Desiree Apolonio Ragoza (Bassett) became fascinated with playing guitar and singing at the age of 3 and by the age of 5, she was already able to play songs from artists such as Joe Satriani, Boston, and Triumph and she was also performing in local music competitions. At age 12, she began studying at the University of Connecticut music program and went on to win Talent America’s Musician of the Year in 2005 in New York City.
Desiree continued to hone her skills playing venues around New England in open mic jams where she was discovered by bassist Doug Wimbish who invited her to share the stage with his band Living Colour in New Haven, CT and to perform and to perform at his annual Wimbash in Hartford which eventually led into the exposure of what the music industry was really all about. Throughout the years, she has performed with many outstanding and renowned musicians including Andy Aledort, Gerardo Velez, Jeff Baxter “Skunk”, members of The Allman Brothers Band, Sammy Hagar, Ted Nugent , Marshall Tucker Band, Foghat, Barry Goudreau (formerly of the band Boston), and many more. With the explosion of the social media world, Desiree quickly became world-known through videos of her performances on MySpace, Facebook and YouTube throughout the years.
Desiree’ currently has 3 albums out (Power & Force, Power & Force II and A Bit Above) and has performed on a few tours major tours:
Currently, Desiree’ still continues to tour around the world while on her time off works on her 4th album and performs shows local in her home state of Connecticut with her band Desiree’ & Friends, a power trio band that features her on lead guitar and vocals. She also performs as a bassist for a variety of bands.