Genres: Rock, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s
Singer-songwriter-drummer-guitarist-keyboardist-vocalist, Richard X. Heyman was at the forefront of the indie phenomena putting forth a strong do-it-yourself (DIY) agenda with his line of talents. Born in 1951, he started banging on things when he was five years old, got his first drum set when he was seven, and was an accomplished drummer by the time he was twelve. His songwriting spurred from the addition of guitar and keyboards to his musical talents in his teens and although he went solo in his twenties Heyman continued drumming for many well known artists such as Brian Wilson, Link Wray, Jonathan Richman and the Left Banke’s Michael Brown, and played keyboards for the talented Ben E. King. Aside from all these accomplishments, Heyman also, and continues today, fronts his own band on guitar and keyboards.
Throughout his career he has proven to be a prolific songwriter, writing since 1969 but really finding a flow of lyrics in the 1980s. After moving house in 2003 his wife, bassist, and engineer, Nancy, and himself re-discovered many great past melodies that were his early recordings and others that had been written in the first Actual Sighs era but never recorded. This spurred his latest album, Actual Sighs, where Heyman re-recorded the six original songs from his first EP Actual Sighs (1986) along with 14 newly recorded songs.
Throughout his career Heyman has released six albums (Living Room!!, 1988; Hey Man!, 1990; Cornerstone, 1998; Basic Glee, 2002; Rightovers, 2003 and Actual Sighs, 2007, and bonus album to accompany Intakes, 2007), two EP's (Actual Size, 1986 and Heyman, Hoosier & Herman, 2001), one single (Vacation b/w Takin' My Chances, 1980), a memoirs entitled Boom Harangue and a video retrospective of his career, X-Posures.
Over the years Heyman has herald much acclaim from various critics, for example, both albums Hey Man! and Cornerstone were heralded as Album of the Month by Stereo Review.
Heyman’s work is recognized for its musical power through melodies and carefully crafted hooks that mesmerize the listener as the album plays. Statements such as "finest album of 2002" (Listener Magazine), his "most tuneful and soulful set yet" (Stereo Review Sound & Vision), "impossibly catchy" (The Illinois Times) for the album Basic Glee are common comments to be heard about his work.
Website: http://www.richardxheyman.com/
Songs (click on song title for more information):
