Little did Ross Webb know that when he was invited on stage at a pub gig, it would be the start of a music journey that has lasted almost a decade.
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Country musician Webb is Highland FM's 100 percent Home-Grown artist for October and it couldn't be better timing as he and his band, The Rusted Track, prepare to release his first album, On The Deck.
A familiar face in Highlands pubs, Webb and the boys have been belting out country tunes for several years.
Speaking to Lea Steed on Highland FM, Webb revealed how he fell, or was pushed, into forging a music career for himself.
"It was by default to be honest," he said.
"A good friend of mine, he's not in the Highlands anymore, but he was a local musician in the Highlands for years and years.
"I used to go to a lot of his gigs, played cricket with him and he used to drag me up every so often for a bit of a sing. He said 'I think you need to take this a little more seriously than you are' and through his help I managed to get a first gig going around 2013, so eight years ago.
"He helped put a band together and we did a lot of work for about six months. I was nervous as no tomorrow. I hadn't rehearsed with the band until the day of the gig, it was all thrown together.
"There were a few hiccups during the show but I must admit after that I got the taste and thought, I've got to give this more of a crack, so I concentrated on doing some stuff by myself, then got a couple of friends involved. It has evolved from there."
Webb, who sings, said his bandmates had helped him grow and all contributed in their own way for the On The Deck album.
"There's a good mate of mine, Ali Saunders, he's been with me since 2015 and we kicked along as a duo for some time," he explained.
"A bloke I used to work with in the bank, I actually call his family the partridge family because every member is just a brilliant musician, they're the Malone family.
"Their son Ben came on board, he's written a lot of the melodies for these tunes that you can hear on the new album. Dad Pete plays in the band. They're all local, Pete Wheeler is our drummer, Bob Rogers also chimes in and plays banjo and mandolin.
"Ben's the music behind the songs and I'm the lyrics."
The album traverses a lot of themes from Webb's grandfather in Old Bill, the simple joy in sharing a few drinks with mates in Backyard Party, to mental health struggles in Cowgirl Angel.
The latter tells the story of Northern Territory teenager Dolly Everett, who tragically took her own life after being subjected to cyberbullying in 2018.
Webb said Dolly's story deserved to be told, especially in the wake of COVID and the pressure it has placed on people.
"It was co-written by Southern Highlands local Christine Eccleston," Webb revealed.
"She writes a lot of poems, songs and stories. She actually sent this to me as a poem and just asked if I could do anything with it as a song.
"I changed it up a bit and Ben did a magnificent job melody-wise. Given the circumstances around Dolly and what happened with her...we just thought it was a story that needed to be told, especially with what's been going on for the past 18 months."
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