PARIS SEES SINATRA AGAIN JANUARY 18th!
If you missed the Sinatra style show at the Paris Community Theatre in January of 2024, you missed one Great Show! However, Ricki Derek and the Vegas Six are coming back to do a show again this year on January 18th at 8pm and tickets are selling fast. Sponsored by Rigby’s Cigars & Lounge just a few doors down from PCT. You can click here to buy your tickets. Rigby’s will be staying open late for a cocktail party/meet-n-greet after the show with Ricki and the band!
Ricki Derek is an entertainer based out of the Dallas area that performs songs “Greatly influenced by Sinatra, Dino, Tony Bennett, Mel Torme, Tom Jones, Bobby Darin, & Sammy Davis Jr, to name a few.” RD
Ricki got his start back in 1998 with the mindset of performing shows like the greats from early Vegas Years. His thought is that the audience came to see a show and forget about their problems for a while, so that is what he does when it is showtime, he entertains. When I asked him about his start he said “I went from singing in the corner of dive bars to my first big solo show that I put together. I finally was set to debut in Dallas at the Red Room, I woke up to the news that Sinatra had passed. When I showed up to the gig, there were local news stations there to cover it because no one was really doing what I was doing.” From there Ricki took off, started playing all over, and turned it into a full-time career. “I love the music I do. It’s timeless and people of all ages dig it. I kinda feel like while I can, it’s my job to keep carrying the torch.”
He performs regularly at the Scat Lounge in Fort Worth where he is a partner. Side note, we’ve seen him several times there. To get to it, you go down an alley and there in the middle of the wall is an elevator door with the Scat sign above it. It’s located in the basement under the historic Woolworth building in Sundance Square and has that 1920’s speakeasy vibe. Ricki said the Scat Lounge is 16 years old and has been on Downbeat magazines’ Top 100 Jazz Clubs in the World for over 10 years.
We asked him about his “International Texas Debut” last time he was in Paris and he said “The Paris show was a lot of fun as the crowd was into it from the start, but respectful and engaged. We all had a good time and enjoyed the Meet & Greet after party at Rigby’s!” He is looking forward to playing again this year and said he may just bring the wife up for a getaway weekend at the 1st Street Lofts, some downtown dining, and of course a good bourbon and cigar at Rigby’s.
He had a new album that came out last year called “Reprized” and he does some jazzy takes on pop tunes. You can find him playing at various locations in the metroplex with his Quartet of Four, Vegas Six, 20-piece orchestra, any combination up to 24 instruments, or just solo leaning against a piano. Everyone I talked to at the show and after party last year said they are ready for Ricki to come back and entertain. If you miss the music and entertainment of a day gone by, you will not want to miss this show.
Written by: JD Marrs