Biography
Ricky formed his first band at the age of 16 and won a locally held talent contest for his performance of The Eagles “Lyin Eyes". Ricky’s prize for winning the talent contest was an electric guitar and a small amp. The prize did not have much value, but Ricky used it to get a feel for playing an electric guitar. Up to that point he had only played acoustically. We asked him what type of electric guitar it was and he told us it was a “Sears and Roebucks” combination package. He chuckled and said “I was glad to have it; at the time it was as good as an American made Telecaster and Fender twin reverb amp to me”.
Ricky went on to form and front several bands through the years - The Sweaters, The Ricky James Underwood Experience, Poetic Justice, In The Midst, The R AS R Sessions and his most recent tour with the extremely popular Dallas Underground Music Scene Band - Sugar Crash. In most all of the bands Ricky focused on Lead Vocals along with Rhythm and Lead Guitars - except for the band “In the Midst” where he was simply being employed to be their bass player. We asked him why took a job as a bass player and he quickly responded: “I needed the money”.
In the early 2000's Ricky took a break from working in bands and decided to focus his musical efforts strictly on writing songs. From that turn of events Ricky wrote and assembled the run away hit; underground country classic "The Other". But in its beginning “The Other” was not getting a lot of airplay or album sales; as with all musical works from Indie Artist it takes a minute for the average music listener to get to hear the project, but once the word got out; Ricky James Underwood's work on "The Other" has been heralded as stellar, groundbreaking and thought provoking by many in the music industry.
Ricky is currently living in Parker Texas where he is composing a new album. The new project has a working title of "Scratches". When we asked Ricky if "Scratches" would end up being the name of the next album; Ricky said, "It's just a working title; much like The Beatles used Scramble Eggs as the working title for their song "Yesterday", so I can’t say for sure, but I would think that "Scratches" will end up being called by some other name”.
As always Ricky is looking for Publishing companies, Artist (signed or heavily working only), Movies and TV shows to write for. Ricky feels that once he is discovered by "The Big Boys" he will be able to focus his life energies fully on writing and the flood gates will open; whoever picks him up will be amazed at what an "endless flowing river of writing" they have tapped into. When we asked Ricky if he felt he would be successful with the "Big Corporate Music Machine" he said; "Show me the dotted line and I will show you the number ones". When Ricky spoke those words they did not come across as arrogant; they came across as humble and true.
It is amazing how far Ricky has come with his musical endeavors considering the little known fact that he suffers from extreme anxiety, panic attacks, panic disorder, and social phobias. Ricky told us that he has felt “A Little out of Place” his entire life. There was a time when he even suffered through a year long bout with agoraphobia and was unable to even leave his house. Agoraphobia and the music industry don’t mix very well together, but he made it through his down turn and is back up and on his way to commercial success.
Despite all the troubles that Ricky faces with his anxieties he continues to write songs and move his dream forward. Ricky hopes to be able to start a foundation to help others who suffer from the same kinds of diseases that he does. He wants to bring help, hope and a future to those who feel that none exist for them. We asked Ricky when it might be possible that he could start his foundation to help those with extreme anxiety disorders and he said; "When people start buying the albums, downloading the MP3's, facebooking and twittering the word around. When the general public starts to realize that supporting me, in turn, will end up supporting someone they know and love; it might even be them. Ricky continued, "Unfortunately in this world it takes the all mighty dollar to make things happen and when my efforts finally pay off I will not be wasting my rewards on cars, parties, women or wine. I will be seeking to help others and to put organizations’ in place that will continue to help others long after I am gone from this world".
Ricky James Underwood is the kind of Artist I can get behind. Even though Ricky offered me a free copy of his latest album “The Other" I turned it down. That gave me an excuse to go to his website http://www.playtheother.com and send a few bucks his way. Not only did I get a well written, deep thinking album that I absolutely have fallen in love with, but I got to help Ricky on his way to help others. I feel good about the entire situation; all the way around and it is probably the best 15 bucks I have ever spent.
It wont be long before one of the “Music Giants” or a Big Name Artist will sweep Ricky up and use him for his unbelievable writing talent. You better go get you some Ricky James Underwood and get ready for his next release. Sign up for his fan club and tweet, my space and facebook your butts off about his music. It is a worthy cause to get behind and you get some amazing music to go along with it.
2-1-2011
***Hold in private, not for release until 12/31/2011 – contract pendi
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