About

Richard Medek is a drummer, engineer, and producer. He spent his formative years in Lafayette, LA; Tucson, AZ; and Nashville, TN before eventually settling down in Minneapolis in 2008. His resume is equally all over the map—he’s appeared on rock tours, Americana albums, ambient cacophony, and everything in between.

Over the years, Richard has performed, toured, or recorded with a diverse and eclectic roster of musicians, including the Alternate Routes, Aimee Mann, John Doe, Latin Playboys (Louie Perez and David Hildalgo of Los Lobos), Joe Ely, the Twilight Hours, Johnny Hickman (of Cracker), Carl Broemel (of My Morning Jacket), Erik Koskinen, Teddy Morgan, and many more. As the house drummer for MPR’s cult hit Wits, he has backed up such artists as Neko Case, They Might Be Giants, Lissie, and Yo La Tengo.

For more information or current projects, please get in touch.

Selected Discography

Sleepwalkers, Pt. 2: The Rain Collector

Chris Koza

Label/Year
Little Radios, 2021
Credits
Drums and percussion
Engineering (tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9)
Description

Chris Koza’s Sleepwalkers, Pt. 2 was a really fun album to work on; compared to the first volume, it was recorded and released fast with a lot of trust in first takes. I played and engineered drums on seven tracks over a few evenings at Bones & Wire; Chris shares a room here and I loved being a fly on the wall as he spent the next few months turning them into a record. I’ve known Chris for a number of years and I think this album features his best performances and writing to date.

Motion In Time

Alien of Nature

Label/Year
2021
Credits
Drums and percussion
Description

COVID hit us all especially hard, but some—myself included—were lucky enough to find art in the chaos and the means to continue through it all. This was one a few "pandemic records" I found myself working on, and the first full-length album release recorded and performed by yours truly at my Bones & Wire studio here in Minneapolis. Mike Baran, aka Alien of Nature, found me through my pal and producer Chris Koza and brought a handful of well-written and incredibly adventurous tunes. I tracked these to acoustic guitar demos and they blossomed into one hell of a debut record; sort of My Morning Jacket meets Anders Parker.

Munson-Hicks Party Supplies

Munson-Hicks Party Supplies

Label/Year
2020
Credits
Drums and percussion
Description

What began as demos for a musical morphed into this wonderful gem of an album, with songs penned by Dylan Hicks and mostly sung by my pal John Munson (of Trip Shakespeare and Semisonic) who produced Dylan’s last record, Ad Out. Dylan’s writing is a lyrical magic trick, somehow weaving “Sandwich boards, valentines/Wow and flutter, courtship XL-II” into a non-ironic disco tune and “First navy blazers, then brown shirts/Then no excuses on the skirts/The shout came in a sawtooth wave” into a beautiful ballad of dystopia in 7/4 time.

The World Is Your Lover

Mary Bue

Label/Year
2020
Credits
Drums, percussion, programming
Description

Mary Bue—singer, songwriter, professional yogini, amateur ethnomusicologist—is a stellar writer of poppy, emotionally open songs and Steve Price (of the Suburbs) is a super-solid bass player and an expert producer of the same. Both Steve and Mary are easygoing and adventurous, so I had a lot of opportunity to experiment with drum sounds and programming. Mary plays piano in a definitively rhythmic style, sort of Tori Amos-meets-Regina Spektor, which made the grooves on these tunes easy to find and fun to play.

Ordinary Love

Ellis Delaney

Label/Year
2020
Credits
Drums and percussion (tracks 1–10, 12)
Description

One afternoon, just before sitting down to dinner, I get a call from Steve Kaul at Wild Sound. ”I have someone here who may want drums on a record. She's great. Can you be at the studio in 10 minutes?” Now, I've watched enough mysterious spy movies to know to always say yes to these sorts of things, so I headed on down and met Ellis Delaney. Her music is upbeat and positive and not afraid to show love.

