NASHVILLE ||
DT: OCTOBER 13, 2016
FM: MITCH SCHNEIDER/MIKE GOWEN/VANESSA LOVETT
MSO PR
RUBY FRIEDMAN ORCHESTRA
DEBUT FULL-LENGTH ALBUM
‘GEM’
NOW OUT FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11 WITH NEW MATERIAL
ALBUM RELEASE PERFORMANCE
NOVEMBER 9 AT HOTEL CAFÉ
 Above: album art for GEM
“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
The RUBY FRIEDMAN ORCHESTRA have moved the release date for their long-awaited, roots-infused debut full-length album GEM to Friday, November 11, accommodating the addition of newly recorded material–“Shooting Stars,” “The Ballad Of Lee Morse,” and “Please”–which Friedman felt strongly about including. The album’s lead single “I’m Not Your Friend” premiered with PopMatters.com (listen here) and the official music video for the song will be released soon (exact date TBA). For the song, the band’s namesake powerhouse vocalist Ruby Friedman brings to life a gritty murder ballad inspired by true events.
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 gale-force, 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”
Friedman‘s stops-out vocal performances–drawing on such diverse sources as Bessie Smith, Etta James, Patsy Cline, and PJ Harvey–and affecting original songs have garnered praise from the likes of Buzzbands.la‘s Kevin Bronson who 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.”
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:
“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
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.
 Above: Single Art for “I’m Not Your Friend”
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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