RuthAnne Singer Songwriter Interview

RuthAnne is a top singer/songwriter based in Ireland, who has written many hit songs for other artists. She is known for co-writing the hits “Too Little Too Late” for JoJo, “Slow Hands” for Niall Horan, “Work Bitch” for Britney Spears, and “In The Name of Love” for Martin Garrix & Bebe Rexha. She’s also had success as an artist with her song “The Vow,” which has become a hit in Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Along with her success as a songwriter, RuthAnne may soon emerge as an acclaimed solo artist. On October 10, she will be releasing her second album called The Moment. This is an excellent album that showcases RuthAnne’s powerful, soulful vocals and her heartfelt, intelligent songs. It’s an impressive work that should take her artist career to a much higher level.

The Moment contains 11 songs, and five of these songs have already been released: “Complete Me,” “Through It All, “The Way I’m Wired,” “My Greatest Joy,” and a new duet version of her hit, “The Vow.” The first two songs, “Complete Me” and “Through It All,” are timeless soul ballads that could easily be hit singles for her, or could be covered by other artists. When people hear these songs, they will quickly notice that RuthAnne is a very strong vocalist, especially for someone who has been known for being a behind-the-scenes songwriter.

There other song highlights on the album that people will be hearing soon. “Your Beginning” is a moving and uplifting song about how people can still strive for greatness, even after suffering a failure or setback. Another key song is “Queen of LA,” where Ruthanne recalls her own personal journey, moving to Los Angeles to make it in the music business, but ultimately deciding to move back home to Dublin, Ireland.

RuthAnne grew up in Dublin, where she began to play piano, sing and write songs at a young age. By the time she was a teenager, she was advanced enough as a songwriter & singer to fly to Los Angeles and collaborate with top songwriters & producers.

When she was 17, RuthAnne co-wrote “Too Little Too Late” in L.A. with hit songwriters Billy Steinberg & Josh Alexander, and it became a worldwide hit for JoJo. She then wrote the hits “Work Bitch” (Britney Spears), “In the Name of Love” (Martin Garrix & Bebe Rexha), and “Slow Hands (Niall Horan). She also co-wrote two songs for One Direction’s multi-platinum album, Four, and she had cuts with John Legend, Pentatonix, Maren Morris, Westlife, Lindsey Stirling and other artists.

After moving back to Dublin, RuthAnne in 22019 recorded & released her debut album as an artist: Matters of the Heart. This album included the original version of her hit ballad, “The Vow.” This song has become popular, and is sung frequently at weddings and is featured in videos.

Here’s the video of RuthAnne’s song, “Complete Me.”

In addition to her work as a songwriter & artist, RuthAnne has written a book about songwriting and the music business, called It’s Not Just A Song. This book will be released on September 25, and it’s her guide to helping and encouraging songwriters & artists, whether they are beginners or more advanced. For the book, she interviewed top songwriters such as Amy Allen, Dan Wilson and Julien Bunetta.

We are pleased to do this new Q&A interview with RuthAnne. She discusses the making of her new album, her current life in Ireland, and her new book.

DK: It’s been six years since you released your first album, Matters of the Heart. Can you talk about your journey since then, leading up to your new album?

RuthAnne: I went through a lot of life stuff. Then I got married and there was Covid. I went through fertility struggles…I have two girls now. There was a lot of life lived in those years and I’ve written a book. During that time I became a wife and mother, and now being later in my 30s, I started thinking about the album I’ve always wanted to make. And I think with the success of (her hit) “The Vow,” it showed me that as a songwriter, I was always going after the big pop song, the big radio song. I was going after the most universal song I could write, because that was my job as a songwriter.

I think as an artist, “The Vow” gave me this creative freedom and safe place. I realized that the ballad can still have an impact, and it can be part of people’s moments. And I think watching the videos that people would send me of my music soundtracking these moments, it made me realize…Oh my God, I wanna give people more moments to soundtrack to. And I’ve always wanted to fuse my biggest inspirations and make an album that I’ve always wanted to make, without any pressure or to be anything other than what it is and what my listeners like me doing. So I felt so free to create it and be able to produce it and executive produce it, and be so involved in it.

DK: Your song “The Vow” was a hit (in 2019), and there’s a new duet version of “The Vow” on your new album. Can you talk about this new version?

Here’s the video of RuthAnne’s song, “The Way I’m Wired.”

Ruthanne: We did the original version (in 2018), and then we did an orchestral version, which James Everingham did an amazing, beautiful version that is used in a lot of weddings. I then did a live acoustic version, which people use as well. So I knew that “The Vow” has gone on to be a wedding song, so I wanted do a duet version, and Luke Burr is an absolutely beautiful singer. I love his voice and we sang it together at a wedding. So it felt right to record a duet version and put it on the new album.

DK: I like the first two songs on your new album—“Complete Me” and “Through It All”—which sound like classic pop/R&B singles. Can you talk about writing these two songs?

RuthAnne: I had done “The Vow,” which is like a walk down the aisle wedding song, And with “Complete Me,” I wanted to do a song that could be someone’s first dance at the wedding. You’re celebrating this love that you that you have.

At the time, I saw this phrase about someone completing someone and I was like…that’s a great phrase. I started singing that chorus and I knew that I wanted to do a big sing and get back to my soulful roots, because I always grew up singing soul. I just love a 6/8 classic soul song. Then I wanted the verses to feel like Prince or a stream of consciousness style. So I wrote the verses and we recorded it.

