1. When did you think about music as a career and what were your first steps into it?
I knew I wanted a career in music from an early age. Growing up in a musical family meant that it was like second nature for me to play and perform. I guess the first steps into taking a career in music was when I entered the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition as a teenager; I won the piano final in 1994 and from there my career as a classical pianist really took off.
2. Best gigs you’ve been to?
Keith Jarrett, Yo Yo Ma and Muse.
3. Fantasy wedding/birthday party band?
Herbie Hancock, Stevie Wonder, Nile Rodgers, B.B. King and Buddy Rich.
4. The record you’d take to a desert island?
The Very Best of Chic & Sister Sledge.
5. And the book?
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou.
6. Top three films?
The Theory of Everything, The Color Purple and Ray (the Ray Charles biopic).
7. Worst film you’ve seen?
27 Dresses.
8. Favourite authors?
Maya Angelou, Wayne Dyer, Marian Keyes.
9. Ideal holiday destination?
New York.
10. Pet hate?
Bullying and controlling behaviour.
11. What’s your favourite:
Dinner? Curry.
Dessert? Raspberry sorbet.
Drink? Non-alcoholic ginger beer mojito.
12. Is there a God?
We’ll get a surprise if there is and a surprise if there isn’t. I feel there is definitely a power bigger than us in the world around us for sure.
Ruth McGinley’s album Reconnection will be released on Lyte Records on May 27. For all tour dates, see www.ruthmcginley.co.uk
