Rick "humble wisdom" Pontalion has music in his blood, his 19th-century ancestors having supplemented their income by performing as a family band. Connecting to his musical roots, Rick keeps a live recording from 1954 of his family performing gospel. At 10 he started playing piano, became a multi-instrumentalist in his teens, and later attended the Conservatory of Music, UMKC. An asset in a variety of musical styles, Rick played keys for many groups in the Kansas City area, most notably a pop/rock outfit called Big Richard, which opened for acts like Joan Jett, Black Oak Arkansas, Enuff Z'nuff, and Foreigner, and performed at South by Southwest and the Whiskey a Go Go. With the liability of chasing that elusive record deal leading the band to dissolve, Rick restructured and relocated to Denver in 1994, and he hasn't looked back.
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