NASHVILLE ||
DT: NOVEMBER 7, 2016
FM: MITCH SCHNEIDER/MIKE GOWEN/VANESSA LOVETT
MSO PR
RUBY FRIEDMAN ORCHESTRA
PARTNERS WITH ALLMUSIC.COM TO PREMIERE DEBUT ALBUM
‘GEM’
TODAY, NOVEMBER 7
ALBUM OUT THIS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11
ALBUM RELEASE SHOW
NOVEMBER 9 AT HOTEL CAFÉ IN LOS ANGELES
 Above: album art for GEM
“Powerhouse vocalist Ruby Friedman guides her Orchestra and takes listeners on a wild ride with Gem, an album that alternately stomps, roars and mourns. While the song ‘I Don’t Want’ celebrates enjoying what you have, ‘Fugue in L.A. Minor’ looks back at what’s been lost and ruined, with the common thread being Friedman’s dynamic voice, which can go from a whisper to a howl, not just because it can, but to serve the song and its story.”
The RUBY FRIEDMAN ORCHESTRA have partnered with AllMusic.com, today (November7), to premiere her long-awaited, roots-infused debut full-length album GEM. Click here to listen to GEM before its official release this Friday, November 11. Pre-order is available now via iTunes here. In celebration of the album’s release, RUBY FRIEDMAN ORCHESTRA will perform a release show in Los Angeles at Hotel Café on Wednesday, November 9.
GEM–the 10-song collection of intensely personal original compositions recorded in New York, Calgary and Los Angeles–was co-produced by Peter Malick (Norah Jones), Josh Valleau (John Legend, Imani Coppola), Alex Elena (Alice Smith) and Topher Mohr (Mayer Hawthorne). The album features ten original songs solely written or co-written and co-produced by Friedman. KCRW‘s Gary Calamar has characterized her music as “modern vintage sounds that will make you laugh and cry and dance like there’s no tomorrow. Ruby Friedman is an electrifying performer and songwriter.” Buzzbands.la‘s Kevin Bronson has also raved, “the L.A. songstress comes at you like a weather front, a thunder-and-lightning barrage of soul and nerves, capable of wrapping more drama into a phrase than most singers do in their autobiographies.”
Friedman’s striking rendition of Darrell Scott’s “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive” was featured in 2014’s season-closing episode of the hit FX series “Justified,” and in addition, her original song “Drowned”-co-authored by “Sons of Anarchy” music supervisor Bob Thiele-was spotlighted in the popular FX biker drama. Friedman showcased her voice for the season two trailer of the Emmy Award-wining Amazon original series “Transparent.” Another RUBY FRIEDMAN ORCHESTRA original, “Shooting Stars,” was synched in campaigns by Fox Sports and for the international Got Talent franchise, including NBC’s “America’s Got Talent.” Friedman‘s voice was featured in the Clio Award-winning 2015 television and online campaign for Sony’s best-selling video game Bloodborne.
Track listing for GEM:
“Fugue In L.A. Minor”
“I’m Not Your Friend”
“Shooting Stars”
“Ten Minutes”
“Fairfax Fable”
“The Ballad Of Lee Morse”
“Please”
“Cheated”
“I Don’t Want”
“Lonely Road Symphony Rag”
MORE EARLY PRAISE FOR GEM:
“Ruby Friedman reeks of true charisma in all that she does. She’s not just a real-deal soul stompstress who can blow your pretty mind with colossal voice, though she is indeed a versatile and innovative song stylist who can and will do just that. Really, Friedman is a great actor and novelist combined, nuanced, deeply layered, complex as hell and funny, too…Friedman has a new album out titled Gem, a richly atmospheric and genuinely moving bunch of big-bad-world-drenched but wonderfully celebratory heart-wringers and hard-chargers to which she brings an enormous intelligence and sincerely red-blooded life.”
“Ruby Friedman is a rocker, but the songs on Gem, her debut album, don’t rock in the traditional sense. The music is dark…full of violent frustration and shattered expectations. Her orchestra teases unexpected sounds out of their instruments…Friedman’s vocals are full of intense emotion, as she explores a landscape littered with aching hearts and unfulfilled dreams…The sounds on Gem suggest a sci-fi spaghetti-Western, with hints of gospel and country floating through the mix.”
–j. poet,MAGNET MAGAZINE
“Rootsy by inclination and rockist by temperament…here is the kind of music you think they don’t make any more.”
–Ron Garmon, LA RECORD
“You don’t need to know Ruby Friedman’s life story to get a sense of who she is. Just hearing her, and better seeing her perform, tell enough. Her voice and manner are as bold and brash as her flame-red hair. But she’s telling you anyway, with ‘Fugue in L.A. Minor,’ the opening song of her long-in-coming first album, Gem…It’s quite the curtain-raiser, fitting as what follows has some theatrical punch, Vaudevillian in some spots, Brechtian in others. Well, really it’s Vaudeville-y and Brecht-y, not fully either, or any one thing at any time. Bluesy also applies. Jazzy maybe. But brassy, always…another highlight is a last-minute addition to the album, the powerful ‘Ballad of Lee Morse…’ Friedman sings the tale with a kind of force that can only come from someone who sees something, or a lot, of herself in it. It’s part celebratory, part cautionary. And all Ruby Friedman.”
–Steve Hochman, KPCC (NPR Affiliate)
“The 20th century sound she represents is roots rock, bluesy soul, which suits her deep, textured, rich voice to a tee. Friedman really is one hell of a frontwoman, with a completely unique and transfixing voice laden with passion. Meanwhile, her band storms through a song like ‘I’m Not Your Friend’ with monster riffs and exciting guitar lines that totally make Gem a necessary addition to your music collection.”
“Gem is the long-awaited debut album by the Ruby Friedman Orchestra. It is a unique and powerfully affecting experiment in musical time travel.”
–Leah Adams, ALLACCESS.com
 Above: Ruby Friedman
For more information on RUBY FRIEDMAN ORCHESTRA, visit:
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For RUBY FRIEDMAN ORCHESTRA press inquiries, contact:
MSO PR
818.380.0400
Mike Gowen // mgowen@msopr.com
Mitch Schneider // mschneider@msopr.com
Vanessa Lovett // vlovett@msopr.com
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