NEWCASTLE muso Jacob Ridgeway, 26, is in the process of rediscovering himself as a musician, but his roots remain firmly in country.
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Both his grandfather, a Worimi elder John Ridgeway, and his mother Nicki Ridgeway were musicians. His mother was a singer.
“It’s always been a part of my life, but I never took it seriously,” Ridgeway said. “Not till I left Newcastle in 2013.”
“I had been told I could sing.”
When he left Newcastle he headed north where he auditioned for Brisbane’s Aboriginal Centre for Performing Arts after becoming “inspired” to pursue a creative life.
“I ended up getting in, so the last three years I have been studying performing arts,” he said.
“I hadn’t even sung in front of anyone before I auditioned, but I got to a point and decided to go forward with it as a profession.
“I didn’t want it to be a what if, later down the track.
“I was 23 and thought it was a prime opportunity. I got a few opportunities and just took them and ran with it.”
He is now studying at Newcastle’s Conservatorium of Music. He is the current recipient of the Norman Bushman Scholarship for Studies in Voice.
The songwriter said his music comes from a “mesh” of what he has listened to.
“It’s a melting pot, but I am very inspired by country,” he said.
“Troy Cassar-Daley, his music is so visual and he sets the tone so early.
“He is great at engagement and I think that is something that is being lost.”
Ridgeway has begun collaborating with other artists something he had previously not done.
“I got to write with the amazing Kevin Bennett,” he said.
“The song was originally a response to, or how I felt about, the Stolen Generation … the realisation of the damage it has done long-term.”
He has also collaborated with Ryan Cornish, of South Australia, and also with Lennie Edgerton, of the Newcastle band Whisky Business.
“Another point of view and another skill-set”, was one of the things he enjoyed mostly about collaboration.
The collaborated material will form part of a body of work he plans to continue to develop, record and release by early 2018.
He recently performed at Lost Highway Bluegrass Music Festival. He performs every third Friday at The Spinning Wheel Hotel in Raymond Terrace.
He will also be performing at the Blue Water Country Music Festival, Port Stephens, held over the June long-weekend.
Follow Jacob Ridgeway and listen to some tracks: facebook.com/jacobridgewaymusic
