SAM & RUBY: NAMED SIRIUS-XM’S “COFFEE HOUSE SINGER-SONGWRITER DISCOVERY OF THE YEAR”; NEW SINGLE “I CAN’T STOP LOVING YOU” 2/9

NEW SINGLE
“I CAN’T STOP LOVIN YOU”
DUE FEBRUARY 9,
FEBRUARY 23 DIGITAL RELEASE OF
‘PRESS ON’ EP
TO FOLLOW

This month, the Grammy-nominated duo will release a new single and EP on Ryko.  First up is the February 9 digital release of “I Can’t Stop Lovin You,” their interpretation of the Ray Charles classic that features guest vocals from Flynn.  It will be followed by the February 23 release of the digital EP PRESS ON.  The six-track EP features two unreleased tracks–“I Hope You’re Well” and “Taking Memories”–and a new version of their “Never Surrender” (previously available only as an iTunes bonus track), all mixed by Ed Stasium.  There are also live versions–recorded for the Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour–of “The Here And The Now,” This I Know” and “Heaven’s My Home.”

This all follows a great 2009 with SAM & RUBY’s Ryko debut, The Here and the Now having been chosen as one of the Associated Press’ albums of the year. As Nekesa Moody noted in her year-end AP piece: “their blend of acoustic folk, country and soul sounds homespun, as though they've been making music together for a lifetime. And they've reached near-perfection with this CD.” 

Since their 1999 meeting at a writer’s night in Nashville, Wisconsin born-and-bred SAM and the Ghana-born and Nashville-raised RUBY’s gentle blend of R&B, folk and pop earned them a 2007 Grammy nomination for their song “Heaven's My Home,” as performed by The Duhks.  In addition, an early SAM & RUBY recording of the track was featured in the film adaptation of the beloved, acclaimed best-seller, “The Secret Life of Bees.”  Previous years have seen SAM & RUBY performing at SXSW and for the past four years they’ve been featured at New Orleans’ Voodoo Experience music festival.  Last year, NPR featured them on the “Tell Me More” feature and in the fall, they hit the road with Eric Hutchinson.

SAM BROOKER and RUBY AMANFU are both accomplished artists and songwriters in their own right.  From their initial meeting, the two formed a friendship based on mutual respect for each other's music and penned their first song together, “The Here & The Now.” The two would go on to perform the song at each other's shows and the audience immediately embraced them, giving rise to the dynamic duo of SAM & RUBY. Musically their songs represent the “stuff of life.”

Here’s what some critics have said about THE HERE & THE NOW: