Rick Veneer is well known in Australia for his hot blues rock guitar style and singing slide work. The current lineup of Rick Veneer and the Vigilantes features one of the greatest rhythm sections south of the equator , (the legendary Barry "Little Goose" Harvey and Phil Hoffman) and Rick and "Little Goose" also have a successful acoustic blues duo, RICK and THE GOOSE.
Rick Veneer (born London UK.) and his family moved to Perth, Western Australia. when Rick was eight. His mother was a classical and light music buff and there was always music playing in the house (when Dad wasn't around!). As a toddler Rick was raised with the sounds of "In The Mood" or "The Ritual Fire Dance", but when he heard that Hank Marvin Fender Stratocaster twang in The Shadows ' 1960 hit "Apache" his life changed forever.
Chuck Berry and the Stones led the teenage Rick to Chicago blues; Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed and Howling Wolf , then Albert King (the King of string bending), Buddy Guy and BB. Then along came Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Jeff Beck, Mike Bloomfield, Johnny Winter, Leslie West and the amazingly gifted Jimi Hendrix , who really did set the world on fire. The die was cast. In the world of Rick Veneer the guitar rules.
"Rick Veneer and the Vigilantes"debuted at a large rock festival in 1986 and spent the next three years as one of the more popular Perth outfits, touring extensively and releasing independent recordings. In 1989 they moved base to Sydney, where Rick and the boys teamed up with a variety of legendary Australian musicians, toured and played constantly and recorded "Hot and Sticky" for Big Rock Records in 1993.
Now based in Queensland, Rick has been busy gigging and recording in his home studio, recording at K.B.'s with Kevin Borich and Barry Harvey for Big Rock ("Ten Guitars" album) and recording Rick and The Goose's "Valley Of The Blues" album with Barry Harvey, also for Big Rock."Valley Of The Blues" has proved to be a great album and Rick and The Goose are on their way for 2005.