Sometimes, the algorithm gets it right.
A random evening of scrolling on YouTube led me to a short clip of a young musician who wasn’t just playing notes.
She was locked in, fully invested, and clearly in love with the study and craft.
The artist is Cara Richard, a 12-year-old player whose passion for music runs far deeper than age might suggest.
In our conversation, Cara shares how she first tried guitar, only to discover her hands weren’t quite ready.
But – Enter her Dad: to the rescue with a perfect solution.
And the rest, as they say, is rock and roll history.
Cara wields her instrument with confidence and joy.
With a wildly varied repertoire, ranging from the Beatles, Yes, and Rush, to Jellyfish, They Might Be Giants, and even Real Big Fish, she’s not interested in labels or musical gatekeeping.
While a certain famous Liverpudlian is among her idols, Cara is just as likely to cover Boston or Frank Sinatra – with equal enthusiasm.
Cara enjoys drawing, both in digital and traditional formats, but it’s clear that music is her true north. Her playing is disciplined, expressive, and, above all, fun.
I’d best her speak (and play) for herself, though!
Watch our full interview below to hear Cara in action and experience her melodic and authentic nature firsthand.
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Alright, Cara! This does my heart good to see someone this young killing it on the bass and being a real student of classic music. Don’t ever stop! There’s no telling where it can take you. I really like your choices of what to play. I was impressed with Sir Duke. That’s not easy stuff. The Zombies are all time for me, so I loved the “She’s Not There” cover.
I will be interested to see if you explore them further. Chris White has some fun bass lines deeper in their catalog.
I have always loved the bass lines at that first Boston album, Peace of Mind being one of them.
As an aside, mt, I think that’s the first time I’ve heard actually seen your face and heard you speak. That was a nice bonus. I do miss the hoodie.
And I would be the person that would invite the tuba player to the beach party.
Dogs is not the right answer.
how about “pie”?
“Pie” is always the correct answer.
Yes to pie, any pie, even some of those weird British ones.
Impressive! As a bassist I can verify that some of those tunes are really hard and Cara nailed them. “Sir Duke,” “Mayor Of Simpleton,” Reel Big Fish’s version of “Take On Me,” they’re all tricky parts. I’m going to have to watch Cara’s videos to learn how to play them right!
This is a good new series, mt58. I hope you do a lot more of these. It’s a good way to discover music and musicians. And you started with a bass player. As it should be!
Yes, bassists to the front of the line, please. I will gladly follow behind
I watched the interview hours ago. I wanted musicians to weigh in first. Definitely not “aspiring”. I concur.
I wanted to text my cousin’s daughter who is about your age when you cited XTC as a favorite. Nothing drives me crazy more than “I wasn’t born yet.”
“Mayor of Simpleton”.
I love this song.
That joke Sabrina Carpenter made when she performed with Paul Simon at the SNL 50th anniversary hurt my joints.
That’s a really dumb thing for young people to say. Like bragging about their ignorance of musical history. I wasn’t born when Mozart was slinging hits, but I appreciate his music. You need to know who influenced your favorite bands to really get where they are coming from and appreciate the depth of what they are doing. That’s how I feel, anyway. My Dad exposed me from everything from ragtime to movie musicals to Chuck Berry to Beatles to pop to prog rock to NWOBHM and ’80s New Wave (not punk though, blah!) right up to ’90s-00s alternative. I kind of fell off the wagon after that though. – Cara
An exciting new development; mt live and unmasked (unhooded?) and in conversation.
Good on Cara for not limiting her listening and picking out tracks from across the decades. Best of luck whether music remains a hobby or something more serious.
An exciting new development; mt live and unmasked (unhooded?) and in conversation.
Well, that’s one opinion.
I do miss the mystery of the “shadowy figure” version of mt, but that was a bit harsh.
I think the incorrect grammar negates the validity of their opinion.
Everyone’s a critic. And not as polite as they would be in person.
Thanks again for having me it was lots of fun!
🙏 🙂
I was a bass player in a band when I was in high school. I had an old Yamaha Flying Samurai.
That’s not how I pronounce TNOCS, but I accept that my choice to rhyme it with socs (from The Outsiders) is probably wrong.
I caught that “Buggles’ medley of their hit”- I actually first heard that joke delivered by Sonny Bono on Sonny & Cher live, an album my parents bought me back when they (the Bonos, not my parents) had a variety show on TV.- Cara’s Dad
Here’s the joke:
https://youtu.be/JQMhx6gZx7s?t=501
Wow thanks everyone for your kind words!! I am very dedicated, practice 2 hours a day, 6pm and 9pm except Sundays off (I sing in the choir that day) and I do like a wide variety of music, thanks to my Dad who has always exposed us kids to all kinds of music since we were kids. The downside is I feel no connexion with my peers and their music, I detest hiphop, rap, funk, disco/dance/trance/house and really dislike slapping/tapping/popping bass, b ut other than that, I’m open.
Thanks to mt58 for having me and being such a great interviewer, sorry I sound like a dunce on some of the questions, I wasn’t as fast on my feet as I would have liked!
If you like to see my almost 200 vids I’ve made since I got my Rick in March, they are here:
http://youtube.com/@cararickbass and http://youtube.com/@cararickbass/videos
I bet I do a song or band you like!
Cara, it was a delight; the most fun I’ve had in forever. You shone like the sun. 😊
Thank you for your kindness and your generous time. Come hang with us at TNOCS anytime!
-mt