EPCHS Alum In The Spotlight: Rick King, Class Of 1986

EVERGREEN PARK, IL — A popular blues musician named King is proud to call Evergreen Park Community High School his alma mater. It’s not the late great B.B. King, although 1986 Mustang alum Rick King has performed on stage with him.

“I’m blessed enough to have traveled nationally, and internationally, and had spot gigs with some legendary, Grammy-winning Chicago blues musicians,” Rick King said.

In addition to B.B. King, the list of greats he has shared a stage with includes the greats Buddy Guy, Coco Taylor, Chuck Berry, and Bo Diddley.

But blues hasn’t always been in King’s blood. In fact, he wasn’t even involved with music while gracing the halls of EPCHS in the 1980s.

“I was really into BMX racing in high school,” King said. “So much so that the training consumed my weekends in being super competitive.”

His love for music came around while enrolled in college at Eastern Illinois University. It was there where King first started taking regular music lessons.

“I knew that by the time I got out of college that somehow, some way, I was going to make a run at being a full-time musician,” he said.

Now a regular freelance drummer, vocalist and percussionist with 5-6 different bands every year and founder of Rick King’s Royal Hustle, King’s rise to stardom was anything but immediate.

“There were some very humble beginnings,” he said. “It was very difficult because I had zero connections, no one in my family was a musician and I even had to set up my drums on Jackson and Michigan in downtown Chicago and started playing.

“I did that for months, then started going to jam nights and open mics all over town and from there began networking constantly.”

Among the bands King regularly performs with are the “Honey Island Swamp Band” from New Orleans that tours nationally, a Grateful Dead experience band called “The Schwag,” Buddy Guy’s touring band and his own Rick King’s Royal Hustle.

Unless he’s on tour, you can find King every Thursday night at Mom’s Place at 650 N. Dearborn in downtown Chicago.

Having traveled the world, King said nothing compares to the blues scene in Chicago.

“There is no comparison,” the current Bridgeport neighborhood resident said. “Chicago is in a league completely of its own. It’s very competitive and produces some very strong players. I feel very blessed to have been taken in by folks who were decades older than me and taught me the ropes.”

Even nearly four decades after his EPCHS graduation, King said he still has many friends whom he went to school with.

“I remember the camaraderie,” he said. “We all had a good time, a lot of laughs and developed long-lasting friendships.”

Advice for current EPCHS students

“Whatever field you want to go into, don’t be afraid to go ahead and jump all the way in. With the internet, it’s easier now than ever before. Find people who are successful in the field, study the business models and recreate it to fit your skills.”