Dead Ringer
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Dead Ringer: Classic Rock Aged to Perfection

Dick Howard

Dick Howard - Keyboards

Dick Howard covers the keyboards for Dead Ringer, which in the digital age means he also covers the horns, strings, woodwinds and various other noises that intrude into a song. As a child, Dick dreamed of someday being a shoe salesman and mastering that cool tool that measures foot length and width. However, his parents had other ideas and cruelly chained him to a piano bench, making him play for his meals. To this day Dick connects music with food as he searches e-bay for an edible synthesizer.

Dick’s playing career stretches back to the late 60’s (that’s the 1960’s) in bands such as Shades of Gray, Turtle Creek, Crystal, Clockwork and Clever Gambit. Dick remembers little of that era, but did recall one of those bands playing an entire set of nothing but CCR, and he has flashbacks to a blue school bus, broken down by the side of the road. He also remembers having a big organ back then, although he’s downsized his tools considerably with age. You can only carry so much luggage.

Dick went into early retirement in 1982 after being blackballed by the music industry for maliciously suing an Ottumwa nightclub owner. On a brighter note, this did lead to a distinguished legal career that was unfortunately cut short by graduation from law school. Following various jobs as a low-level bureaucrat in the banking industry, Dick’s musical appetite was reawakened in the late 1990’s, and in January, 2001 he joined Dead Ringer.

Dick’s earliest musical influences included Chopin, Mozart and Beethoven (oh, those accursed piano lessons). As far as rock and roll, he plagiarized freely from Ray Manzarek, Jon Lord, Bill Payne Joe Sample and Keith Emerson. Lately he’s taken to imitating Donald Fagen, Bruce Hornsby, Elton John and Kevin Gilbert.

Dick is what the French call "Le Old School" and has never really grasped the potential of MIDI interface and digital sampling. His current keyboards include a Yamaha digital piano and an Equinox synthesizer that still puzzles him. He’d take back that big organ any day.