Hi! My name is Ricky Katz.  I have been in the music business my entire life,  playing for TV shows or in concerts, teaching, or as a sideman for casuals. Music has always been my life and passion.

My love affair with the guitar began when I was nine years old.   My mom purchased a cheap plywood guitar,  took a couple of lessons and gave up.  I would come home every day after school and strum the guitar not knowing a thing about it but I had this gut feeling that I loved it!  I begged my parents to get me lessons. They kept turning me down saying I was not old enough and that I wouldn’t practice.  This went on for a couple of years.

Finally when I was eleven they agreed with one stipulation… “If you are going to learn how to play the guitar then so is your brother!”  After my first lesson, I couldn’t put it down!  I would practice hours on end,  always craving more and more information.  To this day I keep working on my craft.  My brother – he would rather tinker with electronics – HA!

I have played on TV shows such as “Laverne and Shirley” and “Happy Days” as well as the long time daytime drama “The Young and Restless.” I have played in venues such as The Roxy, The Troubadour, and the Starlight Bowl to name a few.  I have also worked for The Academy of Motion Pictures, Warner Brothers Records and Sony Pictures among many others.  Lastly, I have had the privilege to play for legendary show business figures Johnny Carson, Don Rickles and Frank Sinatra as well as U.S. presidents Gerald Ford and Bill Clinton.

Along with my teaching, I am currently the lead and rhythm guitarist for – Country Nation (a country rock show band) http://country-nation.com/index.html

Regarding my teaching; I taught at the famous Dick Grove School of Music and at Valley Arts Guitars.

The bottom line is that I love to teach music.  There is nothing that feels better to me than to teach someone how to play the guitar.