RUBY JAMES

If the ghosts of soul divas were smoking and playing poker, the record spinning through the haze and cackling laughter would be Ruby James - Call It Rock & Roll 

Call It Rock & Roll is the sound of the electrifying Ruby James stepping fully into her power. Rooted in the blues, fueled by soul, and delivered with rock and roll bravado, the record resounds with genuine grit. The album showcases anthems built for midnight stages and guitars with heavy grooves, while her voice has the smooth rasp of velvet on fire.

Rock and roll was born from the blues and R&B, and Ruby bares witness to its lineage on this record. Call It Rock & Roll spans the critical eras of rock while staying grounded in its foundational traditions.

The 7 song collection is flagrantly flashy and sonically balanced.  The first track “Voodoo Queen” hits with a menacing, Stones-era swagger. “Honeydripper” is a dirty, late-night groove about a superfine femme who knows her power and takes no prisoners. The cinematic “Novocaine” possesses a shadowy tension that feels like a nocturnal, top-down drive along Sunset Blvd - wind blowing away your tears. The mood changes with “Boogie Downtown” as Ruby struts through the neon-lit, smooth jam that shows her Sly and the Family Stone proclivities. 

Ruby offers a salute to early rock and roll with her spellbinding cover of  LaVern Baker’s “Bumble Bee”.  This electric update of the mid-fifties classic features guitar legend, Rosie Flores, who appears on 3 tracks. Ruby’s version is a 4-on-the-floor rhythm that shifts to a 50’s surf beat in the guitar solo but doesn’t fail to acknowledge the heart of the original; a reminder of the deep musical bloodline running through the veins of modern rock and roll. 

At the emotional core of Call It Rock & Roll is “Punk Rock Love Song”, Ruby’s reimagining of the Supersuckers’ anthem “Pretty Fucked Up.” She reclaims the narrative in her rendition and responds to the original with a duet featuring a vulnerable performance from songwriter and producer, Eddie Spaghetti. The original line from a male POV “she used to be pretty” is replaced by Ruby’s devastating reversal, “I used to be pretty… but now I’m just pretty fucked up.” She transforms the song with a newly penned bridge - A shared confessional that exposes a raw, rock and roll nerve. 

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Ruby cut her teeth fronting loud bands in louder clubs from Florida, to Texas and everywhere in between.  Her early experiences taught her how to command a room. Her debut “Desert Rose” was celebrated with a sold out show at LA’s iconic club, The Troubadour. Simultaneously, she earned her first film placement when her song “Everything Good Goes Away,” co-written with longtime collaborator Rene’ Reyes, was chosen for the film The Women.

Ruby later moved to Austin, arguably the epicenter for American music history and lifestyle. Charlie and Will Sexton produced her follow up record “Happy Now”, engineered by Kyle Crusham, who remains her primary creative partner. Their partnership anchors the sound and spirit of the current Call It Rock & Roll.

Ruby’s odyssey took her to Wisconsin as front person for horn-fueled powerhouse Wifee & The Huzzband, whose single “She Won’t Go” landed at number three on Little Steven’s Underground Garage year-end “Coolest Songs in the World” list. 

2020 saw Ruby taking a pause to run her family’s supper club, but a good rocker can’t be held back for long. She has spent the past 2 years writing, recording and experiencing a budding, new musical life across studios and stages in Austin, Nashville, and Door County, WI. with new-found clarity and purpose

Call It Rock & Roll captures a woman claiming every part of her well-established artistry who is unafraid to take it somewhere new. Ruby James is that woman - bold enough to embrace the legacy of early American music made for a new millennium.