"It could have been quite a good thing for us" says Richards, who comprises the trio along with Belgium's Bert Lams and Tokyo's Hideyo Moriya. "We mulled over it for about a year. What it came down to basically was that we'd have to be willing to give up our copyright in order to have the promotion of a big company. In the end we said 'no, giving up our copyright is the equivalent of selling our children into white slavery.' With Discipline we retain our copyright and whatever we do with our music is up to us."

Discipline Global Mobile is the label started by King Crimson founder Robert Fripp to release music aligned with his likes and ideals. Instead of the usual copyright notice affixed to sound recordings, Discipline's discs carry this unique disclaimer: "The phonographic copyright in these performances is operated by Discipline Global Mobile on behalf of the artists, with whom it resides. Discipline accepts no reason for artists to give away such copyright interests in their work by virtue of a 'common practice' which is out of tune with the time, was always questionable and is now indefensible." The royalty structure is apparently equitable to both the artist and the company, but the arrangement is anything but typical.

"I went back and forth on it," Richards admits. "To be signed to a major label is every teenaged guitarist's dream. But it was nice to be able to say no. Hopefully, this will be more of a long-term thing."

Fripp has guided more than just the trio's business strategy; he is a full-fledged mentor. Over 10 years ago, Richards enrolled in Fripp's Guitar Craft program, an intensive series of guitar workshops. In 1987, he met Lams and Moriya at Fripp's English estate for an advanced course, and the three toured with Fripp and other students as the League of Crafty Guitarists. California Guitar Trio's 1994 debut, Yamanashi Blues, was followed a year later by Invitation, a tour de force of stunning technique and exactitude. But the group balanced the contrapuntal precision of workouts such as Bach's "Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor" with levity like the spaghetti westernisms of "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly." The massive world tour with King Crimson in 1995 was the key to the trio's wider recognition; standing ovations greeted the three at nearly every show.

"We're trying to find other bands we can go out and tour with. I think we're a good act as far as opening acts go. We're small, we don't take up much room on stage and we know how to blow away the main act," Richards laughs. The California Guitar Trio use three identical Martin acoustic guitars and utilize the "new standard tuning" they picked up from their Guitar Craft days. A small setup, perhaps, but technically intimidating when the three begin their amazingly intricate performances.

"We have a common aim in working together, what we want to accomplish," clarifies Richards. "We do spend a lot of time focusing on little details and trying to get things to sound right. But from there, things really take off. You get all the technical points down and then get into a concert setting and it's all there. You can just let go of it. That's the ideal. For me, I've had so many situations where I feel as though I'm not doing much at all on stage." Though Richards grew up in a rock and roll world, he gradually became interested in jazz, blues and country, though since the age of 21, the teachings of Fripp became his guide. Moriya began his teenage guitar years imitating the surf style of bands like The Ventures. Before enrolling in Guitar Craft he had studied at Boston's Berklee College of Music. The Brussels-born Lams attended the prestigious Royal Conservatory of Music, shedding his rock affectations for classical and jazz, leaning heavily toward Bach. Today he lives in Santa Fe, where the trio recorded Invitation. With all that academic background, maybe one of the most unusual aspects of the California Guitar Trio is its ability to entertain and enlighten rather than just dazzle with fancy chops and lightning-fast leads.

"When we get into a performing situation, I just happen to be there," Richards continues. "The music is doing all the work; I just happen to have a guitar in my hands. One of the aims of the trio is making the music alive, letting the music speak rather than us sitting there being three flamboyant guitarists." This attitude works in their favor when the three are meshing in synch with each other, despite the dizzying prowess, they make it look easy. It hasn't been difficult for the band to decide their aim for the future, either.

"We're in this for the long term," Richards says, "and in 10 years' time if we have 10 CDs out or whatever, they'll all be ours to do with what we please, as opposed to going with Polygram, where after 10 years we'd have nothing. To see into the future is difficult, so we just focus on what we're doing right now and do it with such quality that the repercussions will benefit us 10 years from now."