Southeast Washington, D.C. native, and soul revivalist Ricky Fanté, was weaned on endless Motown, Stax, and Blue Note records. The former choirboy developed his soulful vocal style during his teen years, mimicking Stevie Wonder and Elvis Presley on neighborhood street corners. His love of gospel came from the church, and his love of everything else came form his parents, whose eclectic tastes in music filled the house both day and night. Fanté enlisted in the Marines after high school, completed his four years, then headed to Los Angeles to attend college and pursue his dream of making music professionally. Just six months later he landed a deal with a small independent record label by winning a talent contest. It was then that Fanté decided to focus all of his energies on his music career, and dropped out of college. A demo of his two-man group called Soul Surfers fell into the hands of A&R executive Josh Deutsch, leading to a development deal in 2001. In 2002, Fanté hooked up with Norah Jones' collaborator Jesse Harris, and began co-writing and recording for his debut record. In 2003, they released Introducing...Ricky Fanté, a four song EP that served as a teaser for 2004's full-length debut for Virgin Records, Rewind. ~ James Christopher Monger