Cat Ridgeway Credit: photo by Gabe Lugo

Cat Ridgeway’s latest album Sprinter showcases a new, rockier sound and deep emotional resonance for the local fave singer-songwriter.

“Negative experiences can become really beautiful if you allow them to,” says Ridgeway.

Described by Ridgeway as “indie rock for overthinkers,” Sprinter is set to release on Friday, and it might just be her strongest musical statement yet.

Ridgeway pushes her creative boundaries to the limits on this album, blending rock, folk and alternative elements to craft something very much her own.

Music has been an integral part of Ridgeway’s life since childhood. Encouraged by her family to explore sounds in the music room of her childhood home, she cultivated her passion from an early age. In fact, Ridgeway credits her professional music career to her older brother, whose influence has led to a sort of Finneas-and-Billie Eilish dynamic.

“My brother — I joke all the time that the reason I do this for a living now is all his fault,” Ridgeway says. “He’s actually an engineer, and I’ve done a lot of production-type work. But we’ve been kicking around the idea of making a record with just the two of us for a while.”

Similar to artists like Lorde, Ridgeway experiences music through synesthesia, a neurological condition where sounds are associated with colors. This unique perception informs both her songwriting and visual art, with Ridgeway’s album covers a direct reflection of how she experiences her own music. Ridgeway designs her own album covers, ensuring the visual experience matches the sonic one.

“I played around with the album covers, but the final product was simply the colors I was seeing for each song,” she explains. “So, ‘Epilogue’ is red. ‘Sprinter‘ has these kind of earthy tones, shadowy blue things going on. And then ‘What If,’ the single that just came out, has a lot of orange, yellow, and a little hint of green. It all looks really funny in my head.”

Finding an original sound in the music industry is no easy feat, but with the help of producer Mike Savino, Ridgeway has achieved something distinct. By blending traditional rock instrumentation with less-expected elements like banjo, Sprinter surprises with eclectic creativity.

“I feel like we have a sound that isn’t easily comparable, which was a huge goal for me as an artist,” Ridgeway says. “I think if you can create something that is singular, something people can’t directly compare or think is derivative, you’ve accomplished something pretty great.”

Standout title track “Epilogue” was a sonic experiment inspired by her experiences touring with musician Abe Partridge and covering the Avett Brothers’ “Talk on Indolence.” The song blends punk energy with an overdriven banjo, a combination Ridgeway describes as “something that just does amazing things to my brain.” She was determined to push the song’s energy to its peak, incorporating a back-and-forth drum and banjo solo to maximize dynamic highs.

“Seeing how ‘Epilogue’ translates live has been so creatively fulfilling,” she says. “Every night, we accomplish the goal I had when writing it.”

Another deeply personal track is “Posture,” the final song on the record. Ridgeway first wrote it as a high school demo, and when revisiting old material for Sprinter, Savino saw its potential.

Instead of re-recording the track from scratch, they built on the original demo recording, preserving Ridgeway’s teenaged vocals.

“It was like a co-write with my younger self,” she says. “When I heard the final mix, I couldn’t help but cry. It was such a journey back to where I started.”

For Ridgeway, Sprinter is more than just an album — it’s a pivotal chapter in her evolution as an artist. And it all came down to trusting her instincts.

“If you think it’s cool, it’s cool,” she says. “That’s something I’d tell my younger self and any artist. The thing you’re most scared of is often what makes you unique.”

Writing Sprinter was an intense process of self-exploration for Ridgeway. “I don’t think I’ve ever leaned as hard into the revision process of songwriting as I have on this record,” she admits. “I rewrote some of these songs from the ground up multiple times, and that’s a very time-consuming and emotionally, mentally laborious process, but it definitely paid off.”

The hardest part, she says, was figuring out exactly what she wanted to say. “Trying to get the objective of the song across in the lyrics was probably the most difficult part,” she explains. Ridgeway often questioned whether she wanted certain lyrics to be out in the world, pushing herself into vulnerable territory.

A quote from David Bowie resonated with her throughout: If you feel safe in the area you’re working in, you’re not working in the right area. This idea encouraged Ridgeway to take creative risks, even when it felt daunting.

One of the most powerful moments in Ridgeway’s journey with Sprinter has been seeing how her music resonates with listeners. The title track was written for and about a close friend who lost her battle with mental illness. Sharing that story has allowed Ridgeway to connect deeply with fans who have experienced similar losses.

“After shows, people have shared their own stories with me, saying they feel seen and heard, that they don’t feel alone because I talked about it,” she says. “That has been one of the most beautiful experiences I’ve ever had as a songwriter, and it has fundamentally changed my relationship with songwriting and storytelling forever.”

Through this song, Ridgeway has partnered with the suicide prevention organization Find Your Anchor. Within just a week of announcing their collaboration, the organization received numerous inquiries about supporting their work all tied back to Ridgeway’s music.

“I never thought a song could tangibly help people like that,” she reflects. “Now that I’ve seen it happen, I’m just so grateful to have played a role in it. It doesn’t even feel like I did that — it feels like the song did that.”

Ridgeway’s music has transformed her personal grief into something meaningful and healing, allowing her friend’s story to live on in a way that continues to help others. “It flipped the narrative from being just a tragic event in my life to something that’s actively helping people,” Ridgeway says. “She’s obviously not here, but she’s the one who’s helping all these people now.”


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This article appears in Mar 26 – Apr 1, 2025.