ABOUT

In the early 1980s at the age of 10, RJ Young fell in love with rock music. In 1982, he started collecting cassette tapes and records of his favorite music. By 1985, he owned a cheap acoustic guitar that a friend had given him. RJ had no idea how to play it, but he tried, and in doing so, developed a deep interest in guitar and in music. In a strange turn of events, when RJ was a freshman in high school his family's house was robbed. With the insurance money he received for his stolen cassette tapes, RJ purchased his first electric guitar.

Four years later, RJ entered college as a music major. In addition to completing the curriculum required of music majors, he studied string arrangement with Dr. Larry Zgonc. Also under Zgonc, RJ completed a special study of Eastern musics, and a special study of contemporary composers. He also studied brass, woodwind and percussion orchestration under Larry Johnson of Portland State University. With Dave Barduhn, RJ studied big band arrangement. During these years, his guitar teachers included Eric Johnson, followed by a year of classical guitar lessons with Steve Adams. To further his education of music, RJ still reads several books a year on the subject.

RJ began working as a salesman at Portland Music Company in 1991 at the age of 19. He continued working there as a salesman until 1998, except for a yearlong break in 1993. During that year, he tutored both first and second year music theory at Mount Hood Community College as a college employee. At 24, RJ was asked by the manager of Portland Music Company to start taking on guitar students. RJ taught guitar at Portland Music for 10 years until moving on to teaching independently, as he still does today. In addition to teaching privately, RJ has worked with a number of recording clients, helping them produce their own original music.

In 1994, while working as the music theory tutor at MHCC, the Planetarium Director at the college commissioned RJ to compose music for a special planetarium show with artist John Foster. RJ and Foster worked very closely together, creating a headlining show of original artwork and original music that was called "Celestial Odyssey," and later known as "Celestial Horizons." The show was a huge success for Foster, RJ, and the MHCC Planetarium. The Portland company Slide Pro recreated and marketed a shorter version of the show, and commissioned new music by RJ. This shorter version of the show was called "Explorer."

Original music has always been the main focus for RJ as a guitarist and musician. While in high school, he played in 3 bands. While in college, both the MHCC String Ensemble and the MHCC Symphonic Band performed RJ's original compositions during their public performances. After college, RJ found himself playing guitar in a Top 40 cover band for about a year. But he quickly returned to original music in a rock band named Bob. Bob released the album "Tall Tales and Confessions" in 1997, co-produced by RJ. After the break-up of Bob, he formed another original band, Meridian.

In more recent years, RJ has focused mainly on solo projects of instrumental music. He has released 3 albums of this nature: "12:34" in 2011, "Fade" in 2014, and "Like a Lone Cloud in an Otherwise Sky of Blue" in 2019. In 2017, as a member of the post-rock band Spectral Echo, he produced the band's demo. Also that year, he released an album of original singer/songwriter material called "Burn It Down Gently." In early 2024, RJ will release yet another solo instrumental album, "Central Hotel," a project he started working on in 2016. "Central Hotel" is an epic work blending both modern and traditional folk and classical genres that was recorded entirely on acoustic instruments.