Singer-songwriter, Rick Landers, writes songs of the American heartland and the spirit of our national heritage.  His songs speak to us about the poor and disenfranchised, immigrants and refugees, love, romance and loss, errant rascals and desperadoes.

Whether he writes tenderly about a young poor woman from Appalachia ("Appalachian Hollow"), the plight and rise of Nelson Mandela ("No Holiday for Madiba"), a road trip to visit the more shadowed enclaves of America ("Bang, Bang, Bang"), or a run from the law driving from L.A. to the Mexican Border and back ("Car Man"), Landers delivers and takes us to places we rarely, if ever, experience.

"Drive along the roads of America, whether you're rolling along in the Rust Belt, the Deep South, the heart of Appalachia or the meanest streets of New York City, you'll find rows and rows of small shops that are reflections of the American Dream. Even in the most difficult of circumstances, we dream of a better life. I suppose we're mostly optimists at heart," says Landers.

There's a charm to his music,  sometimes a wink and a nod, and always a warm invitation for us to come along for the ride. He is available for house concerts, festivals, fairs and other venues in the Washington, D.C. area and beyond. Rick is working on his debut album with multi-award winning producer, Stacy Hogan (Nashville), and Marco Delmar (13 Washington Area Music Awards - "Best Producer"), owner of Recording Arts in Arlington, VA. 

He has performed at Columbia Station (D.C.), Reston, Virginia's 2019 Founders Day Festival, The 38th Annual Herndon Virginia Festival (2019), ArtSpace Herndon (Featured artist),  the Karim Maggio Fundraising Event (Featured Artist), Cafe Montmartre (Showcase Artist).

Most recently, Rick was the Entertainment Director, emcee and a performer at the Northern Virginia Parks 45th Anniversary W&OD Trail Family Fun Festival and later performed at the Republic of South Africa embassy, Washington, D.C., celebrating the country's National Heritage Day where he sang his original song,  "No Holiday for Madiba".  This past December 2019, he played four performances of holiday music at Reston Virginia's Town Center (RTC).  

Rick and friends have hosted Blue Melody Sessions, a series of house concerts that have included such artists as: RUTT, Siobhan O'Brien, Craig Bickhardt, Tim Grimm & Jackson Grimm, Dan Boling,  Roy Schneider and Kim Mayfield (The Restless Saints), Hiroya Tsakamoto, Claude Bourbon, Bryan Cahall, Lindsey Hirshfeld, Karen Jonas, Greg Howard (Chapman Stick), Johnny Farina (Santo & Johnny! - #1 hit "Sleep Walk"), and many more. 

Rick has also co-authored, "Press Releases for the Working Musician" with Dr. Matt Warnock, and published several e-books, including, "The Language of the Blues", " The Story of Free and Bad Company", and his own on-line magazine, Guitar International.  He has interviewed such notable music legends as: Les Paul, Slash, Jimmy Webb, Scotty Moore, Judy Collins, Eric Burden, Arlo Guthrie, Roger McGuinn,  Robert Cray, Anthony Gourdine (Little Anthony), Cindy Cashdollar, Eric Johnson, Johnny Winter, Buddy Guy, Carmine Appice, Corky Laing, Randy Bachman, Leslie West, Don Felder and more. 

For 2020, Rick will be focusing on songwriting, recording and studying music theory. He's also working on a children's book series, "The Adventures of Digit and Tess" with illustrator, John Monger, MFA. And his magazine, Guitar International will turn fifteen years old this year! 

 On March 24, 2020, Rick Launched Six Strings of Separation to promote safe music venues and performances, and to support musicians impacted by COVID-19. Professional support was provided by Steve Pendlebury and Ron Goad, and a stunning performance by New Irish Soul singer, Siobhan O'Brien.