The “Richard” behind “Rico”
October 26, 2005

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Richard Dwight “Rico” Stover (b. 1945, Clinton, Iowa) grew up in California where he attended Roosevelt High School in Fresno and later Fresno State University. He earned a degree in Latin American Ethnomusicology from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1975. While in high school Stover was selected as an exchange student with the American Field Service Program and spent a summer in the Central American nation of Costa Rica. It was there that he discovered the guitar and Latin American culture, two themes that have figured heavily in his life. He began his personal journey with the guitar by learning Costa Rican folk songs with rhythmic chordal accompaniments. Then one day he heard a classical guitarist whose playing deeply interested him. This guitarist, one Juan de Dios Trejos, was in fact a student of the great Agustín Barrios Mangoré (1885-1944). Sr. Trejos advised young Stover to seek out a teacher upon his return to California, which Stover did, thus beginning his study of the classical guitar.

During this time he formed a folk trio modeled on the Kingston Trio and performed in nightclubs and college concerts for several years on the West Coast. He continued his study of the guitar over the ensuing years with Ako Ito in San Francisco, José Tomás and Jorge Fresno in Spain, and later with José Rey de la Torre and Manuel Lopez Ramos in California. It was after spending a year in Argentina in 1967 that he became truly aware of the scope and quality of Latin American guitar music.

Stover also worked as a popular guitarist, playing electric guitar in various groups in Reno, Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe (1968-71). His interest in Latin America intensified and over the years he returned to Mexico and Costa Rica numerous times. While enrolled at the University of California Santa Cruz his interest in Latin American guitar led him to begin research on the enigmatic figure of Agustín Barrios Mangoré, which culminated in an extensive trip during the summer of 1974 to Central America where he discovered many pieces of music by the great Paraguayan guitarist.

Stover eventually published the fruits of his research with Belwin Mills Publishing Company (1976) in what was the first comprehensive edition of Barrios’ music. Stover met famed concert guitarist John Williams in 1976 and collaborated with him in the preparation of his historic 1978 Barrios LP.

Stover moved to Hawaii in 1982 where he resided for 7 years on the Big Island playing guitar at world-class hotels. He returned to California in 1989 and rekindled his interest and research of Latin American guitar music. In 1990 he was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to Paraguay for the purpose of researching the life and music of Barrios. As a result of his many years of study and compilation of information, he wrote his acclaimed biography of Barrios "Six Silver Moonbeams--The Life and Times of Agustín Barrios Mangoré" which he published in 1992 through his own company, Querico Publications.

Stover currently resides in Puerto Rico where he divides his time between performing and publishing. In 1995 he began a relationship with Mel Bay Publications, writing and performing the "Latin American Guitar Guide", followed by "Barrios in Tablature, Volume 1" (1996) and "Barrios in Tablature, Volume 2" (1997). In 2000 he released a CD on the Musication label entitled "Beautiful Music of the Guitar".

Related Notes:
[ Latin American guitar concerts: ¡qué Rico! ]