Rick Watson is a versatile singer and multi-instrumentalist who knows thousands of popular, eclectic and original songs; being as comfortable doing an evening of his own music or simply taking requests all night long. In The Old School Band he plays primarily guitar, occasionally plays keyboards, and will (on rare occasions) break out a banjo, fiddle, mandolin, or harmonica. Rick and The Old School Band are at their best when they let the audience determine the direction of the show. A few requests, followed by a guest singer from the audience is a typical start to a great Old School evening.

Rick got his start as a kid in the suburbs of Philadelphia, playing piano and learning the popular songs of the 40s through the 70s. In the early seventies, acting on a tip from a friend, he learned to play guitar in order to earn a spot in the school choir (without having to actually sing), which allowed him to skip out on school whenever the choir went out to do concerts. From there, he joined up with some bluegrass pickers in need of a mandolin player and spent the next couple of years playing nearly nothing else. The banjo came next, followed shortly after by fiddle. Somewhere in that period of time he also developed some bass chops.

After somehow graduating from college with an engineering degree (where he spent more time in the music practice rooms than in the classroom), he embarked cautiously on a one year experiment to see what it would be like to try to make a living playing music. That was 1979, and that piece of paper is still sitting in a file cabinet today. Rick made his profession debut playing country music in the Washington, DC circuit which produced such legends as Danny Gatton, Roy Buchanon, Roy Clark, and more. Not only did he learn a whole lot about music and band skills, but he also learned that in order to be secure in the music business, you better not lean too hard on a band. Bands and band members came and went, pay was short, and the lifestyle was not conducive to a long, healthy existence.

One year later, he had a choice to make - revisit that college degree and start job hunting or make some major changes in how to approach the music business... He chose the latter; the first change being to force himself to develop a solo guitar, piano, and vocal repertoire and show. Within a year, he was moonlighting from his band gigs by playing solo happy hours and piano bars. It was during this time that he started to expand and stretch his repertoire and his command of many musical genres. Thirty two years later, Rick has still not taken that desk job. He's performed in nearly every state in the country and in Canada. He has lived in half a dozen different regions of the US and has recently re-settled in seacoast New Hampshire. During that span, more than 5000 solo, duo, and band performances have polished not only his instrumental and vocal chops, but have also served to give Rick a confident and comfortable stage presence that he uses to put audiences at ease and get them involved. Combined with the similar skills owned by Jim and Paul, an Old School evening nearly always turns into a party with lots of fun banter and humor to go along with the great music.