Richard Swift – Famed Producer and Former Member of The Shins and The Black Keys – Dies at 41
Photo via Jess Wolfe
Richard Swift was a go-to producer and collaborator for countless marquee acts, including The Shins, The Black Keys, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, John Prine, Guster, Foxygen, Marco Benevento and Kevin Morby.
News broke in June that Swift was fighing a serious medical condition and on July 3 a message posted to his Facebook informed friends and fans of his passing. He was 41.
“Today the world lost one of the most talented musicians I know,” Dan Auerbach wrote on Instagram of his Arcs bandmate. “I will miss you my friend.”
Swift was known in indie circles as a reliable sideman (the toured as a bassist with The Black Keys in 2014) as well as a creative tour de force (he was a member of The Shins from 2011-2016 and was an entirely self-taught multi-instrumentalist).
Swift also put out seven solo releases between 2005 and 2010, and Pitchfork applauded his forceful willpower and an unflagging self-confidence on his first two releases The Novelist and Walking Without Effort.
“We hit it off right away. Worked really hard. I think I laughed more than I ever had. He’s a funny guy. He’s a sweet dude,” Nathaniel Rateliff told Jambands.com in 2014, regarding his work with Swift on his band’s eponymous solo album.
Most recently, Swift made Other People’s Songs Vol. 1 a 2016 album of covers with Damien Jurado.
“To the ether that now carries you, Richard: I’ve never met anyone like you and you changed the way i think about music forever and ever,” Ryan Miller of Guster said, reflecting on Swift’s passing. “What an immense loss, for all of us. I love you and I miss you and I wish you peace, old buddy. You were a singular burst. I’m heartbroken.” Swift had produced Guster’s most recent record Evermotion.
