VIDEO: “Meat Computer” live studio improvisation. Chris Buono, Killick Hinds, Rick Toone, Adam Wilson, enjoying a moment of friendship and documenting the special creative empathy when human minds collaborate. (7.10.2025)
“Brilliant. Like a guitar version of the German group Harmonia.” (DavidH via YouTube)
Earth’s entire existence, the only form of autonomous decision making has been carbon-based. Every life form, every sentient organism, has always been carbon-based.
The ladybug (Hippodamia convergens) exploring my laptop screen, the eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) gathering acorns near my porch, the oak tree blowing in the remnants of Hurricane Melissa, the turkey vultures (Cathartes aura) also enjoying the winds in the blue October sky above, my dog curled peacefully on her bed in the next room — carbon-based.
I am carbon-based. You are carbon-based.
Every extinct species was carbon-based.
Flora & fauna, together we carbon-based life forms create a complex system with all of us making decisions based on the simple will to survive. Because we seek to live, our patterns are predictable enough that each species finds a niche within this beautiful blue Darwinian organic recycling system slinging through space.
Will a silicon-based autonomous decision-maker value carbon-based life?
VIDEO: “Pollinator” live studio improvisation. Adam Wilson (fretless guitar), Killick Hinds (bass), Chris Buono (trem guitar), Rick Toone (drums, recording, production). Somehow the bees and butterflies seem to sync perfectly with the music. Almost like a wink from the Universe.
“How goes it in your sphere? I enjoyed the stories you used to post on your website. I know you’re extremely busy as the one man NASA of electric guitars, but if you could find someone trustworthy (an intern) to follow you around filming and recording your thoughts and interactions, with maybe some of your fabrication work at the bench, I think you’d have a hit VLOG.” (Dave A.)
I know so many incredible string players. One of the best perks of my professional life is experiencing excellent playing up close and in the wild. But what does one do when drowning in a sea of guitarists?
In March of this year, I thought maybe it’s time to initiate a new chapter.
Sometimes, playing guitar feels too much like an extension of work…it’s very difficult to turn off the analytical part of my brain and just enjoy playing, without the intrusion of how the instrument could be improved. What would happen if I learned a different instrument?
I picked up a used Gretch kit from a Vietnam veteran in rural Pennsylvania and began to teach myself drums.
PHOTO: Killick Hinds with Orchid™ bass. I love his melodic lines on the “Pollinator” jam. Toward the end of the video notice the innovative pitch bends he does with the tuners. Really cool.
Two months or so later, Killick texted. He would be on tour in New Jersey in July and wanted to know if we could meet up. Yes!
Killick is my dear friend and we have amazing discussions about music, production, philosophy, life. What about multiplying that energy? Maybe we could convene our local Jersey crew and dive into something deeper…
How is it possible that four people — who have never played together — spontaneously improvise an entirely new and coherent composition? No charts. No discussion. Just begin.
Q: Where does music come from?
I listen to mostly jazz from the late 1950’s and early 1960’s so this question has been a topic of extensive thought for a while. Something about those players, their improvisational skills, is absolutely captivating. Possibly because we as listeners sense that the musicians do not know what is about to happen next.
Everyone — musician and listener — is fully engaged and devoting maximum attention to the exploration.
Just a hypothesis. But it seems fundamentally different from rehearsed music recorded to a click track and built in overdubbed layers. What do you notice?
“I just woke up to ‘Polinator Jam’ and wanted to share some hardcore irony. First, as it opened, my very first thought was how much I liked the swing of the ride cymbal. My next thought was: this is going to be some cool concept-fusion music to which I wasn’t disappointed. Lo and behold, it wasn’t until you faded the quartet in with name titles that I had my second chuckle as you were the one swinging the ride!
“The first chuckle was the title and your video of working bees…
“Beyond your troupe’s 23min opus which produced many morning electron(s) firing for my mellon, was the parallel to my bee residents. I literally just hired a woman named Emerald to gently relocate a tenant colony of bees from my BBQ. I had actually announced to the fam some time last year that I wanted a small bee colony in the far corner of the yard so that we could get better pollination for the fruit trees and seasonal veggies I plant.
“You can’t make this stuff up! Thanks for tracking like a Paisano, Rick. Great minds…” (Aloha, Dave A.)
PHOTO: One day band. Chris Buono, Killick Hinds, Adam Wilson, Rick Toone.
PHOTOS: Spearfish Vapor™ 6-string guitar. Swamp ash, carbon fiber. Patented component set precision machined from aircraft aluminum and stainless steel. Bare Knuckle custom pickups with 10-way switching.