Western Soul

Hacienda Brothers

Label/Year
Lux Records, 2019
Credits
Drums (LP, side A: tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 6; LP, side B: track 4; CD: tracks 1–5, 12)
Description

It was a real treat to receive Western Soul in the mail, a retrospective of the music of the Hacienda Brothers, with a few unreleased tunes, demos, and a great collection of photos from the early days of the band. I played with the Hacienda Brothers during its inception until I moved to Nashville in 2004 and some of my favorite memories of the band are recording its first tunes in Jeb Schoonover’s living room—the “Honky Tonk Hacienda.” I suggested the name “Hacienda Brothers” as a tribute to the setting and it eventually stuck, winning out over Chris Gaffney’s suggested moniker, “the Axis of Evil.”

Sleepwalkers, Pt. 1

Chris Koza

Label/Year
Little Radios, 2019
Credits
Drums, percussion, and programming
Description

Chris Koza's Sleepwalkers was a fairly collaborative process. The sessions for the record (and the upcoming Pt. 2) were spread out over a few months, giving the core band of myself, Peter Sieve on guitar, and Cody McKinney on bass plenty of time to hone and workshop parts and feels. A lot of the creative contributions—like Cody's composition ideas popping up in "Man of Stone" and "Music to Me," my various Ableton Live effects/programming—are pretty heavily featured, so it's a rewarding listen.

Cruising Paradise LP

Erik Koskinen

Label/Year
Real-Phonic, 2018
Credits
Drums, bg vocals (track 1, side B)
Description

When Erik released his Cruising Paradise EP on vinyl, he took the opportunity to add a few more songs, including a fun one I got to play (and sing!) on.

Ad Out

Dylan Hicks

Label/Year
Soft Launch Records, 2017
Credits
Drums and percussion
Description

Listening to the demos of what would become Ad Out left me a little unsure. "There are a lot of syllables being squeezed in there," I would think, or, "The groove on here is so squirrely," or, "This is kinda hilarious but will people get it?" We recorded these tunes during a few fun and deliciously zany weekends spread over a few months, and this became one of my favorite records for all the same reasons. Dylan is a unique voice in the world; he's unironically clever, not afraid to be thoughtful, and fearlessly funny.

Plains

The Backyard Committee

Label/Year
2017
Credits
Mobile recording and engineer
Drums and percussion
Description

Plains is one of a two-record set of live shows from the Backyard Committee. I recorded this during a 2014 tour though the Midwest, my laptop next to me and using a fairly guerrilla setup of double-micing everything on stage. (A bit more about that here.) Paying attention to recording while letting loose playing was a bit of a balancing act, but a fun challenge and a surprisingly feasible way to get a quality recording—we’ve come a long way since we needed the Rolling Stones mobile truck thing. 

4th of July

4th of July

Label/Year
ATO Records, 2016
Credits
Drums and percussion
Description

I just can’t say enough good things about Carl (although I've tried to, here). We recorded 4th of July in a few sessions spread a year or so apart. At one point during the recording of the title track, I looked over to watch Tom Blankenship on one side of me and Bo Koster on the other—his bandmates in My Morning Jacket—and thinking there must have been some terrible mistake to let me have so much fun in the middle.

Somebody’s Child

Tim Warren

Label/Year
2015
Credits
Drums and percussion
Description

The first takes of Tim Warren’s solo release were recorded in late 2010. It was an emotional time—the future of Tim’s band, the Alternate Routes, was unclear, and he was losing his father to cancer. Somehow, he channeled the uncertainty of the time into one of the most beautiful records I've played on, Somebody’s Child. It was only made available as a bonus album in a box set, making this a rare moment in time.

Brandy Zdan

Brandy Zdan

Label/Year
2015
Credits
Drums and percussion (tracks 4, 5, 8, 9)
Description

My friend Teddy Morgan was producing Brandy’s record and thought we’d be a good fit. So we got together one night in Nashville and decided to try a song or two to see what would happen. What did happen is almost impossible to describe here—the songs just sort of, well, took over; the air in the studio was electric; there were moments where both her and I had to take breaks just to gather ourselves. Who knows if it was the songs or the atmosphere or the timing, but it was a once-in-a-lifetime musical experience and instant bonding I can’t forget. (Also, the record is amazing.)

