Ricky Ross: The Deacon Blue man talks about his music and faith

Friday 24th June 2005

When the London-based PR firm called Dougie Adam to say he could spend an hour with RICKY ROSS over coffee the following day he literally dropped everything and set off to meet one of his musical heroes.



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DA: One of my favourite songs from 'This Is The Life' is "My Girl Going To Town".

RR: Aah good!

DA: I was interested in the way you use "God" throughout the song. Although it is a song about families and daughters there is a lot of conventional and unconventional religious imagery going on.

RR: I will tell you where that song came from. The jokey side of the song is that my daughter gave me the title for it and that is all true. But the other side of it was there was a series of murders of prostitutes in Glasgow and there was a woman who worked with one of the girls, I think her name was Jacqueline, this girl. In all of the coverage on the news the talk was of "these prostitutes" were murdered, never "young women" being murdered. So there was a news agenda. The Church so often on the news comes over badly and you think, "Oh what's coming next?" And this woman from the Baptist church was on and she looked exactly like what you expect a Baptist woman to look like and then she was shocking. She said, "Well I knew this girl very well and I thought of her as a daughter." And she suddenly brought in the human tragedy of the story and that's the essence of real faith. That's what I think, people will see great faith in that. I really took a lot of the idea of that song from the idea of someone who sees his daughter going into town and doesn't know what she's doing. What if your daughter was murdered and you discovered not only was she murdered but she had been a prostitute? Where would you start? It's basically me doing all my usual kind of worries about being a parent but doing it through this kind of story. The guy at one point goes into church and just as he's articulating the words he's trying to say the rain comes down on the roof and drowns out the altar bell. People will understand that if they understand it. It's sort of a big song for me, that song.

DA: If you were to pick a few highlights from your time in Deacon Blue and from your solo career what would you select?

RR: They are generally not particular days. The highlight in the case of Deacon Blue was just nights we played and it was great. It still is actually. We still do gigs that are really great especially recently. If we are going to carry on doing stuff we need to do stuff that's new and challenges us a bit and that's important. So, nights when everyone is enjoying it and playing well and everyone is doing the best they can do which is also important. In terms of solo things again, the albums have been enjoyable. The last two albums 'This Is The Life' and 'Pale Rider' have been enjoyable to make, but again it's nights when you are doing the solo show and you just connect with people in a different kind of way. I was looking at my website and there is a section with some feedback on it and some people were saying they weren't that keen on me going out to play acoustically and they hoped I would have a full band instead and thought the acoustic thing was a compromise. The real point for me is the solo show has to be small and acoustic. It's really good to do it with Davie because with too many people it just becomes the wrong kind of show and then you start churning through songs. Okay, you'll get the arrangements, but people can go and listen to the album if they want to hear those arrangements. I saw Randy Newman last year and on his album he has a 30 piece orchestra but it was fantastic because he was on his own. People think that it's a compromise. It is a compromise because we actually can't afford to take a whole band out on the road, that's true. But to be honest with you, I'm not sure I would even if I could.

DA: On a number of the websites people have come from the other end of the spectrum and said it would be really good if Deacon Blue did an unplugged style concert some time.

RR: I guess there's lots of things that Deacon Blue might do, there's lots of possibilities but the point about the solo show is that at times I am able to make a connection with people that you can't get in a bigger show. And then there is a great thing about a bigger show where the whole thing can take off and it's just about the whole atmosphere of the thing and it's great and the two are really important and I now realise "don't touch them because they both work!"

DA: When I saw the solo show a few years ago in Aberdeen you seemed to have more time and space in it for telling stories and jokes about life and about the songs.

RR:Yeah I think so. That's the up side of it. It allows you to do that. It also allows you to change things. There is an enormous amount of material I can play in my solo show. In the past we have just gone into the soundcheck and decided there what we would do tonight and that's really nice.

As I drove back up the road reflecting on our interview I concluded that Ricky Ross appears content with his lot in life. Reconciled to his past in Deacon Blue and quite matter of fact about their achievements and success. Affirmed that the albums he and his bandmates made have dated pretty well and the songs still mean a lot to people decades later even though he never really wanted to be in a band in the first place. His solo career has seen him develop artistically and sidestep a media circus he never enjoyed being part of. He now has the freedom to work largely from home and spend quality time with his wife and family. And when it comes to talking about his faith journey whether in song or in an interview he speaks about this as openly as he speaks of his love of his beloved Dundee United but with an acceptance of other football fans who support different football teams. And so it is with his understanding of Christianity. It seems natural to sing about faith, belief and doubt without trying to strive to make a definitive statement or convert anyone to his own particular understanding of the faith. Here again he seems at peace. The faith he inherited from his parents and his upbringing has been thought through until it has matured and become a deeply personal framework for making sense of all the stuff of ordinary life. Fewer record sales and smaller concerts have freed him to share more of himself than he has shared before, and at the age of 47 he has a lot of things to say that are well worth listening to, if the listener has the time it's gonna take to listen well. CR

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.
 
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Reader Comments

Posted by sue james in liverpool @ 14:15 on Jan 16 2009

I agree with your comments that deacon blue helped shape your life as this was the case for me. Every w/end me and my mates would go to the State in Liverpool and dance all night to their music especially Dignity. Dignity itself is very important to me as a very good friend was killed in a car crash and the song was played at the funeral. This was a sight as at least 250 people were singing the song. Deacon Blue's music has comforted and inspired me it has helped me through lifes trials.( i now work as a social worker!) I have seen the group 14 times the last concert was in Liverpool echo arena 2008. It is now a joke between my freinds that i am a groupie (although i would not go that far) I cannot resist making my way to the front of the concert and i am a security gaurds nightmare. Thanks deacon Blue for giving me so many happy memories



Posted by ian collinson in durham @ 05:00 on Jan 3 2009

what a inspiration ricky ross is to me he is without doubt a credit to the human race.



Posted by ian ramsay in Spain nowadays but from Perth @ 17:11 on Dec 29 2008

Searching for something else I happened on this interview, even though it is now nearly 4 years old I found it very illuminating. I have managed to see DB live a couple of times recently and I have everything they & Ricky on his own have done. This was a great insight into the guy behind the songs, Thanks



Posted by Colin Kelly @ 21:53 on Jun 29 2005

Thoroughly enjoyed this interview, thanks for making it available on line. Dougie has managed to put together a fasincating insight into Ricky's life and career.



The opinions expressed in the Reader Comments are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms.

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