[Audio version of interview]
Ruby Shay is an artist from the Central Coast of New South Wales who was impressive out of the gate when she released her debut single, ‘Sinner’, in late 2023. Since then she’s kept impressing, and her new album Hitch a Ride is a moving collection of songs about life and how we forge our way through it.
I first interviewed Shay at the time of the release of ‘Sinner’ and she was so interesting to talk to. Her singing voice is a great embodiment of her personality: rich, layered, direct, uncompromising in the ways that matter. When she sings, you feel that you are really seeing her through song – she is not hiding anything. And, also, she has lived through so much that has brought her to have this voice that commands attention.
That voice is married with the array of stories on Hitch a Ride, which were written either by her or by her bandmate in The Red Horse, Shaun Wilson. In our recent interview, Shay talks about how she and Wilson came to choose which songs would be included on the album, and how the songs he wrote seem so much like they would be songs of hers.
This is a conversation with an artist who is technically emerging yet feels emerged – even established, because she knows herself so well that she has arrived in this first album as a complete artist who is at the beginning of what she can share with the world. What you will see and hear in the interview is what’s on the album: a woman with a life that has yielded stories of good and bad times, of shifting sands and learning to stand firm. She’s such a fascinating artist and I so look forward to seeing what she comes up with next.
You can listen to our chat above or on the podcast. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Listen to Hitch a Ride on Apple Music
