Ricky Ross recorded his little-known debut solo album, the aptly titled So Long Ago, way back in 1983.
That was two years before he formed Deacon Blue, with the Raintown outfit enjoying massive success for seven years before splitting in 1994.
Numbed, the Dundonian songsmith released his guitar-fuelled major label solo debut What You Are in 1996, the MTV/VH1-friendly offering soaked in a post-Nirvana angst.
Setting the template
However, it was the following year’s low-key New Recording that set a template of sorts for Ricky’s post-millennium career outside Deacon Blue, even after reforming.
Five further solo albums have followed since 2002, the most recent setting fresh material alongside new versions of classics forged by the legendary hit-makers.
Ahead of his latest UK tour, Ross, 64, explained that it was the stripped-back vibe of solo performances down the years that paved the way for the partly home-recorded Short Stories Vol 1 in 2017 and its follow-up Vol 2, which landed last month.
A mix of material
“Doing those shows, I realised what worked best for the audience was knowing I was going to do a cross-section of my solo things, but also lots of Deacon Blue songs,” he said.
“Because that’s been my life, really – it’s more central to me than anything else. That’s where I wrote all the songs that people know me for.
“So I thought it might be nice to make an album where I revisited a few songs that would work in that live situation – quite raw and acoustic – along with some new material.”
The father of four describes his piano-led alternative career as “slightly more claustrophobic” than DB’s windswept lustre – with feelings of confinement almost inevitably heightened during the creation of his latest opus by lockdown living.
“They felt like songs that belonged in a room, not out in the world,” he told Classic Pop.
“And I called the album Short Stories Vol 1 as a marker for myself, really. I always had in mind to do another one, and this just felt like the right time – when there was nothing much else we could do.
For anyone unfamiliar with his solo output, Short Stories Vol 2 may seem like something of a musical departure, but its lyrical flights of fancy – focused on country escapes from the city and an accompanying spiritual release – are trademark Ricky Ross.
‘You’re always moving’
“I’ve always just had this realisation that you’re always moving,” he added.
“Physically, spiritually and emotionally, you’re moving. It doesn’t matter what phase of life you’re at, you’re travelling through it. You’re trying to get somewhere, and possibly you’ll never arrive.”
Such ruminations figure heavily in Ricky’s recently published autobiography Walking Back Home, which candidly explores his journey all the way from his upbringing in Dundee through the highs and lows of the ’80s and the ’90s right up to Deacon Blue’s recent renaissance.
“I feel very grateful, but I do reflect in the book on some of the more difficult moments, and some things I might have done differently,” the singer declared.
“I don’t really talk much about my children, and I don’t really talk about my first marriage. Because that’s someone else’s story, and I didn’t think it was fair.”
- Perth Theatre, September 21; horsecross.co.uk
Conversation