...a Scottish born singer-songwriter who has been crafting stories of the dispossessed and the have-nots since he first picked up the guitar. Played with wry humour and a compassionate heart, Ritchie’s tightly arranged tracks are underpinned by driving steel hawser bass, melodic guitar and dark, poetic lyricism. His bold, distinctive voice oscillates between a tender and fragile croon and the edge of a dark, raw howl. 

Richie has performed at the CCA, Glad Cafe, Lok’s Bar and livestream events with Paragon Music and the Glasgow Open House Arts Festival.

How did you get into music?

At school, where picking up a guitar meant instant coolness. But, when the new wave of issue-based musicians showed me how songwriting could be more than boy-meets-girl, I began writing seriously. An acute sense of justice and a need to speak up meant paying attention to newspaper headlines, using them as my starting point. I’m deeply concerned about how the have-nots are snared by political correctness, misinformed about everything from the odious antics of princes to the tendentious sophistry of the hyper-woke.

How would you describe your work?

Cinematic and eerie in style, vulnerable and centred in a directness necessary for our troubled times. Delivered with an unsettling, wry edge, there’s a sense of magic realism underneath, about being on the threshold of illumination, the tension between knowing and feeling in a flawed, broken world. ‘I write to find out what I really think - and often as not, I surprise myself. Also, there’s definitely a level of catharsis - exorcism, even. For live performance in particular, I’m aiming at a sense of emotional release, of them witnessing an internal struggle toward truth.’

What has been a spotlight moment for you?

Live gigs at Lok’s Bar, The Glad Cafe and the CCA have gone down very well - I’ve had lots of enthusiastic encouragement from audiences and fellow musicians alike.

Can you tell us a fun fact about yourself / something people might not know about you?

In 2017 I had a clinical diagnosis of autism - a developmental difference, which, now I’ve had time to process it, far from being a drawback has put a lot of things into place and overall has been a positive - informing my songwriting in a deeply creative, truth-telling way.


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