Live at the Real-Phonic Radio Hour

Erik Koskinen

Label/Year
Real-Phonic, 2015
Credits
Drums (tracks 12 & 13)
Description

The Real-Phonic Radio Hour wasn’t on the radio, and it wasn’t an hour, but it was a really cool and inspiring monthly night of music hosted in the beautiful and historic James J. Hill Library. (“It's like playing at Hogwarts,” said my friend Benson Ramsey very accurately.) Erik Koskinen helped to produce the show and hosted the house band for their four-year run.

Here's To Change

Josh Taerk

Label/Year
Misty Creek Records, 2015
Credits
Drums and percussion
Description

Josh is young and talented, and recording Here's To Change was a blast—all of us tracking together, going for full takes and generally pretending we were a rock band that’s been playing together forever.

It’s That Time (single)

The Alternate Routes

Label/Year
2014
Credits
Bari sax, horn arrangement
Description

I don’t get calls to play bari sax or write horn arrangements very often. It’s a Christmas miracle!

Back At It!

Big George Jackson

Label/Year
2014
Credits
Drums and percussion (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12)
Description

Big George Jackson is the truth in many ways and one of the sweetest men I know. I recorded most of these tunes back in 2008, soon after I moved to Minneapolis. Six years later, here they are on Back At It!—I suppose George is also one of the most patient men I know. Playing with him—and especially guitar player Jeremy Johnson, who recorded these tracks as well—is always a blast; it’s blues music that isn’t afraid to step out of the box.

In Real Time

Chris Koza

Label/Year
2014
Credits
Drums and percussion
Description

When Chris Koza approached John Munson, who approached me, about recording In Real Time, the initial idea was to get us all in a studio and track a live, roots-inspired album. But the songs sort of steered themselves into a more pop direction, and mix engineer Brett Bullion helped glue the new sonic identity together. Most of the actual recording went by in a DayQuil-infused haze as I had just come down with the flu. I love the results, though, fever be damned.

Where Would I Be Without You

Ray Barnard

Label/Year
2014
Credits
Drums and percussion (tracks 1, 2, 4, 8, 9)
Description

To be completely honest—I'm not sure which songs on this record I’ve played on, so I've listed the ones I'm 99% sure I can recognize! There were a few drummers on this record, and tons of programming, and Ray loves to experiment, and the final product is a pretty fun groovy gumbo of lots of drum sounds. I do remember that I went into Jeremy Johnson’s studio one night with Ray we cut eleven songs in a night, which might be contributing to the overall blur…

Bob Dylan in the 80s, Vol. 1

Carl Broemel

Label/Year
ATO Records, 2014
Credits
Drums and percussion (track 17)

Wintertime EP

Ashleigh Still

Label/Year
2013
Credits
Drums and percussion (track 1)
Description

I've always loved Ashleigh's ethereal and honest voice—I asked her to sing a duet with Dave Olson for his No October record and she graciously said yes—and it was a pleasure to record a song with her for her collection of winter tunes. A pair of mallets and a 1948 Radio King kit helped get this scrapbook sound.

Festival

The Backyard Committee

Label/Year
2013
Credits
Drums and percussion
Additional engineering
Description

Mike Sembos and I hit it off while touring together with the Alternate Routes; I've had a blast working with him from time to time in his band, the Backyard Committee. Most of the album was recorded when/wherever we could squeeze time away on tour, and it was all assembled later into this short and sweet album. Mike is a rock-and-roll purist, a strong believer in first takes and honest performances, and Festival shines thanks to this.

Attack of the Heart

Lucy Michelle

Label/Year
2013
Credits
Drums and percussion
Description

We recorded Attack of the Heart, live, crammed between makeshift gobos in John Munson’s small rehearsal room in Northeast Minneapolis, with he and his partner-in-crime Chan Poling producing. I love every second of this record, both the final product and the memories of the John/Chan production dynamic—ideas flowing fast and furious, all considered carefully but discarded in an instant without ego if it wasn’t right. This record also has the distinction of being able to instantly soothe my baby son when we danced to it.

