Rick Veras, plays Bluegrass, CW, Swing, and other American music styles on fiddle, mandolin and guitar. Rick teaches at Hogeye Music in Evanston. Rick played these instruments for Apple Tree Theatre’s productions of Big River, and Spitfire Grill. Rick was the fiddler for Touchstone Theatre’s production of Foxfire. Other theatre work includes Cotton Patch Gospel, Little House on the Parody, The Wake of Jamie Foster, Theatre Hikes’ Davey Crocket and Lewis & Clark; and Heartland Theatre’s production of Spoon River Anthology which was Jeff nomonated for music.
Rick has also been a teacher at: Hyde Park YMCA, The Fret Shop, Discovery Center, IIT Continuing Education, and is on the teaching staff at The Old Town School of Folk Music.
Rick has performed with Patsy Montana (the 1st woman with a million seller in country music), Rocky Stone (who was Gene Autry’s fiddler) and Ronnie Stoneman (who was the banjo playing blond on HeeHaw). Rick also played at Bennie the Bull’s wedding reception.
Well I am 1/4 Irish, my grandmother was Sadie McGarry from county Antrim. I first started plying Irish music in the early 1980s busking on the south side with Ed McGrath; and John Devins who went on to found “Dyed in the Wool”.