Rick Cotton

Rick Cotton was born in the western state of Arizona, U.S.A. . He along with his three sisters was blessed with the gift of music.

His grandmother worked two jobs to buy a brand new piano for the family. Originally the piano was meant for the daughters of the family to learn to play. But at the age of 9, Rick started to ”hunt and peck” out chords. He started to learn chords and chord progressions by ear.

From the very beginning he started making arrangements of songs he heard in church and not before to long he found himself playing as the church pianist. By the age of 12, he forrned his own little Gospel group, which included himseif and his sisters. This group later, around the time Rick became the age of 16, developed into a regionaily known Gospel group called, ”Gospel Notes”.

Since Rick‘s father is from Texas and his mother is from Louisiana, Rick‘s family often traveled to these two states. Rick quickly picked up and absorbed elements of Blues, Jazz, and Rock and Roll into his musical education. Next he traveled at the age of 18 to Alabama to attend an all black college. This inspired even more soul-searching revelations about music and it‘s black heritage.