Brian Ritchie
FameRank: 4

"Brian Ritchie" is the bass guitarist for the alternative rock band Violent Femmes.

In addition to his bass playing, Ritchie is proficient at the shakuhachi, a Music of Japan/Japanese bamboo flute. He acquired a Jun Shihan (shakuhachi teaching license) in March 2003 from James Nyoraku Schlefer, and his professional name is "Tairaku" ("big music" in Japanese language/Japanese).

Since 1998, he has collaborated with American shakuhachi maker Ken LaCosse developing a wide bore style of shakuhachi called Taimu.

In 2007 Ritchie produced and toured with the Italian punk/folk band Zen Circus/The Zen Circus, which subsequently changed its name to The Zen Circus And Brian Ritchie. The first international album of the band, Villa Inferno was released in 2008 for the Italian record label Unhip Records.

In 2008, Ritchie and his wife, Dr Varuni Kulasekera, moved to Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, where he has guested in a band called The Green Mist. Brian Ritchie does most of his work in DV (David Vartanian) Studios. On Australia Day 2012, Ritchie and his wife were naturalised as Australian citizens.

More Brian Ritchie on Wikipedia.

The Championships will be totally unaffected and there is no need for concern.

204

We are delighted to have entered into this partnership with Polo Ralph Lauren. Wimbledon and Polo share the same non-compromising standards and determination to maintain and enhance the values for which our two brands are famous throughout the world. The Polo brand will bring to Wimbledon the look of timeless elegance, drawing on our rich history and traditions.

198

We're too old and too mature to fight. Fighting's not necessary.

151

I think it's a great shame they are suing a group of people who put all the profits of the event back into tennis. We think it's heavy handed that the action also includes all the individual members of the club.

125

I bet some of them are shocked when they come to our shows and see a bunch of fat old guys on stage. But after the concert, I'll go out and talk to the kids and it's really gratifying; a lot of them say it's the first show they've been to.

121

We think that's a perfectly reasonable compromise and they should comply with that. As far as I'm aware, the other manufacturers have said they are happy with the situation. We need to be equal to everybody.

83

The club has held discussions with the manufacturers and the International Tennis Federation and has decided that as suitable testing has not yet been carried out by them on grass, the system will not be used for line-calling this year.

50

In the '80s, bands could just hop on the bus and travel for a few weeks; it was profitable. Now, everything's more expensive and you're not selling as many records because of Internet downloads.

47