Rick Willoughby graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music with a Jazz Performance degree in 2004. Rick has been studying string bass since the age of 11. Throughout his career, Rick has studied and taught various styles of bass technique. Most recently he studied with Gerald Spaits, a Kansas City native and one of the foremost bass players in the area. For the last ten years Rick has served as a band leader and a side man around the greater Kansas City area.