In the later years, Rick arrived back in Texas on August 17, 1985 and on August 24, 1985, there was a long awaited celebration and wedding.  Rick and Jan were married in a small church on the north side of Coleman.

Listen to:       White Lace and Flowers I Bet On You

It would be many years later, before Rick would pick up his guitar again as he went about the serious business of making a home, a business and helping Jan raise the two little girls.

But, in 2000, after the passing of a dear friend, Roxy Gordon, Rick was on stage for the first time at a memorial for Roxy at the Sons of Hermann Hall in Dallas.

That started the ball rolling again and a writer, Josh Alan Friedman, approached Rick about doing an interview for TEXAS MONTHLY MAGAZINE.  Rick agreed and the article, “Outlaw Country” was published in January 2001.

That article and performance at Sons of Hermann Hall was the beginning of Rick’s second music career in his later years.  He went on to record a full length CD called “Etchings In Stone”.

He and Jan hosted mini-music festivals at their place in Coleman and performed anytime the opportunity presented itself.  Even though, early in 2003, he lost his left leg to an amputation, he continued on, opening the only music store in Coleman and giving guitar lessons to kids that wanted to learn.  This was one of his greatest rewards in life.  He loved teaching the children and thrived on their enthusiasm.

Together, he and Jan created RiJan publishing company and opened a recording studio where they recorded many of their own songs, including the CD, “Redemption.”

Many local artists came to Rijan studio to record. When you came to record with Rick, you always got a story or two and perhaps a bit of wisdom passed on.

Rick had the pleasure of a heartfelt reunion with Willie Nelson in May of 2004. They shared some old road stories and Willie signed Rick’s Martin guitar.

Rick owned a vast collection of Country Music memorabilia accumulated throughout the forty some-odd years of his music career that hung on the walls in the RiJan recording studio.

Rick’s last project before leaving this earth was making custom designed guitars which he called “Creative Sound”.  He experimented by putting a Dobro sound hole in the top of the guitar and an acoustic mic inside the guitar with the theory that it would pick up the singer’s voice through the sound hole, getting both the vocal and guitar through an amplifier.  He made and sold several before his passing.  Richard Dobson proudly plays his lucky #13 Creative Sound guitar when he comes to the United States to tour.

RICK SIKES left this earthly plane on May 1, 2009, but his legacy, his memory and his music still remain.

Listen to :       ”Etchings-In-Stone.mp3″

“The most beautiful thing in Life is that our souls remain hovering over the place where we once enjoyed ourselves. I am one of those who remembers such places regardless of distance or time. Let not your worrying about the future interfere with your tranquility.”
— RICK SIKES

Two Documentaries, live interviews with Rick, have been filmed; one by Michael Crabtree and one by Carolyn Emanuel.  There has been a screenplay written about a portion of his life and Jan is working on a book of their life together.  Josh Alan Friedman wrote a chapter about Rick in his book, “Tell The Truth Until They Bleed” published by Backbeat books in 2008, available on Amazon.com.  A chapbook titled “Rhythm Rebel”,  was published by Wowapi press in 1996 and Rick himself chronicled his life in a book he called “A Farm Boy, A Roughneck, A Cowboy Picker, A Convict, The Rick Sikes Story” yet to be published.