Ruby Lovett

“It’s A Hard Life”

Mainstream country music had moved on a bit too much for Ruby Lovett’s more real sound by the time Curb Records released her album at the latter end of the ’90s. She was another casualty of being too country for country. A single didn’t fare all that well on the charts and, as is the way all too often, Ruby Lovett didn’t get another chance.

However, with It’s A Hard Life, her return is triumphant. Stripped back in a mainly acoustic fashion that is frequently almost bluegrassy in instrumentation, the restrained production allows her voice to shine in a way that most Americana singers can only dream of. The fiddle player deserves high praise, if only for his intro on Where I’m Standing Today which is a redemptive gem of a very special song indeed. The higher register of Lovett’s voice suits it down to the ground while the snatches of mandolin and steel made me hope this waltz was never going to end. There are shades of Bobbie Gentry in Home Sweet Honky Tonk, and whilst it’s presented with a ton of Dobro the song could work just as well in an out and-out honky tonk arrangement implied by the title.

If Dolly herself hasn’t heard Straight From My Heart she really needs to, but for that matter she should hear the whole album. If it’s stories you’re after they’re here in abundance. There must be any number of young singers who’d give their best pair of vintage custom-made boots to make an album like this.

Raised poor, Ruby Lovett started singing early and she sings with authority, grit, and a genuine appreciation of what a “Hard Life” actually means. Beautifully produced, with perfect performances by every musician as well as Lovett’s fabulous vocals, this is about as real as it gets and will be welcomed by fans of Appalachian, bluegrass, and Americana as it will those of real rootsy country. Ruby Lovett says her music is “raw and unpolished.” It is that, but at the same time this album is a spectacular return.

~ Written by Kelly Gregory for Country Music People Magazine – the world’s longest-running and most respected country music magazine, published monthly.

Songswarm – Vol. 1

The title from the recent Songswarm release is a noun. By definition, a Songswarm is “two or three performers practicing their art or act of improvisational accompaniment on each other’s original songs in front of an audience.” 

PuffBunny Records ups the ante for the pot of tracks collected on Songswarm, Vol. 1, offering six songwriters with two tracks each on the release. Taylor Pie, the catalyst and producer for the project, plays on the album as well as surrounding herself with top tunesmiths from the Lone Star State. Songswarm, Vol.1 presents music from Texans such as Michael O’Connor, Jeff Plankenhorn, George Ensle, Greg Whitfield, and Jack Saunders.

The players offer their music as they back each other instrumentally on the album.

Taylor Pie (Susan Taylor) has a resume in music going back to the 1960’s as a part of the Pozo Seco Singers who took their hit “Time” to the top of the charts. She fronted the City Country band in New York City in the 1970’s and traveled as a solo act during the 1980’s. 

Throughout her career, the art of the song was at the heart of what Taylor Pie found important about playing. She found a home in the Songswarm movement feeling that it ‘has become my favorite way to walk on a stage’. Songswarm, Vol. 1 offers two tracks from Taylor Pie as she closes out the compilation with “Peace Within” joined by George Ensle and Jack Saunders , and brings in help for “Oh, Mandolin” from Michael O’Connor and Jeff Plankenhorn to form a trio of mandolins to back her song. Greg Whitfield whispers the story of a guitar born in Nazareth, Pennsylvania with “Martin’s Song” as George Ensle strums folk blues for “Knee Deep in a River” and Jack Saunders tells the tale of a troubadour in “This Highway”. The gathering of musicians presents the gentle picking of Michael O’Connor, a South Texas Walk of Fame recipient singing his “Homesick Boy” and a hard luck story with a rambling rhythm called “Throw a Nickel”. Jeff Plankenhorn brings his own guitar creation (The Plank) into Songswarm, Vol. 1, relating a tale of temptation with “Trouble Find Me” and welcomes Taylor Pie on mandolin for a metaphoric story titled, “The Mess”.