There is even space within the piece for a little coasting and deep breathing.ī. When I play it, I imagine the excitement and freedom in taking off to ride on a perfect spring or summer day, with the prospects of exploring a new trail or place. Richard Egan: This piece was inspired by my general love of cycling. Though the various sections of The Bike Ride are easily discernible in the score, the listener perceives the piece as episodic, flowing, and free.īrandon Byrne: Was The Bike Ride inspired by your general love for cycling, or by a specific biking adventure you've had? This exuberant piece is featured on the composer's CD Always Been a Rambler. The following is an interview with Brandon Byrne for 'Composers' Corner.' In May 2021, Byrne featured the composition 'The Bike Ride':Ĭomposers' Corner Brandon Byrne ■ May 2021 Richard Egan: The Bike Ride Louis Piano Festival, Tower Grove Pride Festival, Valley of the Flowers Festival, West Coast Ragtime Festival Festivals performed: Arcadia Valley Mountain Music Festival, Big Muddy Folk Festival, Blind Boone Ragtime Festival, Hoosier Ragtime Festival, Kirkwood GreenTree Festival, Sacramento Dixieland Jubilee, Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival, St. Louis City, Scotland, Warren, Washington, and Wayne Missouri counties performed in: Boone, Cape Girardeau, Cooper, Franklin, Gasconade, Greene, Iron, Jackson, Jefferson, Lincoln, Montgomery, Osage, Perry, Pettis, St. States performed in: California, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania He has performed numerous shows as sideman to singer-songwriter Joey Kenig. Since 2010, Egan has played for innumerable contra dances, square dances, and barn dances with: The Mound City Slickers, Folk School Wall of Sound, Roger Netherton, Brick House Slough, and Rich and Famous. Since retiring from his day job in 2015, he has challenged himself to compose on a near-daily basis, amassing a diverse body of original works in a minimalist syncopated style with roots in traditional music. He has developed a piano style that often imitates string instruments yet retains elements of ragtime. Since then, he has learned a broad array of traditional American music, performing with string musicians in countless settings. In 2009 he was introduced to musicians of traditional American string instruments. Louis sound.Īlways interested in the music that informed and preceded ragtime, Egan’s focus has gradually shifted. Louis Magazine as one of five historical ragtime figures who have helped shape the St. A founding member of The Friends of Scott Joplin, he served as the organization’s president from 1996 to 1999. He is a descendant in the lineage of Folk Ragtime that was passed down from Brun Campbell to Trebor Tichenor and beyond. Beginning in 1985, he was invited to play at the Goldenrod Ragtime Festivals in St. Richard Egan is a self-taught musician who fell in love with Missouri ragtime in the 1970s.

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