Press Kit
"[King's] penchant for flair and lightning-quick fretboard work left me with my jaw on the floor."
Red Line Roots
"His style is...his own intricate, meticulous instrumental material that could be called pastoral psychedelia or cinematic folk. Either way, it’s a hell of a lot more energetic and epic."
New York Music Daily
"Here is fire, flourish, and every fancy thing: a melody that tears at the heart, runs that trace the tears we shed for those missing and lost, and an opening up of harmonic yearning that keeps us reaching for the sky."
Minor7th Magazine
Bio
R.D. King is an award-winning fingerstyle guitarist, composer, and music educator. Following a tumultuous childhood, King confronts the anxiety and alienation of modern life by seeking deeper meaning, beauty, and connection through instrumental music.
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His compositional prowess has earned him numerous awards and accolades, including back-to-back Outstanding Achievement in Songwriting Awards in the 2023 and 2024 Great American Songwriting Contest, placing as a finalist in the 2023 International Acoustic Music Awards, and winning the 2018 Walnut Valley Festival's NewSong Showcase (Instrumental Category).
A captivating and energetic performer, King blends guitar pyrotechnics with cinematic and evocative music. King is a TEDx Cambridge performer, the winner of the 2017 Canadian Guitar Festival’s International Fingerstyle Guitar Competition, and a finalist of the 2019 Walnut Valley Festival's International Fingerstyle Guitar Competition. He has opened for Grammy-nominated Ari Hest, Andy McKee, Liz Longley, and many others.
Inspired by literature, philosophy, art, and meditation, King’s pursuit of music is his deepest source of personal growth. He hopes to inspire listeners in their own journeys towards empathy, love, and self-actualization.
R.D. King resides in Boston, MA, where he performs, is an associate lecturer at UMass Boston, and explores the evolution of consciousness through sound.
Awards and Accolades
Performing
2019 Finalist, Walnut Valley Festival International Fingerstyle Guitar Competition
2017 Winner, Canadian Guitar Festival International Fingerstyle Guitar Competition
TedX Performer
Candyrat Records Artist
Composing
2024 Outstanding Achievement in Songwriting, Great American Songwriting Contest
2024 Outstanding Achievement in Songwriting, Great American Songwriting Contest
2023 Finalist, Instrumental Category, International Acoustic Music Awards
2018 Winner, Instrumental Category, NewSong Showcase, Walnut Valley Festival
Teaching
Associate Lecturer, UMass Boston
Jamplay and TrueFire Guest Lecturer
R.D. King Music, Owner
Notable Performances
Fingerstyle Collective Festival (Morrilton, AK)
Walnut Valley Music Festival (Winfield, KS)
Monadnock Healing Arts Festival (Keene, NH)
Boston Greenfest (Boston, MA)
Celebrate Music Brookline Festival (Brookline, MA)
The Center for the Arts in Natick (Natick, MA)
TedX Cambridge (Cambridge, MA)
D'Angelico Headquarters (New York, NY)
Club Passim (Cambridge, MA)
Rockwood Music Hall (New York, NY)
The Spire Center (Plymouth, MA)
Rockwell Davis Square Theater (Somerville, MA)
Sherman Showcase (Stroudsburg, PA)
Videos
Photos