With “Through It All,” it felt like a song called “Love Again” that I had on my first album. It’s a song that people love and I always love doing it live, It has those classic soul chords and I wanted a song for my husband, because he really loves me through it all. So it came from that story of everything we’ve been through the past eight years. I like songs where I’m not trying to be like cool or quirky or trendy. I like those classic songs.

DK: My favorite song on your new album is probably “Your Beginning,” because it has such a hopeful, uplifting feel to it. What inspired you to write this song?

Ruthanne: I’m so glad you like that one. That was the first song that opened the door to this album, and it was written in a very difficult moment. I actually wrote it while I was on an acupuncturist table and crying tears. I’ve had these magical times in my life where songs have just dropped out of the sky, and I can start singing the lyrics and the melody at the same time. And I remember the acupuncturist had the needles in and she had left the room and I was crying. Then the tears started subsiding, and I started thinking about all the failures I’d had in my life. Then I thought about…what is failure? And what is acceptance? I started thinking about when you accept what is, and when you see that a failure isn’t a failure, it’s just a pivot. And I realized that all the failures had led me to where I was now, which is in a very happy place.

Here’s the lyric video of RuthAnne’s song, “The Vow.”

There was one thing that had happened, that was very upsetting. But everything else around me was great. I had a great husband. In this scenario, I thought…I need to begin again. I can begin again and get there. And then writing that song was really healing for me. It was the first one sonically where I was like…well, this is the album. This is the first song. It’s a special song to me because I think that as life goes, it’s got wisdom in it that I wish I knew when I was younger. It’s like me hopefully passing down that wisdom of…This is not the end. This is just a new beginning. And when you see life through that lens, it helps you get over things that you shouldn’t have to ruminate on. Accepting things can do a lot for your energy and your spirit. I think that song is trying to help people accept what is and not ask…Why does this happen? It’s like an acceptance song, so I’m glad it’s one of your favorites.

DK: I also like your song “Queen of LA,” which tells the story of you moving to Los Angeles when you were a teenager to be in the music business. But then later on you decided that you want to be back home in Dublin. What was it like to write this song?

RuthAnne: It’s another song that is very much my story. Again, it’s covering the themes of acceptance and going like…Well it’s the dream that I had, when I went over to LA to make it in Hollywood and live the LA dream. I was a little Irish girl coming over. As it turned out I was successful, but in a different way LA proved to be too much for me as far as my self-esteem and my confidence, and the people I was around in some capacities. I ended up being quite lonely there and quite lost there. Even though I was having success as a songwriter, I couldn’t quite find my sense of belonging there. And I think that realizing that it’s okay to go home, and go back to where you feel you belong and getting your grounding again. So for me, I had to go home and I’m happy where I am. I’m happy with my life.

DK: Now that your album is coming out, do you have plans to play live shows or do a tour?

RuthAnne: Yes, I’ll be doing two special headline shows to celebrate the album’s release in October. Then next year, the plan will be to tour and to do more shows. I think I want people to live with the album and sit with it, and then we can come together and sing together, which would be special. I’d love to have a moment together live. So I want to give the album time to ruminate with people and for people to be impacted by it, and then go on a tour and sing it for people.

Here’s the video of JoJo’s hit “Too Little Too Late,” which was
co-written by RuthAnne.

DK: Currently, you’re focusing on your new album and your artist career. But do you still like to write songs for other artists?

RuthAnne: Yes absolutely, I still do that. I was in the studio with Paloma Faith this week. I am always writing with other artists and I’m developing new artists. There’s some incredible young talent that I’m developing and I want to help break. And for me, I still love writing in all different genres and different spheres of music.

DK: You’ve written a book called It’s Not Just A Song, that will be coming out on September 25. Can you talk about your new book?

RuthAnne: I’ve always wanted to write a book. I‘ve felt that because I was so young coming into the industry as a songwriter, I went through a lot. Billy Steinberg and Josh Alexander (who wrote JoJo’s hit “Too Little Too Late” with her) are incredible, and they gave me the biggest break of my career. And then I had to go through figuring out this industry. I didn’t have parents that knew anything about it…I was just a little girl in LA trying to figure it out. And I think throughout that, I soaked up like a sponge from my mentors, and I learned how you navigate this music industry and how you make a successful career.

I was fortunate to continue having successful songs and to be able to navigate up and down the rollercoaster that it is, and still be here doing it 20 years later. So for me, it’s the book that I wish that I could have read back then. If I had that book, I feel like I’d be on a yacht somewhere with millions (laughs), because there was so much about the industry that I had to learn the hard way, and I had to realize it and learn it. And I really want to pass that down to not just up-and-coming creators, but creatives who feel they are that one song away. They’ve been in the business for years and they’re just one hit away. So I want this book to be for songwriters & artists, whatever level you’re at. Or if you’re the parents of someone who wants to get into music industry, or if you’re a manager or publisher, I think anyone working in the music business today should read this because it’s the lived experience day in, day out of a creative, and it’s not just my voice. For the book, I interviewed great songwriters like Amy Allen, Dan Wilson and Julian Bunetta. So it’s all their insights as well. It’s a very transparent, honest look at the industry and how to navigate it. and how to navigate it to success.