After years of tinkering with toy keyboards as a child, Ricky began his formal musical education at age 14 with electric bass lessons. He played in his high school jazz band, jammed in basements and garages, and by graduation, he was playing in local orchestra ensembles and professional cover bands. He is grateful to have learned the ins and outs of the recording process while sitting in on the various projects of several attendees of the Berklee College of Music. As his interest in songwriting grew, he began teaching himself guitar, which is now his primary instrument.
Ricky got his first big taste of the music business as a founding member of the indie rock band Wheat in 1996 along with Scott Levesque, Brendan Harney, and Kenny Madaras. He recorded three albums with Wheat, 'Medeiros' (Sugar Free, 1997), 'Hope & Adams' (Sugar Free/City Slang, 1999), and 'Per Second, Per Second, Per Second ... Every Second" (Aware/Columbia, 2003).
Wheat toured the US, Canada, and Europe numerous times. They shared bills with such notable acts as John Mayer, Counting Crows, the Flaming Lips, Built to Spill, Archers of Loaf, Liz Phair, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Ok Go, Calexico, Bright Eyes, Ben Kweller, Juliana Hatfield, and the Blake Babies; just to name a few. The band was featured in many high profile publications, including Rolling Stone, Spin, NME, Melody Maker, Stuff, Q, Mojo, Magnet, and the Village Voice. They made guest appearances on NBC's Conan O'Brien Show and Late Night with Carson Daly. Wheat also played several large European festivals, including Glastonbury in the UK and Werchter in Denmark. Overall, Ricky's time with Wheat was a pretty decent ride for a guy from the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts.
While known during his stint with Wheat as their "purveyor of poignant guitar melodies", as described by Melody Maker Magazine, Ricky also assumed much of the bass duties in the studio when the original bassist left following the release of their second album. A well-rounded musician, he also provided vocals, keyboards, tambourine, and a variety of other instrumentation. In fact, his versatility is evidenced by a drumming credit on the Jrcorduroy debut Ep 'Slow-Fi' (Good to Burn, 1998).
Ricky decided to part ways with Wheat in 2004 to focus more fully on his songwriting. While with the band, Ricky also worked on his own material and amassed an extensive song catalogue, some of which would become the basis for his next project, Duresse . He formed this band with two close friends- drummer, Derek Dutra and guitarist/bassist, Brad Archer. In the fall of 2005, Duresse released a 7 song Ep entitled 'Elate', and the band performed regularly around Boston, NYC, and Providence throughout 2006.
Currently, Ricky is performing solo shows in the Greater Boston area.