Richard Middleton is a veteran singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, teacher, filmmaker, and writer living in Seattle. For 40 years, he has been a mainstay of the Northwest scene, as a bandleader, soloist, collaborator, sideman, and teacher.

His self-produced recordings and music videos can be heard and seen on YouTube (and on the Music page) — most recently the single, "Bill and Melinda."

In addition to recording and performing his own music, he is lead guitarist and keyboardist with Reggie Garrett and the Snake Oil Peddlers, and has collaborated with many highly regarded independent artists, including Erin Corday, Kym Tuvim, Joanne Rand, Joe Jencks, Larry Murante, Magdalen Hsu-Li, Jim Vick, Kathryn Mostow, and Carrie Clark.

While studying jazz piano at Cornish College of the Arts (where he graduated summa cum laude in 1989), he worked with many acclaimed jazz artists, teachers, and mentors, including Jerry Granelli, Julian Priester, Jim Knapp, Jay Clayton, Hadley Caliman, Dave Peck, Randy Halberstadt, and Ralph Towner, as well as composers Janice Giteck and Jarrad Powell.

He is a dedicated and respected teacher in his own right. He taught songwriting at Cornish College of the Arts, and has taught music privately since 1988. His guitar, piano, and songwriting students have included many established and emerging Northwest artists.

He is the author of the instructional books "Rhythm Guitar Secrets" (2009) and "Reading Rhythm" (2018), and editor/designer of Jim Knapp's comprehensive theory textbook, "Jazz Harmony" (2009/2015).

His other music writing has appeared in Victory Review, SingOut!, Dirty Linen, and Smithsonian magazine. His popular column, "Inside Music," ran in Victory Review for four years, and continues to attract readers around the world through the Inside Music archive.

He was the founder and editor of SongSpace.net (2004-2011), an online magazine and community hub for singer-songwriters in the greater Seattle area, and was the producer and host of the SongSpace Concert Series.

He is the creator/programmer of Jotsam, a unique online writing tool that allows users to "collaborate" with the computer to generate text.

He has composed and performed music and sound design for dance, performance, and theater, including works by Consuelo González (On the Boards, Intimate Stage), John Stone (On the Boards), and Jeff Bickford (Broadway Performance Hall), and several productions with Youth Theater Northwest. He has also performed his own solo "sound stories" at On the Boards and the Seattle Fringe Theater Festival.