A man of many titles, Rick Bleiweiss is an author, publishing executive, former music industry executive and a GRAMMY-nominated record producer. “Pignon Scorbion & The Barbershop Detectives” – as released last month – is his first novel. The book was largely influenced by Bleiweiss’ trips to England, as the titular character Scorbion is a Sherlock Holmes-type character. Think of this as the first book in a historical mystery series, showcasing both Bleiweiss’ love of the past and what you would expect from a classic “whodunit.”
Now residing in Ashland, Oregon, Rick Bleiweiss started his career in music on the creative side. He was initially a performer, going on to produce over 50 records. His credits as an executive include work with the likes of Clive Davis, Melissa Etheridge, The Backstreet Boys, KISS, U2, Whitney Houston and The Bee Gees. In addition, Bleiweiss marketed the movie soundtracks for 3 “Star Wars” movies, “Saturday Night Fever” and “This Is Spinal Tap.”
Since 2006, Rick Bleiweiss has worked as a publishing company executive. Related to this, he has acquired works by plenty of best-selling and award-winning authors, including Rex Pickett (“Sideways”), James Clavell (“Shogun”), PC Cast (“House Of Night”), Gabriel García Márquez (a winner of a 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature), Leon Uris (“Exodus”), Natasha Boyd (“The Indigo Girl”), Andrews & Wilson (“Tier One”) and Nicholas Sansbury Smith (“Hell Divers”). And by the looks of it, he himself looks to be on-track with those authors as someone potentially having one of his books adapted for an on-screen production.
On March 3, 2022, I had the pleasure of speaking with Rick Bleiweiss via Zoom, as embedded below. Beyond “Pignon Scorbion & The Barbershop Detectives,” we spoke about his long-term and multi-faceted career around entertainment, what he learned from working with Gene Simmons of KISS, future goals, and why he has no plans to retire.
More on Rick Bleiweiss can be found by clicking here and here.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.