Musician Writer Professor

About

Dick Weissman has had a long and colorful career as a banjoist and guitarist, performer, member of the legendary folk-pop group the Journeymen. He has written songs for such disparate artists as Judy Collins, Merv Griffin, Lothar & the Hand People and Carly and Lucy Simon. He has played on/or produced dozens of recordings in numerous musical styles, and his original music has been featured on NBC-TV< BBC-TV, and in several documentary films.

Born in Philadelphia, his music career began after graduation from college, when he performed with numerous artists and formed The Journeymen with Scott McKenzie and John Phillips. Later activities include staff and independent record production work, and teaching college classes at the University of Colorado at Denver about the music business, music and politics, and songwriting. He has written or co-authored twenty two books about music and the music business, and numerous instructional folios for banjo and guitar.

His co-authored book The Folk Music Sourcebook won the Deems Taylor ASCAP Music Critics Award, and his book Which Side Are You On? Was a finalist for the Oregon book award. He has recorded more than a half dozen solo cds of his original instrumental music and songs, and continues to perform and record. He has received grants from the University of Colorado at Denver, the Boulder Arts Commission, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Puffin Foundation. In November, 2019 he will be inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame.

There is an interview with Dick Weissman in the Denver weekly paper, Westword. The article is called “I Didn’t Choose to Play Music Just to Make Money.” It can be accessed at: http://blogs.westword.com/backbeat/2014/02/interview_dick_weissman.php

TEACHING

Dick has taught or lectured at University of DenverClatsop Community College, the Denver Musician’s AssociationElmhurst College, the Jamaican Trade Board, the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, the Salt Lake City Musician’s Union, the University of California at Santa Cruz and the University of Colorado.

Dick is available to teach seminars, workshops or short term classes on the music business, songwriting, American music, politics and ethnicity, and master classes on banjo and guitar.

INTERVIEW