For over 20 years, critics have hailed Folk and Country singer/songwriter Ricky Fitzpatrick as "the next James Taylor", with a voice that's "as smooth as moonshine".
As an award-winning vocalist and songwriter, a Top Ten Myspace artist, owner of two record labels and founder of the charitable organization “The Healing Power of Music”, he stays incredibly active, both in the industry and in the community.
Ricky maintains an active schedule with The Healing Power of Music group, along with 300-plus other artist partners such as James Taylor, Neil Young, Amy Grant, Steven Curtis Chapman, Casting Crowns, Switchfoot, Amos Lee, Dolly Parton and more. HPM takes live music to hospital patients of all ages around the world, giving them the gift of a song and a free CD of wide-ranging music from 15 HPM-Affiliated Artists from all over America, Australia, Europe, Canada and the Middle East.
Over the course of the last two decades he has celebrated two Number One singles in the UK, licensed music in the UK, Canada and all over the US and received multiple industry awards and accolades for songwriting and vocal performance. Ricky was also selected as the 2008 GMIA Writer Relations Director for the State of GA.
One of his songs, “Ballad of Billy the Kid” sold over 8,000 ringtones in a single day, making it one of the top five ringtones of all time on Myxer.com. And his solo performances have taken him and his guitar everywhere from the Bluebird Café to Eddie’s Attic to Amateur Night At the Apollo.
Today, he engages a variety of musical pursuits, among them, the creation and recording of instrumental music, written for acoustic guitar. Fitzpatrick has earned the reputation, instrumentally, for writing and performing in a manner that is “mellow and soothing to the ear” and “intensely melodic”, largely due to his use of alternate tunings and Travis-style fingerpicking technique. His current projects encompass the creation of everything from lullabies and “Weather Channel” jazz to meditative selections and Holiday classics.
His instrumental style has been compared to everyone from Will Ackerman (founder of the Windham Hill label) to instrumental icons like Leo Kottke and John Fahey. But he prefers to describe his sound as “Folk Fusion”…a healthy mixture of acoustic, new age and classical.
Ricky’s current CD on F2 Records, “Beside Me All Along” is yet another facet of his career, a collection of unplugged Inspirational selections…”Amazing Grace”, “I Surrender All” and others, along with a few of his favorite Christmas songs. It’s been described as “remarkably beautiful” and “spirit inspired” and continues to take him to “new and exciting places, both spiritually and geographically.”
Ricky lives, records and occasionally gardens, in the tiny community of Apple Valley (unincorporated), GA with his wife, children and one remaining goldfish, Vince Gills.
For more insight into Ricky and his history in music and with Christ, you can either learn more about him at www.rickyfitzpatrick.com or read his online testimony (Little Victories) at http://www.facebook.com/rickyfitz#/note.php?note_id=125330359234