Guitarist, songwriter and solo artist Rick Musallam has anything but a typical background. Born and raised in war-torn Beirut, Lebanon, he emigrated to the United States at 16 and landed in Wichita, Kansas. Almost immediately he was gigging in original and cover bands around town, and soon became known for his versatility, great tone, and a musical maturity and worldliness well beyond his years.

Having made the leap from Lebanon to Kansas, moving to Los Angeles was an easy and logical next step. Musallam arrived in L.A. in 1994 and quickly worked his way into the scene, compiling a vast array of credits in a short period of time. He’s played, toured, recorded and co-written with everyone from singer/songwriters Ben Taylor, Carly Simon, Bird York, and Janet Robin; to eclectic fusion artists like Mike Keneally (Frank Zappa), Bryan Beller (Steve Vai, Dethklok), NDV (Nick D’Virgilio of Tears For Fears and Spock’s Beard) and Gryphon Labs (Pete Griffin of Zappa Plays Zappa); to pop/funk acts like The Roots, Gwen Stefani, Armand Sabel-Lecco (bassist for Paul Simon and many others), and more. Rick recently did a stint with Cirque de Soleil, on the show “Totem”.

As a composer, Rick Musallam’s original music has been featured on HBO, FOX, and NBC. He also writes material for the band Mother Eff (with vocalist Colin Keenan), and his own Jeff-Beck-meets-The-Meters solo project, The Rick Musallam Group.

Whether it’s backing up top artists, or on his own material, Rick Musallam’s guitar playing is consistently tasty, always funky, tonally appropriate, supportive when necessary, and groundbreaking when it needs to be.

Rick Musallam endorses D’addario Strings, Planet Waves Cables, Fender, Voodoo Labs, Mike Lull Guitars, Xotic Effects and Godin Guitars.