Seneca’s McCready to release new album

He learned to play guitar when he was a boy growing up in Seneca, now Rich McCready has returned to his hometown, where he hopes to help other young artists.

“I spent half of my life trying to get out of this town and the rest trying to get back in it,” Rich said.

After college, he went to Nashville and then hit the road for years, but he is glad to be back in Seneca. It is home.

“This little area has something magical about it,” Rich said, “That you can’t get away from it.”
In school, Rich said he was an average student, but music came naturally to him.

“Music came so easy for me that I could almost hear any song on the radio… and by the time that song was finished on the radio I was playing it,” he said.

Rich first learned to play guitar at age 8; in high school he was a national champion bass guitar player. He’s learned other instruments: piano, drums and a little fiddle playing along the way.

“Just about anything that can make some noise I can probably pick a tune out on it,” he said.

Music is his way of dealing with anything and everything. Rich calls it “nature’s psychologist.”

“If I was upset about something I’d write about it, if I was happy about something I’d write about it,” Rich said. “If I was frustrated about something I would write. I would always go back to music, music, music, and writing.”

He’s written songs for himself and other artists. Currently, he has a writing contract extending to 2010.

“I’ll be driving down the road or in the shower and a melody or an idea just kind of hits me all at once,” he said. “I hear music in my head all the time.”

Next month, he has a new album coming out titled, “Ride on.” He plans a live video shoot on July 18 at Turtleheads in Joplin.

He’s excited about Saturday’s open house. It’s not only a way to say thank you to the artists, but to locals who have put up with late night noise when a recording session goes into the evening hours.

“It’s just people coming together and just playing music for a while,” he said of the celebration.
Rich and his father, Doc McCready, co-own the studio where Rich records his music. Rich also serves as a consultant.

He wishes now that when he was younger there had been someone to steer him away from the pitfalls in the music industry.

“There was no one around here to go and talk to who had been in the business, and knew how things operated and how things worked,” Rich said.

In his own career, there have been moments where he was taken advantage of, something the McCreadys don’t plan on doing.

“We’re very realistic,” Rich said. “I think being honest – in the end – wins.”

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WANT TO GO?

The annual open house for the McCready Recording Studio will be held from 2–8 p.m. on June 6 at the McCready Ranch, 21859 Crow Road, Seneca.

Bluegrass, country, dulcimer, blues sounds, rock and some Elvis oldies will all be a part of the entertainment. Hot dogs, nachos and drinks are free.

Doc McCready said the annual show has been held three years running. This year will give him a chance to showcase the new 30-by-25-foot mobile sound stage addition.

If the weather cooperates, the show may go past dark and Doc is leaving room to pencil in some last minute entries.

“We do this every year,” he said. “It’s a community service that we do.”

The studio will be open for tours and he expects turnout to match the anywhere from 400 to 800 people who have come out in previous years.

Most of the artists have recorded in the McCready’s studio. Doc said the show has become a bit of a tribute to the four-state area.

Artists and bands include: Rich McCready, The Fabulous Back Road Drifters, Grannie Chicks, Duke Mason, John DeHoyas, Eddy White, Ashley Graham and Kate Bernard.

“The music is diverse, it’s entertaining. It’s a top rate show and it’s laid back,” Doc said. “We feed them and entertain them with good entertainers.”

Attendees are asked to bring their own lawn chairs. For more information call 775-2230.