A quote from his website discribes him better than I can...
"A mad scientist of sound and vision, Ridgway possesses a style unparalleled, at least in our known universe.
Making his musical pictures for 30 years now, the singer-songwriter and guitarist has emerged as a singular
voice in contemporary song." 
Early 1960's and Surf Music
A prized possession of mine, when I was all of 5 or so, was a portable record player. At first, I played my collection of nursery rhymes and childrens music. I then discovered the box of 45’s that my sisters had. My uncle was a disc jockey in about 1963, first in the Air Force, and later, at a radio station in Worthington, Minnesota. Surf music was all the rage, and was being played by many a band all over America. I found this music and dived into it. A few of the bands I enjoyed were the Beach Boys, The Astronauts, The Trashmen (Surfin’ Bird was their hit and were Minnesota's most famous surf band), The Hondells and Dick Dale, with his "Watusi Jo." I also had a number of records by The Ventures and though they were really not surf music, I still enjoyed them, along with Duane Eddy and his many instrumentals.
I listened to this music quite a bit, until I found the Beatles and for a short time, played an album with the music from my favorite TV show, Batman, with "Robin the Boy Wonder" being my favorite, played often to annoy my older brother.
The Shadows (with Hank Marvin on guitar) and their great song "FBI" was another huge favorite, and who, by the way, are still around playing. Look up the Shadows on YouTube to view them playing FBI. Apache and others. Hank Marvin was the first person to use a Fender Stratocaster in England, and along with an echo machine and Vox amps, paved the way for guitar instrumentals.
Most surf music, guitar-wise, was played on Fender Stratocasters and Jazzmasters. Look at any old film or video that is around and you will see brand new Fender guitars and amps being used. Lots of reverb was required, too. Just listen to any Dick Dale song. He was the king of surf guitar, and still tours and records today. He gained popularity when his music was used on the film "Pulp Fiction." Could it be that that movie brought back this music, or has it always been around and just not being heard? It is infectiously fun music to hear, and brings back a time when the Beatles were waiting in the wings to change the face of rock and roll. It was short-lived, and spawned lots of music and cheaply made films.
I still own many of these 45's and after finding the little adapter to allow me to play them on my vintage 1985 turntable, I found that I still liked some of this music. After exploring the internet, I found that surf music is still alive and well, with a few really good bands based here in Minneapolis. MySpace turned out to be a great resource for finding these bands.
I had read about Ronnie Lake in a local paper here in Minneapolis. She is an excellent purveyor of surf music and is a veteran of the music business, with years of experience to back it up. Her guitar tone and style really exemplifies the surf music spirit. I have to catch one of her shows someday. She is excellent. I like her song "Adventures in Paradox".
The Verb Tones from Portland, Oregon really get the vintage surf sound here. Check out their website to hear a few songs. I love their name, too. They look like a really fun band to see.
The Windows, from Nagoya City,Japan, have it going on, too. The heavy reverbs sound is here in abundance. I have read that surf music is very popular in Japan. Fender guitars are well represented in this band.
Laika & The Cosmonauts, from Finland, show how universal this music is. Great use of the vibrato arm happening here, too. The organ is featured here, too. "Melodic instrumental rockular music with furious and atmospheric visual vibes." says their website. Fun stuff
The WetTones, from Italy. They add a trumpet to the mix. All Fender gear, as well.
Surf music bands have the most creative names -- The Tremolos, The Aquasonics, The Surf Coasters,The Volcanics -- I am getting all these from MySpace. There is a huge amount of bands to explore here. I could spend hours here, but time to move on. Take a look for yourself. It is all there just waiting to be heard.
I will close by saying that today's surf music is being played in the same spirit that the original bands did, back in the time when it was new. The music seems to be universal, even if the people playing it have never been on a surf board or live anywhere near the ocean.
Black Sabbath
I have been a longtime fan of Black Sabbath, and recently started listening to them again. I
do not own any of the many albums I used to have, having sold or lost them over the last 25 years. No problem with the internet
at my disposal. It was like going back to my 8th grade year in 1975 when I heard the timeless opening to "Symptoms of the Universe."
It is no wonder that many of us young guitarists were influenced and taken in by Black Sabbath.
My first (or second -- I can't remember) album was "Masters of Reality", which I played over and over while I played with my Hot Wheels on the floor of my pink bedroom. My sister had vacated the room, and for the first time in many years, I had a place to myself. I also inherited a small stereo, left over from someone. The pink walls and floor rug went, and the blue and green walls with stars on the ceiling took over. The album collection grew on the new book shelves and, soon after getting Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and The Allman Brothers Beginning records, a guitar appeared in the corner.
We Sold Our Soul for Rock and Roll, a compilation release by Black Sabbath, took its place in the shelf, and was played many a night, while I fantasized that it was me playing the guitar. I did not have headphones, and much to my parents' credit, they never complained. The stereo was incapable of being loud. I have to catch up on the Black Sabbath of the 1970's. This is the music of my youth.Gibson SG Faded
I have beem playing these off and on for the last year, and each time have come away with good feelings about it.
I love SG's. I have owned one before, a 1964 SG. Jr. that was beat up and well-aged. It went to a trade long ago. I have always wanted an SG Standard, but have never really been able to be in the right place with the right amount of cash. Last year, I borrowed an Epiphone SG400, and found that it did the SG thing really well. It was made in Korea, and seemed to be made of two pieces of mahogany, and not pieced together with a laminated top, like the ones made today.
This Epi sounded great, so I used this to compare the Faded to. The Faded was made very well, with only a bit of fret sprout, which is not uncommon and is an easy fix. The neck was huge, almost to the point where it was uncomfortable for me to play. Maybe I could get used to that in time. The body was very light, and the neck took the expected nose dive to the ground when I let go of it. Again, that is no big deal to me. The Epi did the same thing. The body has no finish, only the UV coating. I have read that people shine these up using materials for car polishing. I don't know about that. I like the satin feel to it.
The sound of the Faded was very close to the Epi SG400. I thought the Faded sounded better, but not by much. The pickups are 490R and 490T alnico magnet humbuckers. Lots of players find these harsh and hot , so a pickup change can be done easily. Now tone and sound are subjective, so it could sound perfect to someone else. I am just comparing to the Epi. I play through a Peavey Classic 30 and was suprised at how much shimmer and sparkle this guitar has. I typically play Fender's and don't use humbuckers much, but on the SG, they sound great. They have a lot higher output than a single coil but still a nice crunchy shimmer. This guitar can do the classic rock and blues with no problems.
Overall, the Faded is a great guitar for the money. This if the kind of guitar, as are any of the other faded guitars by Gibson and Fender, that you can beat up and not really care about a scratch or dent. Perfect for lots of performances and travel. What I love about any SG is the fact that they weigh almost nothing. It works great for a guy with a small amount of back trouble. Also, SGs are GREAT for slide playing. I have yet to find a better guitar with the upper fret access.