#398 Friendly Rich Marsella

Friendly Rich is a composer from Brampton, Canada.  Mr. Rich has composed background music for 3 seasons of MTV’s The Tom Green Show.   Since 1994, he has recorded exclusively for his own eclectic record label, The Pumpkin Pie Corporation, and in Europe more recently by Hazelwood Records. Rich just completed his PhD in Music Education from the University of Toronto under the supervision of Dr. Lee Bartel.  His doctoral research was on musical playgrounds as a vehicle for community development.

Friendly Rich’s music has brought his toured to New York, Montreal, Vienna, Berlin, Frankfurt, Leipzig, and Prague.  In early 2008, Friendly’s music was released in Europe by Hazelwood Records, and the Lollipop People successfully toured there every year since then, playing such festivals as the Fusion Festival in Germany and the Balkan Fever Festival and Danube Festival in Vienna.  He has also presented The Lollipop People at several Canadian festivals including Guelph Jazz Festival, Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville, Halifax Jazz Festival, Newfoundland Music on the Rocks and at the Western Front in Vancouver. 

Over the years, The Lollipop People have performed alongside such artists as Of Montreal, The Tiger Lillies, Trevor Dunn, and Amanda Palmer.      

Friendly Rich’s is set to release a new studio recording, Man Out of Time on the label, We Are Busy Bodies in 2023 followed by a European and Canadian tour.

Things are busy with Friendly Rich and The Pumpkin Pie Corporation, but as Friendly says, “one can either produce, or become produce”.  

Photo Credit – Jim Tobin


D I S C O V E R

Website: http://www.friendlyrich.com
Bandcamp: https://friendlyrich.bandcamp.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/friendlyrich
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/friendlyrich
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Friendly_Rich
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/friendlyrich
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1SWneDpUI2N0Bz46xl1cg5?si=zo59VzLcR9mAZr6F_m9ksg

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