Episode Details

Episode Summary

For more than four decades, percussionist, composer, producer, and artist-relations executive Rich Mangicaro has stood alongside some of music's most celebrated performers—including Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh, David Crosby, Venice, and many others. But as Rich explains, lasting musical careers aren't built on virtuosity alone. They're built on listening.

In this conversation, Rich reflects on learning groove with The Drifters, finding his place in Glenn Frey's band, building instruments with Gon Bops, composing music for film and television, and eventually discovering his own artistic voice after decades as one of Los Angeles' most respected sidemen.

Together we explore why percussion is about storytelling rather than timekeeping, what separates great musicians from merely talented ones, how the streaming era has transformed music, and why serving the song often matters more than standing in the spotlight.

This is a conversation about rhythm, humility, collaboration, and the quiet discipline of paying attention.

Episode Highlights

·      Growing up with Ringo, jazz, and Afro-Cuban rhythms 

·      Learning groove from The Drifters 

·      Touring with Glenn Frey and Joe Walsh 

·      Why the best percussionists don't play the most notes 

·      Artist relations and designing instruments at Gon Bops 

·      COVID, creativity, and finding a personal compositional voice 

·      Streaming, physical media, and the economics of independent music 

·      Film music, Hans Zimmer, and why movie scores deserve respect 

·      Rick Rubin and listening as creative practice 

·      Why "you can't converse unless you listen"

Featured Music:

·      Amazonia (Travels) 

·      Flattening the Curve (Dialogues) 

·      The Way It Was (A Dream I Had)

All music used with permission

Memorable Moments

·      "My job wasn't to show everybody how good I was."

·      "You can't converse unless you listen."

·      "Music is conversation."

·      "Play what the music calls for."

·      "Our job is to make people dance."

About the Artist

Rich Mangicaro is a percussionist, composer, producer, music journalist, and artist-relations specialist whose career spans more than four decades at the highest levels of the music industry. Best known for his fifteen years performing with Eagles co-founder Glenn Frey, Rich has also toured or recorded with artists including Joe Walsh, David Crosby, Michael McDonald, Aaron Neville, Jeff Bridges, The Tubes, James Morrison, Jackson Browne, and the acclaimed vocal group Venice.

Away from the stage, Rich has become one of the percussion world's leading voices in artist relations, helping shape instrument design while working closely with generations of influential drummers and percussionists. He currently serves as Artist Relations Manager and Product Specialist for Gon Bops, where he also produces and hosts The Percussion Loft podcast.

As a composer, Rich creates immersive instrumental music that blends acoustic percussion, cinematic textures, and melodic storytelling. His three solo albums—Travels (2018), Dialogues (2022), and A Dream I Had (2024)—reflect a lifetime of listening, travel, collaboration, and creative curiosity. In recent years, he has also composed music for television, film, and commercial productions with longtime collaborator Jonathan Clark.

Whether performing, composing, producing, designing instruments, or mentoring fellow musicians, Rich approaches every role with the same philosophy expressed in this conversation: the greatest musicians are not those who play the most notes—t