Cal Ruddy, Zanzibar, Liverpool. February 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

To become a hero, to wallow just for a short while in deserved applause, the aspiring musician need not sell his soul to sit in the reflected glory of a highly profitable television programme, all they need to do is come through the possible agony of a live performance in front of friends and family in which some difficulties, otherwise known as real life, are met head on and beaten by sheer force of will and the demeanour of one born to succeed.

Being considered a hero is not what the artist sets out to be, no one is truly vein enough to believe that, the true heroes, the real leading lights are those who deal with the everyday, the nurse clinging on to all powers of dedication, the mother making ends meet in a world that slowly and surely becomes more cruel and absurd, the fireman risking their lives at an age where most no longer even consider going up a ladder to clean their windows, these are true heroes and yet heroics, the ability to keep going when the small Gods of misfortune rattle at the door, when you suddenly grown in stature and depth, that is a hero in many a book.

For Cal Ruddy, heroics were very much in order and it was surely with great pleasure in the hearts of all who made their way to Zanzibar to watch this young man perform a set that may have buckled a lesser soul, even to the point of exasperation.

Heroics, it’s a case of being able to rise above what gets in your way, what smacks you in the teeth and leaves you momentarily bloodied but nevertheless unbowed. For Cal Ruddy, the gods of misfortune certainly took every possible shot at him but in the greatest of storms, the biggest of men stand tall.

There is an air of inspiration that surrounds Cal Ruddy, a genuine case of the unconquerable spirit and between bouts of misfortune, that inspiration grew and seized hold.

With a good solid opening to his set in the form of the songs Journey and Redemption, the battle of will ensued, but in the form of the victorious and aided by Will Freckles and The Jakobins stalwart Dominic Bassnett, misfortune was squared up to and sent packing and the rest of the evening proved, if it were needed, that in Cal Ruddy there is a mountain that cannot be breached.

With tracks such as Sweet Little Valentine, taken from his forthcoming new E.P. and the excellent She’s The One, Cal Ruddy took the applause offered in great abundance with the quietness of that hero.

It’s not always about the glamour and the glitz, the setting or the ferocity of performance, sometimes just being able to carry on, being able to look misfortune in the eye and telling it to do one with conviction, is enough to be looked upon as being part of a memorable and well performed gig.

Ian D. Hall