(begin)
screen will now go dark
not just this screen
every screen
everywhere
if (no = ipadphonecarsmarttvterminalAI)
if (can’t poke box for answer)
then (what happens next)
IF: you want to run a software self-diagnostic — abstain from all screen interactions for 24 hours. Do not allow your brain to access any electronic or media content: visual, sound, written. (24 hours)
>> Return your sensory input to: only what you can directly perceive using your own five senses.
IF: you want to run a simultaneous hardware self-diagnostic — abstain from all nutrition input for 24 hours. Including water. Do not allow your body to access any calories or fluids. Dry fasting. (24 hours)
>> Allow your body to: only breathe.
Q: What do you notice?
VAPOR | ˈvāpər | (noun) a substance diffused or suspended in the air, especially one normally liquid or solid.
VIDEO: Berklee guitar instructor David Newsam plays an exceptional solo guitar arrangement of jazz standard “Blame It On My Youth” (1934). Recorded live on University of New Hampshire stage June 7, 2018. Cupid™ semi-hollowbody guitar.
Hi Rick, I hope this email finds you well. I wanted to reach out (after way too long) and just mention that I really was moved by your recent blog post about Ede’s passing and your friendship. I discovered him when he was demoing one of your guitars and became an instant fan of his music. (I wish there was more!) When I reached out to him to tell him, he was gracious, friendly, and very complimentary of you and your instruments. I hope that you are doing well. I recently watched the videos that we filmed at UNH and always love hearing Cupid! All the best, David
So good to hear from David.
I’ve flown the flag at half-mast since Ede Wright’s passing, but if his spirit were to appear in my shop, his first words would be: “Look forward.”
Ede’s death was a tragic and unnecessary side effect of the greater cultural-psychological illness that has swept through our society these last two years. Like every scorched earth event though, green shoots appear in the aftermath.
True friendships have grown stronger. Dead wood has burned away. Autumn leaves are peak color, birds calling these final moments of sunlit warmth. Blame my errors on my youth.
VIDEO: David Newsam performs his lovely original solo guitar composition “Maya The Bee” on Cupid ergonomic semi-hollow jazz guitar.
PHOTO: Ede Wright onstage with Wingspan 8-string summer of 2021. (credit: Unknown Vincent)
Ede was my friend. We had a fierce friendship, like brothers. His birthday only a few days from mine, one year apart.
Ede was my harshest critic…nobody could pick apart one of my builds like he could. Not even close, although Steve Blucher pokes me with the pointed stick pretty good sometimes. Ede was molecular, though. Whenever I sent a guitar to him for testing, I braced for a week of text messages and phone calls as he pulled the meat off the carcass. There was an Homeric story arc to the analysis, an epic of discovery: destruction, redemption. Articulate dissection which always transformed me into a better artist. Sacrificial flesh burned from the bones over open flames.
I loved him for that.
Only a very few players have earned test pilot status with me, and there’s the reason. You’ve got to be willing to hit with full force.
So many memories…
Earthbound Gravity arriving FedEx in spring of 2014 after an email introduction. Eyes closed, listening to his CD on the big monitors in the main room of the little cottage in Califon, NJ.
Driving from Fort Worth to Dallas to meet Ede on tour in the lobby of the airport hotel. USM™ with me. A long conversation as he played acoustically in the Texas sunlight through glass window walls. Introducing me to one of the band’s beautiful female vocalists.
Microbrews and burgers a few blocks from his apartment in Atlanta, after hours of testing. Discussing guitars and bicycling — torn hamstring — diving accident horsing with nephews in the pool at a family gathering. Gabriel Levi with us, attending AIMM at the time. If there is any one thing Ede is most proud of, I would guess it was helping Gabriel launch his career. Gabriel is both the son Ede never had, and also the player who is stepping into his legacy.
Ede arriving to our Magnets and Wire session at Steve Sjuggerud’s place in Florida, November, 2019. Setting up his amps and coaching me on mic placement. His epic duel with Chris Buono, covering Superstition (Casting an appropriate spell to make the noise go away). The three of us alone at dinner after, me watching the true respect those two Masters had for each other.
Tour reports from life on the bus, in airports, on stages. Local foods and beers. An absolute passion and educated palette for red wines.
Our final phone conversation. Ede laying out with clinical honesty the side effects of the C19 vaccine that destroyed his heart. Being on the transplant list, knowing there was not enough time. Wanting to record as much as he could in the remaining few months.
