Richard James Simpson, formerly known as Richard James (born 1967), is an American singer and guitarist. He is a son of

Renate Hoy Renate Hoy (born Renate Anita Huy; 31 December 1930 – 1 July 2024), also credited as Erika Nordin, was a German actress and beauty pageant titleholder. Career After winning the title of Miss Nürnberg, she was crowned Miss Germany of 1952. S ...

, an actress born in Germany, and attorney Raymond C. Simpson. He grew up in the South Bay region of California and had an older brother Charles "Rock" Halsey who was a member of Rock Bottom & the Spys. As a teenager, Simpson was a member of Invisible Chains as a bass player. The band recorded one eponymous album but disbanded later on. In the 1990s, he fronted a band called Teardrain, which also featured

Jill Emery Hole was an American alternative rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1989. It was founded by singer and guitarist Courtney Love and guitarist Eric Erlandson. It had several different bassists and drummers, the most prolific being d ...

and Mark Reback on bass and drums respectively. He released his debut solo album in 2017. It is called '' Sweet Birds of Youth'' and features eighteen songs. Among those playing on the album are

Joey Burns Calexico is an American indie rock band based in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1996, the band's two main members, Joey Burns and John Convertino, first played together in Los Angeles as part of the group Giant Sand. They have recorded a number o ...

(from

Calexico Calexico () is a city in southern Imperial County, California. Situated on the Mexican border, it is linked economically with the much larger city of Mexicali, the capital of the Mexican state of Baja California. It is about east of San Dieg ...

) on cello, Theodore Welch on drums as well as

Dustin Boyer Dustin Boyer is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is a longtime collaborator of Welsh rock musician John Cale. He also collaborated with many other artists, such as Jennifer Love Hewitt, Michelle Branch, Andrew Dorff, and Michael Lan ...

, who co-produced the record and plays various instruments. The album was

mastered Mastering is a form of audio post production which is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device called a master recording, the source from which all copies will be ...

Geza X Geza Gedeon (born September 28, 1952), professionally known as Geza X, is an American producer. He was a personality in the Los Angeles punk scene in the late 1970s. He is now a producer. Early life and career Gedeon was born in Indiana and mov ...

. Two songs from this album, "Roller" and "Taking Sides" were used in feature movie ''The Letter Red''. Simpson released his second solo album '' Deep Dream'' in April 2019. Over its seventeen songs, the albums features contributions from Dustin Boyer,

Don Bolles Donald Fifield Bolles (July 10, 1928 – June 13, 1976) was an American investigative reporter for ''The Arizona Republic'' newspaper who was known for his coverage of organized crime in and around Phoenix, Arizona, especially by the Chicago Ou ...

( Germs),

Paul Roessler Paul Roessler (born August 27, 1958) is an American musician and record producer. Roessler was a prominent member of the L.A. punk scene during the late 1970s and 1980s. He played keyboards in bands such as The Screamers, Twisted Roots, 45 Grav ...

, Ygarr Ygarrist ( Zolar X) and two songs feature the original lineup of Simpson's 1990s band Teardrain – bassist Jill Emery and drummer Mark Reback. Jill Emery also co-wrote and co-produced other songs on the record. The album was mastered by Geza X. In December 2021, Simpson released his third album '' Sugar the Pill''.

Discography

*'' Sweet Birds of Youth'' (2017) *'' Deep Dream'' (2019) *'' Sugar the Pill'' (2021)

References

External links

Richard James Simpson
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Richard James American male singer-songwriters American male guitarists American rock guitarists American people of German descent 1967 births Place of birth missing (living people) Living people Guitarists from California Singer-songwriters from California