6.11.11
The brand-new song "Lost Time" is now available in the Music section. And not just the lyrics... We're talking the full-blown studio version MP3!
Please enjoy this gift from me by passing it along to friends/family/lovers/ex-lovers/enemies/random passerby. And don't forget to join the new Facebook page here if you haven't already! It needs your love.

3.16.11
Red Perspective is now Richard Challen. Even though the website remains the same. I know, it confuses me too. Anyway, if you missed the link on the front page, go here to "Like" the Facebook page and hear new music!

10.31.10
Happy Halloween all! Tour dates through the end of 2010 are all up in the Tour section.

07.27.10
New lyrics in the Music section. Craig & I back at Connolly's this Saturday, 8-11 PM. To quote the great Al Pacino: "Everytime I think I'm out, they keep pulling me back in..."

06.06.10
The update no one thought would happen. What's new? A lot. The Tour page will hopefully stay updated this time, and there should be some new shows coming as well. Beyond that... Browse at your leisure and enjoy.

11.06.06
Another Tour page update. Only one show in November but a couple closer to Christmas, and of course NYE! Happy (early) holidays....

7.24.06
The Tour page is updated again. Three shows this week so check 'em out. Also the new song "Jaywalkers" is in the Music section. This one is getting played out at every solo show and gets a pretty good reaction (think acoustic Postal Service) so hopefully you dig.

5.18.06
To all of you complaining about the HUGE gaping LACK of updates here on the Red Perspective page... point taken. And finally the situation is remedied... Slightly. The Tour page has been completely overhauled and updated with ALL our summer tour dates.... The BGCB in its various incarnations, along with a few Rich solo shows here and there. And just to annoy some of you further, new lyrics to songs you haven't heard yet are in the Music section. But no actual "Music." All things in time.
Hopefully the next update won't take quite so long, but no promises....

12.18.05
So I finally feel like I'm in the Christmas spirit. A good service with candles and luminaries will do that to you. And with a week to go... Not too shabby, as noted songwriter Adam Sandler might say. So the new blog is my personal picks for the best music of 2005, and if you're one of the few who values my opinion, I hope there's some worthy choices on there for you. Check it out in the Journal section.
And yes, Craig & Frank & myself are doing three shows this week, Wednesday through Friday. If you're in Charlotte I hope you get to come out to at least one. If not, we NEED to see you at Tyber Creek for New Year's Eve then... Tickets are $40 in advance with all the alcohol you can consume. For many of you, a real bargain.
Have a safe and joyous Christmas! God bless!

11.29.05
Hello. Long time. My fault I suppose. I've been on a writing tear so I suppose I should probably play some original shows so you folks can hear the same things I do?.... The new lyrics are in the Music section and they're pretty varied: "Below The Ice" is very moody and building and probably comes from listening to a lot of early Peter Gabriel. "Passenger Seat" was done (I thought) two years ago but I didn't really like the way it came out... so one day in the fall I went back to it and changed most of the music, the lyrics not so much (although half a verse is gone now)... so, 50% new I guess... and I've played it out a few times already, so it's getting better. And "1399-1 (The Fabulous Abby)" just appeared while I was at my parents' house for Thanksgiving, but the riff had been around for a while... It's very simple and very catchy... But everything in the song is from 10 years ago, when I was living in the 1399-1 house in Clemson... filtered through 10 years of hindsight I suppose... The original title for a day was "1399-1, or The Fabulous Abby, or All Names Changed To Protect The Guilty"... which is another way of saying that I know who the Fabulous Abby is, and no, her name's not Abby.
There's also a whole bunch of new BGCB dates on the Tour calendar. Please note we're playing three Christmas shows as part of the "24 Hours Of Festivus." Yes this is Craig's doing. You know you love it.
If I don't see you personally, have a Merry and Wonderful Christmas. I'll see you all in 2006....

10.6.05
OK I'm a slacker and probably a bad person too. In my defense I have been playing some solo shows at the Wine Vault... some guerilla style with almost no advance notice. So you had to be in the right place/right time. I hope to get back to the Muse soon as I have a few new things that you guys should hear. Some reflective, some angry, some sad. Mostly sad.
I've also published a couple new Journal entries so head on over there and see what you've been missing. At the very least you'll know where all my time goes....

6.14.05
There's a brand new song in the Music section. It's called "All This Useless Beauty" and it's one of those you write to keep from screaming. Literally fell out of me as I was driving and I kept having to pull over so I could write the words down and most of it wound up on the back of a warranty card in my glove compartment which was the only scrap paper I had and meanwhile I kept playing this one song by this Irish band Bell X1 over and over and so the chords are simple and don't change much and it's about as sad as anything I've written in a long damn time.
It was a bad drive.
The only one who's heard it so far is my good friend and roommate Kevin. He caught the first-ever run-through back at the house as it was spilling out of me after that car ride. He thinks it's incredible that a song can just appear out of nowhere as I open my mouth and I agree. On the rare occasions it happens, it is pretty amazing... A gift from God above, as it were.
Of course every circumstance around it feels more like a curse. And I'd just as soon write some happy songs every now and then, thanks.

Okay, this is turning into a Journal entry so that's where it's going now. Enjoy the lyrics. I'll be back at the Muse soon and probably play it then.

5.02.05
Thanks to Craig for catching the bad Journal link in my previous update. When in doubt, always hit that Menu to your left there....

4.27.05
Hello and welcome to another infrequent check-in. Updated the Tour page with a lot of May dates including one at The Evening Muse on Saturday May 7th. This will be the first time I've played the new original stuff in public, so that should be cool/interesting/exciting/scary. I'm gonna throw some more lyrics in the Music section as well. AND there's a new Journal entry that's suitably haphazard.

2.08.05
Great to see some old and familiar faces showing up as Craig & I start playing low-key acoustic shows around Charlotte (and elsewhere). Some of you want to see the original shows return too. And the webpage updated frequently. And a new CD. Well... All things in time, I guess. I can't begin to put a timetable on any of those things, but I have updated the Tour page with the newest dates for Craig & myself, and I will promise to keep those more current. And it's not the same as the actual songs themselves, but there's a few new sets of lyrics in the Music section. Be forewarned as there's quite a bit of darkness in those new ones (even by my standards). But it's something new, so hopefully some of you will like... and let me know what you think...