Rewind/Turn It Around

The Alternate Routes

Label/Year
2012
Credits
Drums
Description

This collection of singles from the Alternate Routes contains “Rewind,” a powerful tune from Eric Donnelly and one of the songs I'm the most proud to have played a part in.

Make It Good

R.J. Mischo

Label/Year
Delta Groove Music, 2012
Credits
Drums and percussion (track 3)
Additional engineering

No October

Dave Olson

Label/Year
2012
Credits
Producer, engineer
Drums, percussion, Moog bass, programming, string arrangement
Description

No October remains one of my best musical experiences: Dave had a collection deceptively simple and sweet songs; we lined up amazing musicians; we recorded the bulk of the album in a beautiful renovated barn in rural Minnesota, our window scenery a carpet of crickets and flocks of migrating birds. The journey we took from a collection of demos on an acoustic guitar to this record is one of my proudest as a producer.

Famous For Killing Each Other

Kevin Costner & Modern West

Label/Year
Madison Gate, 2012
Credits
Drums and percussion (tracks 1, 6, 7, 9)

If It Takes All Winter

Caitlin Robertson

Label/Year
2012
Credits
Drums and percussion
Description

Duluth in the winter is not for the faint of heart, but being drenched in the reverb of Sacred Heart, the beautiful church-turned-recording studio, made it a little more bearable.

Merry Come Up

Molly Maher

Label/Year
2011
Credits
Drums (tracks 4, 5, 7, 9, 11)

Technicolor

Sara Beck

Label/Year
2011
Credits
Drums (track 10)

The Devil You Know

Jimmi & The Band of Souls

Label/Year
Blue Wren, 2011
Credits
Drums and percussion (tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10)

From Where I Stand

Kevin Costner & Modern West

Label/Year
2011
Credits
Drums (tracks 1 & 9)

Lately

The Alternate Routes

Label/Year
2010
Credits
Drums and percussion
Description

The sessions for Lately were exciting and emotional and uncertain. The band had lost family, personnel, and their label, and the direction of a new record was pretty unclear. But there was such a positive and charged vibe in the studio while tracking; the songs came fast and easy and the album ended up projecting an energizing rebirth. I spent a good amount of the next year in a van with these guys supporting the record and had a great time.

All Birds Say

Carl Broemel

Label/Year
ATO Records, 2010
Credits
Drums and percussion (all tracks except 10)
Description

Of all of the musical connections I made while living in Nashville, the one I forged with Carl may be closest to my heart—for one, he’s one-third of my once-in-a-blue-moon musical therapy side-project, Winthorp; and he writes and records beautiful albums like All Birds Say. I feel very lucky to have played a part in this recording.

Turn It On

Kevin Costner & Modern West

Label/Year
2010
Credits
Drums (track 1)

Tinted Windows to the Soul

Ray Barnard

Label/Year
2010
Credits
Drums and percussion (tracks 1, 2, 3, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12)
Description

The sessions with Ray for Tinted Windows… were always fun and spontaneous. Erik Koskinen was producing, and I lived close to the studio where he and Ray were tracking. So most sessions started with a phone call like this: "Hey, what are you doing for the next hour?" One time, I got that call on the way to dinner with my wife; we stopped by the studio and she hung out for about thirty minutes while we tracked “Carolee.” (I promise I don’t ask her do this often.)

Keep It To Yourself

Erik Koskinen

Label/Year
2010
Credits
Drums and percussion (tracks 3, 7, 10, 11)
Description

I’ve been playing with Erik since moving to Minneapolis in 2008, and am constantly impressed by his writing and playing—both keep improving, both somehow pay homage to his roots while testing new boundaries. I'd played a few incarnations of the tunes before they eventually made it to Keep It To Yourself, but they, like him, continue to evolve.

Cast Your Bread EP

Molly Maher

Label/Year
2010
Credits
Drums and percussion
Description

I met Molly Maher soon after moving to Minneapolis and we clicked almost right away. She has a definitive sound and a soulful voice, and is a joy to play with. Cast Your Bread is pretty good snapshot of where we were headed, musically.

