Rick Cuevas is a long-time Beatles/Lennon-influenced Bay Area musician, singer, and songwriter. He is a member of Zru Vogue, along with Andrew Jackson; and he has collaborated with a number of other musicians on various projects and produced soundtrack music for independent films and documentaries.

Rick was surrounded by music as a child. His parents were founding, singing members of the West Bay Opera Company in Palo Alto, California, where they dragged Rick to countless Opera rehearsals and three performances a year, for many years. He even sang in two Operas. His dad’s collection of Spike Jones 78 rpm records utterly fascinated and amused him. He grew up in the heyday of the Beatles, the Stones, and The Monkees, whose music — and the summer of love — intrigued him greatly (though he didn’t yet know why).

It wasn’t until 1972, after the death of his best friend at the age of 14 in Fremont, Calif., that Rick felt the call to do something special with his life. In the summer of 1972 in Palo Alto, Rick decided to learn guitar — a decision also greatly influenced by a young fellow in Rick’s 8th grade class named Andrew [Jackson]. Andrew sat in the desk behind Rick at school. Andrew was already 6 months into guitar playing, lived just a few blocks away, and was willing to show Rick some chords and strumming techniques.

Over time, Rick & Andrew played in several bands, and they are still playing guitars and recording together 37 years later (with a few years off in between) — and still enjoying the therapeutic and transcending effects of music making.