- April 19, 2024
-
-
Loading
Loading
Michael Ricker sat on the edge of a stage on Friday night, coaxing his guitar into tune. His father, Joe, watched from the corner of his eye as he snaked electrical cords across the length of the stage, preparing for a show.
“I’m lucky,” Joe Ricker said. “I couldn’t ask for a better son to hang out with.”
Michael Ricker, 13, first picked up a guitar five years ago when his father began to teach him to play. Since then, he’s learned keyboard, drums and bass, mostly teaching himself.
He and his father spend as much time as they can playing music together, whether at home or, more recently, on stage. Saturday night marked the second performance the pair played together, accompanied by Rick Mascia, the drummer from Southbound, a band that Joe Ricker plays in on weekends.
“Music’s in Michael’s blood,” Joe Ricker said. “My family has musicians; his mom’s family has musicians. I truly believe he couldn’t escape it.”
Michael Ricker said he spends as much time as he can playing music. He said he does it because he likes creating something, figuring something out and getting his energy out — especially on drums.
“When I was younger, I think I thought my dad was the coolest person in the world because he was in a band,” Michael Ricker said. “I think that’s what made me get into it. And then I just stuck with it.”
Joe Ricker pushed audience focus to his son as they played several sets of classic rock covers Friday night, at the High Jacker’s Restaurant.
“This is my 13-year-old son,” Joe Ricker said repeatedly between songs. “I taught him guitar a few years ago — now, he’s up here teaching me things.”
As Michael Ricker bounced between instruments between each song, his father, primarily on guitar and vocals, glanced in the direction of his son with a smile.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said after the show. “That kid can pick up any instrument, and can figure out how to play any song.”
Michael Ricker, now in eighth grade, said picking up new instruments has been quick work for him. He started playing drums when he joined band at Buddy Taylor Middle School as a seventh-grader. Three months later, he was playing in the percussion section of the Flagler County Middle School All-County Band.
“Sometimes when I’m playing, I’ll start thinking about what I’m doing, and I think, ‘Wait, why isn’t this harder?’” Michael Ricker said.
Even as an infant, he showed an affinity to music.
“He was just a baby and he’d be tapping out a beat whenever he could,” Joe Ricker said. “And he was always right on beat.”
Michael laughed.
“No way,” he said. “What, was I tapping out a beat with a rattle?”
For the Rickers, music is what they do. Joe Ricker has been playing music since high school, and even today, he plays venues local to the Palm Coast area nearly every weekend.
“I feel very blessed to have a son to share this with,” Joe Ricker said. “There are times when I come home from work so out of it, so stressed out, and then Michael will come ask me if I want to jam. When we’re playing together, things just get better.”
