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Nina Ricci, singer-songwriter, and guitarist
Nina Ricci
About
"...Just waiting on my expectation"
On Being and Becoming
Born in Atlanta, Georgia but raised in Nashville, Tennessee, singer, songwriter, and guitarist, Nina Ricci, lived in a suburb of "Music City" called "Donelson." She was raised 3 houses down from her first school, Pennington Elementary and her introduction into entertainment came early when she began performing in a local children’s theatrical troupe called ‘Rhythm Regiment.'
Rhythm Regiment
Nina and family
Nina was homeschooled through high school and with many extra hours on her hands, she gravitated to the guitars her dad kept around the house they lived in on Donna Hill Drive, just across the interstate from the famous Grand Ole Opry.
At 14, She applied her rudimental knowledge of music from piano lessons to the guitar and began to display a natural ability for finger-style picking, much like her dad, Bob Ricci, who was a gifted singer-songwriter and guitarist himself. Through the coaching of her mother, Teresa, Nina began to entertain the idea of writing her own songs. Of course, if one is going to write songs, one should also be able to sing them, so Nina began to accompany her guitar-playing and songwriting by singing.
Nina & Dad
Nina had just turned 15 the summer her father, Bob Ricci, passed away and the lives of both she and her mother were altered. Her father’s side of the family is from Rhode Island and she and her mother traveled to attend the funeral. It was at this time that she first heard of Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.
After retuning home to Nashville, Nina said to her mother “I think I’d like to apply for that music college.” As her mother tells the story, she privately thought, “that’ll be a good lesson in rejection” since Nina was homeschooled and was known for being shy. Still, her mother did the due diligence to prepare Nina as Berklee required an audition to be accepted and Nina had never auditioned for anything before.
During her senior year of high school, Nina took lessons for several months ahead of the audition studying ear training, harmony, and performance. During that time, she penned an intricate song called “If You Wish,” which was meant to be an orchestral rock ballad played on a simple acoustic guitar. Her teacher, Marc Lacuesta, who was a Berklee graduate himself, worked to equip her with the skills and knowledge that Berklee requires, and her mother coached her at home to convey the right emotions of a love song. When Nina auditioned for Berklee at Stax Records in Memphis, TN, she stood alone with her guitar before 2 judges and a month later she learned that she was ACCEPTED to Berklee.
High School Graduation
One might wonder what a graduation for homeschooled students might look like, and although she knew no-one in her graduating class, Nina walked alongside around 50 other seniors. Having been accepted into Berklee, she was selected valedictorian of her class and she both gave a speech and performed an original song called "If They Only Knew."
To Boston...
and Beyond!
Life took a new direction and Nina and her mother moved together from the "Sunny South" to a suburb of Boston where they lived with their Chihuahua, Riley, in a triple-decker apartment in the Polish and Vietnamese neighborhood of "Dorchester." Everyday her mother drove 2.5 miles to drop Nina off at her first class and picked her up on the curb in front of any one of Berklee's campus buildings that sprawled among the city streets of Fenway, Newberry St., Boylston and Massachusetts Avenues, respectively.
During those college years, Nina learned what her college’s motto meant, “Esse quam videri,”–– “to be rather than to seem to be.” Most every skill she needed to become the artist that she aspired to be was outside of her comfort zone and it took a great deal of embarrassment in front peers and professors for the tools to become useful to her.
At Berklee, she learned to score music and arrange her songs, to perform with a band, and to govern her vocal mechanism. In her later semesters, she helped manage the student-run label, Jazz Revelation Records, which taught her the skill of booking and pushed her to consider music outside her genre.
Holding the CD made by students at Jazz Revelation Records
Joining an Irish session in Quincy, MA
Home at Edison Green, Dorchester, MA
Rehearsing with students for the Berklee Roots Roadshow
Rehearsal for Berklee Bookstore Performance
“Nina carries onstage a level of magnetic charisma that I've rarely seen equaled in my twenty-five years of teaching. Nina's focus and discipline make her impossible to ignore."
~ Livingston Taylor
(Berklee Professor, Music Artist, brother of James Taylor)
Nina Ricci performing at the
Berklee Performance Center
As Nina began to bloom where she was planted, her love of folk music solidified her identity among students and teachers at Berklee. Upon learning of a group called the Women’s Musicians Network and of their annual concert, she submitted a song to be considered called “Sickle In The Cane.” It was selected by the committee and Nina performed with an all-female led band on the stage of the Berklee Performance Center (BPC.) One professor expressed that Nina was "like a rising star shining in the night sky."
Learning
"To Be"
In her final semesters, Nina took ensembles that both completed her major in Professional Music and counted toward a minor in American Roots Music.
One musician who backed Nina in a Pop, Rock, and Country ensemble noted when she emerged in a Jazz ensemble, "You look like a folksinger who's lost her way."
Finally, she found her footing in similar genres to her interests by singing in the Acoustic Blues Ensemble led by Dan Bowden where she began to thrive with musicians whom she has utilized in recording projects post-college. Additionally, she had the opportunity to again perform at the BPC covering Bessie Smith's "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" with the Acoustic Blues Ensemble; to showcase at Berklee's Roots Roadshow; and to record at the then brand new state-of-the-art recording studio at 160 Mass. Ave.
