Arts & Entertainment Community

Rick Bleiweiss still rocking and writing after move to Heron’s Key

Gig Harbor has a new neighbor with connections to some of the most recognizable names in music and publishing. Rick Bleiweiss brings with him a set of credentials, a long resume and a passion for the community. 

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Bleiweiss and his wife, Deborah Morgan, looked literally all over the country after deciding to move from their dream home in Ashland, Ore., last year. One visit to Gig Harbor, and they were ready to pack.

They put down a deposit and secured an apartment at Heron’s Key. They wanted a place that had a full spectrum of services, he said. Independent and assisted living, as well as nursing facilities were important to them.

Rick Bleiweiss moved to Heron’s Key in Gig Harbor last year with his wife, Deborah Morgan. After a successful career in the music industry — as a musician and producer — he switched gears and works for a publishing company. Photo courtesy of Rick Bleiweiss

Don’t call him retired

But Bleiweiss is anything but a retiree. Bleiweiss creates and works full time from his Heron’s Key apartment.

Music awards fill one wall at that apartment. Literary awards adorn another while a third features a large framed piece of artwork that his great-great grandfather drew as a young child in Russia.

In the short time that he has lived in Gig Harbor, Bleiweiss has written a novella, produced songs, and given a presentation at the library on book publishing. His background is filled with one accomplishment after another, and a plethora of anecdotes involving some of the biggest names in the music industry.

Bleiweiss learned to play guitar as a child growing up in New York, and by the time he was a young teen he was forming his own rock bands. They performed for frat parties, and the word spread, which led to gigs in bars and nightclubs in New York City. College introduced him to a whole new world, and he said he excelled there. He chose a degree in radio, TV and film, and went on to get a master’s degree in communication. Later, he took a course at Harvard for senior executives. 

In between, he played music, was on the road for 15 years, and produced more than 50 records. He marketed major film soundtracks, including Star Wars and Saturday Night Fever, and helped to launch some big names, like the Backstreet Boys. He worked with acts Kiss, Donna Summer, David Bowie, Tone Loc, U2, Alan Jackson, Clint Black, and many more. 

Rick Bleiweiss’ home office includes a wall filled with his music industry awards. He retired as a producer for major labels, but has recently launched a one-man band, Captain Rick’s Retrorockit, with guest vocals on some tracks. Photo courtesy of Rick Bleiweiss

Bleiweiss was vice president of sales and promotions at PIP/Pickwick and moved to Island Records, which was bought by Polygram. He had top executive roles at Arista Records and BMG Distribution.

Turning the page

He retired from the music industry in 2002, but not from working. In 2006, previously serving on Blackstone Publishing’s board of the company, he became a full time employee of the company. At that time, Blackstone was an audio book company, he said. Bleiweiss became the head of New Business Development, mentoring writers and acquiring books. He also set up the new initiative to produce books, ebooks, TV, film and acquiring the first foreign licensing for the company. 

He recently signed actress Susan Lucci, who has written a new memoir, and worked with Whoopi Goldberg on her New York Times best-selling memoir. Other writers he has worked with include mystery writer Geneva Rose and Andrews and Wilson, the Navy Seal fiction team, he said.

All of this may seem like enough of a career to some, but for Bleiweiss it was just a start. He decided he wanted to write novels.

At the age of 77, his first novel Pignon Scorbioin & the Barbershop Detective was published. It did well. It was a Publishers Weekly Pick of Mystery Debuts, and an Amazon Editor’s Top Pick, a PNBA BuzzBooks Winner, and a BookBub Editor’s Pick as well. He wrote a second one for that series, Murder in Haxford, with a third one in production. They are not written specifically for young readers, he said, but when a bookseller suggested that the series is appropriate for the Young Adult age group, Bleiweiss created a Parents and Teachers Guide to go with the series.

At the age of 77, Rick Bleiweiss published his first novel in a series called Pignon Scorbion & the Barbershop Detectives. The second one is called Murder in Haxford, and the third in the series is currently in production.

Since moving to Gig Harbor a year ago, he has written a novella, which could become a movie.

“My literary agent is out with it in Hollywood, and I have a British network expressing interest in the books for film treatment,” he said. “It’s a movie about a retirement community, sort of a combination of Home Alone and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.”

His YouTube channel, with a video show called Chapter and Verse, is another endeavor, where he interviews bestselling authors. 

Rock and writing

Influenced by a number of artists, such as The Beatles, Bon Jovi, Eddie Cochran, and others, Bleiweiss has begun to flirt with his roots of playing in a band. “One Night Man,” is a song that he wrote, and produced by his new one-man band, Captain Rick’s Retrorockit. The vocals are by Jake Howard. 

“Rock is my love,” he said. “I wrote, played all of the instruments, except the drums, and produced a song recently, and I played it for some friends and they said it sounded like a hit.”

He continues to work full time for Blackstone Publishing, and he said while other companies are mandating workers back to the office, Blackstone is doing just the opposite. Nearly all of their employees work remotely from home offices all over the country. That flexibility afforded Bleiweiss and his wife the option to move to Gig Harbor.

His years of experience have given him a toolbox filled with talent, and expertise, but also sound advice.

“You’re never too old,” he said. “If you have a dream, and the energy, chase it. Find something that interests you, that you have some aptitude for, and don’t be afraid of failure, or rejection. Don’t let people tell you that you’re too old to do anything.”

He can’t say enough good things about Gig Harbor, and Heron’s Key, which he said has the most interesting, intelligent, and friendliest people. 

“The first thing we said was this (Heron’s Key) is like an upscale hotel, or a cruise ship on land,” he said. “Everything is taken care of, and there is tremendous programming here.”