Her Tattoos Could Sail Ships

The Mad Ripple

Label/Year
Eclectone, 2010
Credits
Drums and percussion (all tracks except 8)
Description

Making this album with Jim Walsh, aka the Mad Ripple, was a bit of a blur—I walked into a garage studio at 8 p.m. and about an hour after we set up we had cut nine tracks. Jim played each song once, on an acoustic guitar, while I scribbled out a chart, then we recorded a take. No mulligans, no second-guesses! There are a few things I would want to get another pass at but I can't deny it was a pretty fun way to make a record.

We’re All Going to Hell!

Jennifer Markey

Label/Year
2010
Credits
Drums (tracks 2, 3, 4, 10)
Description

I don't consider myself a “country” drummer in the slightest, but it sure is fun to pretend. I played on a handful of tracks on Jennifer Markey’s debut honky-tonker.

Man of Somebody’s Dreams: A Tribute to Chris Gaffney

Dan Penn

Label/Year
Yep Roc, 2009
Credits
Drums (track 17)
Description

Chris Gaffney’s death in 2008 hit a lot of us pretty hard, and it was great to see so many artists come together under the Yep Roc banner to record a tribute. This tune was actually an outtake from the first Hacienda Brothers record, with Dan Penn—who had produced half of the record—re-singing Chris’s iconic vocal. It would have made Chris proud, I'm sure.

The Temple

Jimmi Langemo

Label/Year
Blue Wren, 2009
Credits
Drums and percussion (tracks 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10)
Description

Jimmi is one of the nicest guys I know, and the sessions for The Temple were easy-going and fun. I overdubbed most of the drums in one night at Erik Koskinen’s Real-Phonic studio in Minneapolis.

Make It Fast

Jon Coleman

Label/Year
LML, 2009
Credits
Drums and percussion (all tracks except 6)
Description

Jon Coleman is, hands down, one of the most talented and special musicians I know. He plays with a straight-line connection from emotion to instrument, and anyone who's worked with him would agree. Make It Fast is a great showcase for his spectacular B3 work and soulful approach, and getting to know him and playing on this record was a highlight of my time in Nashville.

Jason Shannon

Jason Shannon

Label/Year
2009
Credits
Drums (track 11)
Description

My first session in Minneapolis was with Jason at Wild Sound, tracking a few extra songs for his otherwise-completed debut album. 

Gloom Cookie

Cathy Rivers

Label/Year
Alto Voltaje, 2009
Credits
Drums and percussion (tracks 2, 3, 4, 7, 10, 11)
Description

One of the hardest things about moving from Tucson to Nashville in 2004 was moving so far away from Cathy, one of my best friends and a long-time partner in music. We tracked the songs that ended up on Gloom Cookie over a few years in both cities; looking back, I feel the distance and creative urgency made its mark—positively—to the sound of the record.

Untold Truths

Kevin Costner & Modern West

Label/Year
Universal South, 2008
Credits
Drums (tracks 2, 3, 4, 10, 12)
Description

How I ended up on three records by Kevin Costner (yes, that Kevin Costner) is probably the real story here, but that is a longer story for another time. We went into Sound Emporium one day to track drums for four songs, had some extra time at the end of the session, and cut track 10, “Backyard,” on a whim. That song ended up being the single of the record, the featured tune in Kevin’s movie, Swing Vote, and a NASCAR theme song for a moment. (!)

Brand New Bag

Kelly Pardekooper

Label/Year
Sonic Rendezvous, 2007
Credits
Drums and percussion
Description

Most of Brand New Bag was recorded with Kelly and I in the same room of a small garage studio in East Nashville. Kelly was playing acoustic guitar and singing very softly; I played insanely quiet for the most part and the drums came to loud, rock-style life later thanks to fearless compression. It was a challenging session and a ton of fun.

