“Many artists surrender their dreams and get onto the treadmill of conventional life, often forfeiting years of practice and gigging, opting for consistency of earnings and lifestyle. Not Stephen Ridley, who in fact did the opposite: giving up a promising career in investment banking to follow his dream of being a successful artist.
Having seen Stephen perform several times, what grabs me is the way he feels the songs. Whether a cover or one of his own, you get the impression he was right there at the song’s inception, living the emotion expressed with every note and lyrics.
He’s raw and edgy, and outlandishly cool with a complete abscence of airs and graces, but great live music shouldn’t be about polish and production – it shoul be about feeling, conveying emotion and drawing an audience in, and The talented Mr Ridley does that in spades.
That he’s a rather handsome chap will do nothing to blight an undoubtedly bright future but such is his personality and demeanour you don’t resent any of the attributes he’s been blessed with. Rather, you actually want him to be hugely successful.
He really is that great a guy. I hate him.”