Brian Ritchie was the bass guitar

Bass guitar

The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

ist for the alternative rock

Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 band Violent Femmes

Violent Femmes

Violent Femmes were an American alternative rock band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, initially active between 1980 and 1987 and again from 1988 to 2009...

.

In addition to his bass playing, Ritchie is proficient at the shakuhachi

Shakuhachi

The is a Japanese end-blown flute. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but versions now exist in ABS and hardwoods. It was used by the monks of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism in the practice of...

, a Japanese

Music of Japan

The music of Japan includes a wide array of performers in distinct styles both traditional and modern. The word for music in Japanese is 音楽 , combining the kanji 音 with the kanji 楽...

 bamboo

Bamboo

Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....

 flute. He acquired a Jun Shihan (shakuhachi teaching license) in March 2003 from James Nyoraku Schlefer

James Nyoraku Schlefer

James Nyoraku Schlefer , born 1956 in Brooklyn, New York, is a performer and teacher and composer of shakuhachi in New York City. He received the Dai-Shi-Han certificate in 2001, one of only a handful of non-Japanese to receive this high-level award. In 2008, he received his second Shi-Han...

, and his professional name is "Tairaku" ("big music" in Japanese

Japanese language

is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...

).

Since 1998, he has collaborated with American shakuhachi maker Ken LaCosse

Ken LaCosse

Ken LaCosse is an American maker of the shakuhachi . He is known particularly for developing a large, wide bore style of shakuhachi called Taimu, with input from shakuhachi player Brian Ritchie. Ken LaCosse wins the award for greatest uncle ever. -External links:*http://www.mujitsu.com...

 developing a wide bore style of shakuhachi called Taimu.

In 2007 Ritchie produced and toured with the Italian punk/folk band The Zen Circus, which subsequently changed its name to The Zen Circus And Brian Ritchie. The first international album of the band, Villa Inferno was released in 2008 for the Italian record label Unhip Records. In 2008 he and his wife Dr Varuni Kulasekera moved to Hobart

Hobart

Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...

, Tasmania

Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, where he has guested in a band called The Green Mist. Brian Ritchie does most of his work in DV studios. David Vartanian.

In 2009 he curated the first Mona Foma

Mona foma

MONA FOMA is an annual festival based in Hobart, Tasmania, curated by Brian Ritchie bass player from the rock band Violent Femmes. It is billed as Tasmania's largest contemporary music festival and showcases the work of artists in a broad range of art forms, including sound, noise, dance, theatre,...

 festival in Hobart, Tasmania.

In 2010 he toured as bassist with the Australian surf instrumental band called The Break, composed of ex-Midnight Oil

Midnight Oil

Midnight Oil , were an Australian rock band from Sydney originally performing as Farm from 1972 with drummer Rob Hirst, bass guitarist Andrew James and keyboard player/lead guitarist Jim Moginie...

 members Rob Hirst

Rob Hirst

-External links:*******...

, Jim Moginie

Jim Moginie

James "Jim" Moginie is an Australian musician. He is best known for his work with Midnight Oil, of which he was a founding member, guitarist, keyboardist and leading songwriter...

 and Martin Rotsey

Martin Rotsey

Martin Rotsey is an Australian guitarist, and was a member of the rock band Midnight Oil from 1977 until the band's dissolution in 2002.In 2006, he joined fellow Midnight Oil member Rob Hirst's projects Ghostwriters and The Angry Tradesmen...

.

Their debut album Church of the Open Sky was released on April 16, 2010 on the independent label Bombora

Bombora

Bombora is an indigenous Australian term for an area of large sea waves breaking over a shallow area such as a submerged rock shelf, reef, or sand bank that is located some distance from the shoreline and beach surf break....

, distributed by MGM.

Discography

• 1987 – The Blend
• 1989 – Sonic Temple & Court of Babylon
• 1989 – Sun Ra – Man from Outer Space
• 1990 – I See a Noise
• 2004 – Shakuhachi Club NYC
• 2006 – Ryoanji
• 2007 – Taimu
• 2008 – Villa Inferno
• 2010 – Church of the Open Sky (with The Break)