How did you celebrate your seventeenth birthday? Did you pop up to Glasgow to accompany The Charlatans, on bagpipes, at the historic Barrowlands ballroom, and then have your latest single spun by Chris Hawkins on BBC Radio 6?!
Being honest, the memory of my seventeenth birthday is vague at best, but I’m pretty certain it wasn’t even in the same ballpark! A huge happy birthday, then, to our upcoming superstar Ruby Darbyshire, and an even huger “wowzers;” although this is amazing news, it’s fully deserved in my humble opinion. In what she dubbed her “biggest gig yet,” on social media, last weekend was a huge success, playing with The Charlatans at Barrowlands.
Ruby now lives on a narrowboat on the Kennet and Avon Canal near Bath with proud dad, Brian, who happened to call me with this astounding news last week. Exploding in exhilaration, he then told me I would have to wait to publish it. I think he just wanted to relay the story to someone, to best contain his understandable excitement!
Previously from Dumfries, Ruby used to busk in Buchanan Street, Glasgow, on many Saturdays, playing guitar and singing, where she raised thousands of pounds for Save the Children. Taken under the wing of the wonderful Pipe Major Jim McConnechie in Dumfries at the age of eight, while Ruby loves playing traditional music, for Remembrance Day, Burns suppers and other fitting occasions, she’s also known for using the pipes for rock music.
Homeschooled, Ruby now studies music at Bath College, and has become an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter and Highland bagpiper. You may well have seen her busking in the Brittox of Devizes, and various other local locations. Particularly memorable in town, was her impromptu appearance with Wayne Cherry on his one-hundred hours of Remembrance fundraiser. You may have been lucky enough to see her play live locally, after listening to and reviewing her debut EP, Don’t Give Up Now, We’re Nearly There, I made it top priority to attend her next gig, supporting Amelia Coburn, with Meg, at Trowbridge’s Pump.
On the couple of occasions I’ve had the honour to meet Ruby she remains modest about the attention, but if she doesn’t like to blow her own, erm, bagpipes, journalist for the Times, Nick Fraser reviewed the Charlatans’ gig, stating her guest appearance as the “most startling moment” of the event.
Her forthcoming single “Caller Unknown” was made possible by the support of Tim Burgess of The Charlatans who spotted Ruby at Kendal Calling Festival, and through his new charitable initiative, Help Us Help Bands, Ruby won a recording session at the Cheese & Grain’s Bert Jansch Studio in Frome. I, for one, can’t wait to hear the latest song, once I’ve gotten over how simply fantastic this is for our locally-based artist; I’ve gone all goosebumpily! Well done Ruby, we are rooting for you.
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