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I got into instrumental guitar around 12th grade. Three guitarists in partuclar inspired me: Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson, and Michael Fath. Three particular albums inspired me: Satriani's "Flying In a Blue Dream", Johnson's "Ah Via Musicom" and Fath's "Shake". I started playing drums and guitar as a teenager. After my first year of college, I decided to make a instrumental guitar cassette. The result was Leave My Fish Alone , a four song cassette recorded with one microphone and no bass on a 4 track. Equipment upgrades and the addition of an actual bass (which I began playing around 1993) helped me release Virgin Freak in 1994 - my first full length cassette and the first release on my newly formed Love Muffin Records. 1997 saw the release of Flavor Savor , my third cassette. As technology moved along, I decided to make my next effort a CD. That resulted in 2002's Foundation, to be followed by 2006's You Can't Escape Life , and the newest release 2014's Streetlight Smile .

I have also played in some bands. From 1994 to 1997 I played bass in State Of Green while attending college. Upon graduation, I moved back to Cleveland and played bass in Tadpol from 1998 to 2001, and Girth from 2002 to 2006. Both those bands ended a year after I parted ways with them. I switched back to guitar in late 2006 to start my own band. Dubbed The Adam Rich Band , it played the inagural Love Muffin Showcase and then disbanded.

In 2007, an old high school buddy moved back home. Oliver Buck had released a solo CD earlier in the year and was looking for a rhythm section. I switched back to bass and introduced my drummer to him. We tried out, and made it. The band was called Oliver Buck & The New Madrids . We released a full length CD Prodigal Son and an EP Prairie Girl .

In July of 2009, Oliver moved out west to pursue academia. The rest of us stayed togethor and recorded a CD with Quinn Sands . In mid 2010, we parted ways with Quinn. "Hot Sauce" Joe Landes took over, and we became a straight up blues/rock band called The Flavor . We released our debut CD in early 2011, and I parted ways with them in 2014.

In the summer of 2010, Oliver came back for a week long visit. He surprised us with the news that he had transferred back to a college in Ohio. We played a reunion concert in August, followed by a New Years Eve show. In April 2011, we opened for our longtime idols Jason White & Jack Silverman, who played our high school senior prom as members of The Janglers.

While I love playing one instrument live in bands, I also enjoy making solo CD's with instrumental guitar songs and many guest singers. I release these on my own label, Love Muffin Records .