Richard Naiff

Richard Naiff
Naiff playing keyboards in 2003
Background information
Birth nameRichard Naiff
BornLondon, England
GenresRock, folk, folk rock, blues
OccupationMusician
Instrument(s)Piano, keyboards, flute

Richard Naiff is a British pianist and flautist from London who has performed with the bands Soulsec, The Catacoustics, The Waterboys and The Icicle Works. Naiff is a classically trained musician, having joined the Guildhall School of Music at age ten. The Irish music website Cluas.com describes Naiff as "phenomenally talented".[1]

Naiff was invited to participate on The Waterboys' album A Rock in the Weary Land after the group's leader Mike Scott heard his piano work in a studio next to one where the recording sessions for A Rock in the Weary Land were taking place. Naiff joined the band officially in June 2000.[2] Along with Mike Scott and Steve Wickham, Naiff made up the core of the post-2000 Waterboys band.[3]

Former Waterboy Ian McNabb described Naiff as Scott's "find of the century".[4] Not coincidentally, while keeping his membership in the Waterboys, Naiff also joined McNabb's touring band in 2004, and became a member of a revived version of McNabb's old band The Icicle Works in 2006.

Naiff's rock and roll influences include The Damned.[2]

Naiff left The Waterboys in 2009 to spend more time with his family.[5]

Notes

  1. ^ "Universal Hall, Findhorn, Scotland, January 2002". Gig Reviews on Cluas.com. Retrieved 30 October 2005.
  2. ^ a b "Weary Land Who's Who". mikescottwaterboys.com. Retrieved 30 October 2005.
  3. ^ Sweeting, Adam (17 June 2003). "The Waterboys". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  4. ^ "Karma to Burn reports". mikescottwaterboys. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 3 November 2005.
  5. ^ "Waterboys news updates". mikescottwaterboys. Archived from the original on 30 March 2010. Retrieved 11 April 2010.