Rick Davis
Rick's vocation has taken some major twists but his love of working with wood, combining aesthetic, intellectual, and manual challenges, never changed. He remembers watching his West Virginia grandfather undertake projects as varied as making a clock and building a new house; perhaps that was the beginning of Rick's career in lutherie.

He began his lutherie career with a batch of parlor guitars, one of which attracted the attention of a local musician. The commission resulting from that encounter helped start Running Dog Guitars. After 15 years of building, Rick has produced over 160 guitars for clients throughout the US, Canada, and Europe. All reflect Rick’s profound respect for lutherie tradition and his studied, empirical approach to guitar building.

Rick served as the Executive Director of the Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans (ASIA) and was the editor of Guitarmaker magazine from 1999 to 2005. He has been an exhibitor at the Healdsburg, Newport, and Montreal guitar shows, and has been featured in several books about contemporary luthier-built instruments. Rick's work is the centerpiece of Tim Brookes' 2005 book, Guitar: An American Life. He moved to Seattle in 2006 to create a shared shop and lutherie center with his talented partner, Cat Fox.