Ricky Paquette pictured with his fellow winners (from left to right…Dan Boyle (hidden), Costa Zafiropoulos, Francois Thiffault, Kevin Mark, Vincent Druda in the back, Richard Carr, Sam Harrisson, Ricky Paquette, and in the front, of course its Jim Zeller.) of the 2006 Lys Blues Awards.
Ricky Paquette is a sixteen-year-old blues guitarist and singer that is fresh out of the starting gate. He was born November 7th, 1990 in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. At the age of nine he picked up the guitar and within a year he started to display an exceptional ability to learn at an unprecedented pace. Ricky has carefully studied the techniques of all of his heroes and has developed his own style that combines his love of the blues with some rock and a classic edge. For the last year he has been studying classical guitar at the Gatineau Conservatory of Music.
By the time he was thirteen the Ottawa blues community was endorsing Ricky’s rare talent. The Junk Yard Dogs, Trevor Findlay, Fernando Jones from Chicago and Paul Deslaurier were inviting Ricky to sit in at local blues spots. It is during this period that Ricky started to sing rounding off his exceptional guitar abilities.
Ricky was performing with his band Ricky and The Soul Benders when Quebec’s blues veterans started to recognize the young artist’s talents. He has since been invited to perform for Bob Walsh, Jimmy James, Guy Belanger and other established Montreal and Quebec blues musicians.
In April of 2005 Ricky started his solo career and signed a two year deal with Preservation Music Inc. After the successful launch of his first album, Early For The Show in December, 2005, Ricky went on to a busy year of concerts and festivals, including the Mont Tremblant Blues Festival and the prestigious Montreal International Jazz Festival.
Preservation Music is pleased to announce that Ricky has now signed with the firm for an additional year, and we are excited to release Ricky’s sophomore effort recorded live at the Montreal International Jazz Festival entitled Ricky Paquette Live! The new CD, as well as Early For The Show, will be available in retail stores, on the Preservation Music web site, as well as from CD Baby.
