Rickey Medlocke
- Actor
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Rickey Medlocke has been performing onstage since the age of three. His
grandfather, well-known Delta blues musician
Shorty Medlocke, brought the young
Rickey along to perform with him every Saturday night on a local
television program, "The Toby Dowdy Show". Rickey would play a
miniature banjo Shorty had taught him to play. From ages 3-8 Rickey
accompanied Shorty on the air and at live shows, and over the years his
musical talents and natural abilities grew. By age 5 he had taught
himself to play guitar and by age 8 he was playing drums in Shorty's
band, at local dances and auditoriums. Over the years Rickey's love of
music and performing pushed him to excel at playing other
instruments--mandolin, dobro, keyboards and particularly the guitar.
Rickey also has a melodic singing voice, and had taught himself how to
sing and play guitar at the same time.
While in high school Rickey got the acting bug and performed in school
productions of shows like "West Side Story," "Oklahoma" and
"Brigadoon". When he graduated from high school there was a blossoming
music scene in southern Florida, and Rickey couldn't resist its pull.
He formed a band with his childhood friends and called it
Blackfoot in honor of their Native American
heritage. He had also grown up with members of another Jacksonville
band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and when
Blackfoot's attempts to move to the north (New York and New Jersey)
didn't seem to be successful, he called Skynyrd leader
Ronnie Van Zant, who asked him to come
play drums with the soon to be legendary band. Rickey wrote and
sometimes sang with Skynyrd, but sitting behind a drum kit could never
satisfy the energetic, charismatic performing personality of Rickey
Medlocke. Eventually he decided to re-form Blackfoot, in which he sang
and played lead guitar, in addition to writing or co-writing most of
the band's songs. Blackfoot was a Southern band but also a hard rock
band, and that helped them to stand ou. For the next several years
Blackfoot toured the world incessantly.
Spurred on by hit singles like "Train Train", "Highway Song" and "Fly
Away", Blackfoot has sold five million records throughout their career.
In the early 1990s Rickey finally decided to break up the band he'd
started and thought about pursuing his other career goals, including
acting. However, Lynyrd Skynyrd founder
Gary Rossington phoned Rickey and
invited him to rejoin the band, this time in the pivotal role of lead
guitarist and as one of the primary songwriters, and this was something
Rickey could never turn down. Since his rejoining the band in 1996,
Lynyrd Skynyrd has been enjoying a major resurrection, and to date the
band has sold almost 40 million albums worldwide.
In 2000 Rickey saw the new millennium as time for some new challenges
and decided that he wanted to pursue the acting career he'd always
dreamed of. He began studying and reading for parts.
William Shatner cast Rickey in his first
role, in Groom Lake (2002). Since then
he has appeared on TV, in another film that has yet to be released and
in print ads and radio commercials.
In his spare time between all his work, Rickey is working on a book
about his music career and on a solo album.
grandfather, well-known Delta blues musician
Shorty Medlocke, brought the young
Rickey along to perform with him every Saturday night on a local
television program, "The Toby Dowdy Show". Rickey would play a
miniature banjo Shorty had taught him to play. From ages 3-8 Rickey
accompanied Shorty on the air and at live shows, and over the years his
musical talents and natural abilities grew. By age 5 he had taught
himself to play guitar and by age 8 he was playing drums in Shorty's
band, at local dances and auditoriums. Over the years Rickey's love of
music and performing pushed him to excel at playing other
instruments--mandolin, dobro, keyboards and particularly the guitar.
Rickey also has a melodic singing voice, and had taught himself how to
sing and play guitar at the same time.
While in high school Rickey got the acting bug and performed in school
productions of shows like "West Side Story," "Oklahoma" and
"Brigadoon". When he graduated from high school there was a blossoming
music scene in southern Florida, and Rickey couldn't resist its pull.
He formed a band with his childhood friends and called it
Blackfoot in honor of their Native American
heritage. He had also grown up with members of another Jacksonville
band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and when
Blackfoot's attempts to move to the north (New York and New Jersey)
didn't seem to be successful, he called Skynyrd leader
Ronnie Van Zant, who asked him to come
play drums with the soon to be legendary band. Rickey wrote and
sometimes sang with Skynyrd, but sitting behind a drum kit could never
satisfy the energetic, charismatic performing personality of Rickey
Medlocke. Eventually he decided to re-form Blackfoot, in which he sang
and played lead guitar, in addition to writing or co-writing most of
the band's songs. Blackfoot was a Southern band but also a hard rock
band, and that helped them to stand ou. For the next several years
Blackfoot toured the world incessantly.
Spurred on by hit singles like "Train Train", "Highway Song" and "Fly
Away", Blackfoot has sold five million records throughout their career.
In the early 1990s Rickey finally decided to break up the band he'd
started and thought about pursuing his other career goals, including
acting. However, Lynyrd Skynyrd founder
Gary Rossington phoned Rickey and
invited him to rejoin the band, this time in the pivotal role of lead
guitarist and as one of the primary songwriters, and this was something
Rickey could never turn down. Since his rejoining the band in 1996,
Lynyrd Skynyrd has been enjoying a major resurrection, and to date the
band has sold almost 40 million albums worldwide.
In 2000 Rickey saw the new millennium as time for some new challenges
and decided that he wanted to pursue the acting career he'd always
dreamed of. He began studying and reading for parts.
William Shatner cast Rickey in his first
role, in Groom Lake (2002). Since then
he has appeared on TV, in another film that has yet to be released and
in print ads and radio commercials.
In his spare time between all his work, Rickey is working on a book
about his music career and on a solo album.