NASHVILLE ||
DT: DECEMBER 6, 2016
FM: MITCH SCHNEIDER/MIKE GOWEN
MSO PR
RUBY FRIEDMAN ORCHESTRA
ALIGNS WITH YAHOO! MUSIC TO PREMIERE OFFICIAL VIDEO FOR
“I’M NOT YOUR FRIEND”
YESTERDAY, DECEMBER 5
DEBUT ALBUM
‘GEM’
OUT NOW
 Above: album art for GEM
“Los Angeles vocalist Ruby Friedman has been lauded by critics for her dynamic voice, ‘modern vintage’ style, and genre-bending ability to create deeply personal compositions that stir a range of emotions in her listeners…’I’m Not Your Friend,’ which mesmerizes not only sonically, but also with its striking visuals.”
The RUBY FRIEDMAN ORCHESTRA partnered with Yahoo! Music, yesterday (December 5), to premiere the official music video for “I’m Not your Friend,” the lead single off their recently released roots-infused debut full-length album, GEM (11/11). Click here to watch the vividly hypnotizing “I’m Not Your Friend” video which was directed by Jorn Van Oostende and S-hekh Shem Hetep Ebron. GEM can be purchased digitally via iTunes here.
“This is a double murder ballad with rape, murder and animal torture themes taken from true stories,” says FRIEDMAN. “When my managers told me their daughter Viv and her friends were obsessed with the song and making up scary skits to it in her room, I said, ‘There’s the video.'”
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.
PRAISE 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.”
“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:
###
For RUBY FRIEDMAN ORCHESTRA press inquiries, contact:
MSO PR
818.380.0400
Mike Gowen // mgowen@msopr.com
Mitch Schneider // mschneider@msopr.com
|
