Ricky Berger isn’t much on self-promotion.
“It’s uncomfortable for me to do it,” she said. “I hate pushing people to do things.”
The singer-songwriter is nominated for two Sammies this year (Outstanding Pop and Outstanding Release/Album), but she isn’t sure when voting ends or when winners are announced (June 14 and June 27, respectively). Maybe she’s just a little too shy for all the marketing work.
Last night at the Coffee Garden on Franklin Boulevard, she sang:“I’m kinda shy
I’m the kind of girl who just likes to listen
and I don’t really party
I spend all my evenings with Ovaltine, the Golden Girls and my pajammies.”
Throughout the course of her performance, Berger took turns on the guitar, piano, xylophone, flute and ukulele (she didn’t bring her accordion). Her list of instruments to try next includes the stand-up bass, pedal harp, celesta and clarinet.
She started playing piano when she was 4, but her only formal musical training came in the form of a year of flute lessons and a couple years of piano lessons much later.
“I’m a big fan of just figuring it out,” she said.
During the three years she’s lived in Sacramento, she has figured out that she likes performing a lot more than she thought she would.
When Berger dropped out of high school at 17, she asked her grandmother in Natomas if she could live with her. She packed her bags and left her native Bakersfield, hoping to eventually become a songwriter.
“I totally caught the bug,” she said, adding that she never planned on performing so much. “I didn’t think I was good enough.”
Others would beg to differ. The Sacramento News & Review wrote Berger’s “notes tend to float into your ears and rattle around for days,” and Alive and Kicking said her “melodies are always catchy and simple. As are the lyrics.”
Berger has also been compared to Judy Garland by Midtown Monthly and Marty Deanda of DIG Records. She isn’t so sure about that.
“Most people just tell me I sound like myself,” she said. “Maybe it’s the red lipstick.”
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