Jacob Ridgeway is in the process of rediscovering himself as a musician, but his roots remain firmly in country.
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Both his grandfather, Worimi elder John Ridgeway, and his mother Nicki Ridgeway are both musicians.
“It’s always been a part (of my life) but I never took it seriously,” Ridgeway, originally from Raymond Terrace, said.
The 26-year-old left Newcastle in 2013 and headed north where he auditioned for Brisbane’s Aboriginal Centre for Performing Arts.
“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.”
Ridgeway 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 pop, 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.
“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 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 and release by early 2018.
Ridgeway performs every third Friday at The Spinning Wheel Hotel in Raymond Terrace.
He is performing at the Lost Highway Karuah Bluegrass Music Festival this weekend (May 5-7) and will also feature in the Blue Water Country Music Festival lineup.
The popular Port Stephens festival is held over the June long-weekend.
Follow Jacob Ridgeway: facebook.com/jacobridgewaymusic.
