maxine Moore Music Academy within Christ Methodist Day School (as well as being an instructor and the Rock 3:16 founder). He is also presently an instructor at Presbyterian Day School. Previously he has been an instructor at Lausanne Collegiate Academy, Forrest Hills Music Conservatory and the Central Academy of Music. He was the owner of RixLix L.L.C. which created, developed, published and sold instructional texts for the guitar. Although never published, he has written dozens of songs and has performed them locally. He has played for radio and television and has been profiled in several publications including the Commercial Appeal and Memphis Stars magazine.