Sick of Love

Luca

Label/Year
Funzalo, 2006
Credits
Drums (track 7)
Description

In the fall of 2005 I joined the Nick Luca Trio for a few weeks, touring as a back-up band to John Doe. The first thing we did when we got back to town was hop into Wavelab studio and cut demos for their new record. I tracked 18 songs in three hours; one of those drum tracks found a bonafide home on the album.

Palmhenge

Johnny Hickman

Label/Year
Campstove, 2005
Credits
Drums and percussion (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 12)
Description

It's no secret that Johnny Hickman is one of the world’s foremost fans of the Big Lebowski, so it’s no surprise that most of this record was fueled by White Russians and discussions of pacifism. At one point we were freeze-framing clips of the movie on a laptop and dragging the visual inspiration into the studio with us. The Dude abides.

Haymaker Heart

Kelly Pardekooper

Label/Year
Leisure Time, 2005
Credits
Drums (tracks 2 & 3)
Description

Kelly recorded most of Haymaker Heart with his band in Iowa City, but I managed to cut a few songs with him while he was in Tucson. We recorded, after-hours, onstage at the Rialto Theater with a makeshift recording setup and Teddy Morgan producing.

Hacienda Brothers

Hacienda Brothers

Label/Year
Koch, 2005
Credits
Drums and percussion
Description

The Hacienda Brothers were a super-group (of sorts) of alt-country musicians, the brainchild of Jeb Schoonover who brought everyone together at a show for his 40th birthday party. We recorded the first half of the album at Jeb’s home in Tucson, and the second at the Cavern studio with Dan Penn producing. The “home” tracks are the standouts on this record, in my opinion, although it was a real treat working with Dan. The real takeaway from this experience for me was getting to know Chris Gaffney, a true voice and character.

Live in Europe

Kelly Pardekooper

Label/Year
Leisure Time, 2004
Credits
Drums and percussion
Description

Live in Europe was a little mini-album/bootleg thanks to a MiniDisc recorder and our road manager, Anton Verdonk, during a tour through Germany in late 2003. The show, if I remember correctly, was in a swanky mirrored club in Frankfurt and attended by about twelve middle-aged and highly enthusiastic German men.

Still Cadillacin’

Johnny “Guitar” Blommer

Label/Year
ARV, 2004
Credits
Producer, engineer
Drums and percussion
Description

I was living with Johnny in Tucson, AZ, just a few weeks away from moving to Nashville, when he asked if I would help record and produce his solo record. Of course I said yes, and we quickly turned the house into a recording studio, tracking drums in the living room and using the hallway for a reverb tank. Everything went through a Behringer Eurodesk board into a 16-track Fostex hard disk recorder—the reviews all mentioned the “warm, vintage tones.” Studio magic!

Ascensión

Cathy Rivers

Label/Year
Alto Voltaje, 2004
Credits
Drums and percussion
Description

Ascensión was made pretty quickly after Cathy’s first record, Bleached, but feels a lifetime apart in terms of songwriting and production. It’s one of my favorites, both musically and as a moment in time, and I love the directions Cathy spurred us to.

Step Right Up!

The Carnivaleros

Label/Year
RootaVega Records, 2003
Credits
Drums and percussion (tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9)
Description

I had a lot of fun playing with and recording Gary Mackender’s first incarnation of the Carnivaleros. (My favorite drum tracks on the record, though, are Gary’s.)

Freight

Teddy Morgan

Label/Year
Sonic Rendezvous, 2003
Credits
Drums and percussion (all tracks except 9 & 13)
Description

Freight was a marker for Teddy Morgan as a producer and musician—it was rooted in the alt-country, roots music he had exploring but hinted at more textural and adventurous music to come. We recorded this in a few different locations, both of us engineering and me handling a few recording duties; it was a huge learning experience for the both of us and a very special album for me.

Bleached

Cathy Rivers

Label/Year
Horsethief Records, 2002
Credits
Drums and percussion (tracks 1–10)
Description

Recorded in Cathy’s garage-turned-recording-studio, Bleached was one of the first full-length recordings I worked on as well as my first with Teddy Morgan at the producer helm. Cathy is in the highest echelon of people I love and this record will always be super-special to me.