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Graduation
Berklee Motto: "Esse quam videri"..."To be rather than to seem to be"
During her years as a student at Berklee College of Music, Nina earned her Bachelor's Degree in Professional Music, concentrating in Performance, Songwriting, and Music Business. She also garnered a Minor in American Roots Music.
Nina Ricci at Berklee College of Music Commencement, May 10, 2014
It is a fact of life that once a graduate leaves the structured college space— the world is wide open and no one tells a new graduate exactly what to expect or how to proceed, but they do teach the principles of planning for the future.
After graduating Berklee, Nina returned to the South to live in the abandoned house of her Grandma Margaret. It was a markedly different experience from living in the saturated City of Boston, moving to the rural stretches of Rocky Face, GA and it didn’t last long. Yet it did have its purpose. Nina began attending bluegrass jams in North Georgia and in the Chattanooga area. Nothing teaches like experience, and from the jam circles to the stages, Nina was gaining experience performing during the 9 months incubation period.
Nina Returns to Nashville, TN 2015
Little Owl Festival 2015
Chattanooga, TN
Rocky Face, GA
It became clear that running a career from a wildlife preserve was untenable, and when the opportunity to return to Nashville was presented, Nina and her mother returned. The bluegrass jams continued to be Nina’s way of making impressions and gaining more steadiness as a performer. However, her songwriting was taking a back seat, so Nina began booking performances in coffee houses and inviting her acquaintances to perform in lineups.
One of her Berklee classmates had made the move to Nashville, too, and began a songwriter’s night at a coffee house in Woodbine, TN and Nina thrived in an environment where writers were bringing their best and her repertoire of original songs grew. She recorded her first 2 singles “Bird On A String” and “Constant Sunshine” in a small garage studio. Hearing her music come to life was invigorating and it ultimately led to the creation of her first album.
For a year and a half, she and her mother arose 5 days a week at 5am to work a merchandising job in Kroger Grocery stores in order to fund Nina’s first album. In the evenings Nina arranged music for the songs and on the weekends, they drove to Hartsville, TN to record tracks that would make up Nina’s debut 2018 album, ‘Designs On Me.’
Though Nina’s performances took a back seat due to her work schedule and commitment to the album, she still manage to catch the attention of a concert series called Musicians Corner. While she was arranging loaves of bread on a shelf, she received the invitation to perform as an opener for John Paul White (formerly of the Civil Wars.) Naturally, she accepted, and the day yielded a crowd of approximately 1,000 people in Centennial Park— her largest audience ever!
Within a short time the album recordings concluded and Nina and Teresa Ricci quit their jobs to pursue the release of the album. During the time of the release, Nina began to learn the ropes of independent radio promotion for this first effort which brought much excitement and connection with DJs. However, the shelf-life of an album isn’t very long and one must be very good at stoking the fire. Though embers of initial excitement fizzled out, the work still stood for itself and Nina began to learn the lesson that every experience, including fragile pursuits that often fail are an opportunity to learn; like starting her first band, ‘Nina Ricci and The Rushtones’ which played one gig and recorded one single, “Southern Goodbyes” before falling apart.
Adventures of a 'Hard Travelin' Girl'
"I'm chosen to live like a pilgrim on earth— to walk with my eyes closed; trusting the Lord...Questioning nothing, believing His Word...
Living Out of the Hand of God"
On April 1st, 2019, Nina, her mother Teresa, and their little tour dog, Riley (RIP,) set out on a new adventure. They packed everything into storage and loaded up the car to seek their expectation on the road.
On The Road
Through social media posts, Nina became interested in a program called ‘Smoky Mountain Tunes & Tales’ which was held in the summers in downtown Gatlinburg, TN. Costumed musicians hosting impromptu performances in the mountains had an appeal to her, and she thought “I’d like to do that.” The first summer she spent performing as “Nina from Nashville,” she learned the grit it takes to strike up a song for strangers and hold their attention. Through 43 days of street-performances, Nina disarmed her nerves and began to hold her own and to truly identify as a solo folksinger.
Nina's engagements with Tunes & Tales led to the opportunity to perform 3 seasons at Dollywood Theme Park in Pigeon Forge, TN, which in turn, led to a 2-week stint at Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO in the spring of 2022; and with so much momentum, an invitation by North Dakota came to perform 6 nights in The Badlands of Medora, North Dakota, and so on...
Nina’s history of performances began building through opportunities with festivals such as the North Georgia Folk Festival, the South Florida Folk Festival, the Kansas City Folk Festival, and others. As well, she had the opportunity of performing in concert alongside legendary folksinger, Carolyn Hester in Columbus, IN which was produced by Tony Gillespie (Folk historian and owner of The Village - Folk Music, History & Memorabilia, and podcast host of ‘This Folk Machine.’)
Off The Road
For 4 years, Nina and her mother, Teresa, were road warriors with only a storage unit tying them to Nashville.
In dire need of rest and a new place to call “Home” for a while, the two moved to the foothills of Signal Mountain, Chattanooga, Tennessee. It wasn’t long till the song machine started turning and Nina began writing again. Soon after the move, she wrote a song called ‘Hard Travelin’ Girl’ that had the potential to become the cornerstone of a new album. From July 2025 until May 2026, Nina brought the best talent in and around Chattanooga to record in her hideaway apartment studio in the foothills.
New Music COMING!