RUBY DEE & THE SNAKEHANDLERS

www.rubydeemusic.com
www.myspace.com/rubydeeandthesnakehandlers

Who are Ruby Dee and the Snakehandlers? More and more music lovers are learning the answer: a locally loved Seattle band that’s earning a nationwide following with each and every show it plays of its honest, original music fused with synergy, sugar, sweat and soul.

The 5-year-old four-piece combo — led by beautifully flamboyant front woman, songwriter and lead vocalist Ruby Dee Philippa and master guitarist Jorge Harada, supported by Sean Hudson on electric bass and Kipp Crawford on drums and frequent guest artists onstage and in the studio — plays an Americana that encompasses Northwest alt-country, Texas honky-tonk, Bakersfield country, Memphis rockabilly, Western swing and good old-fashioned rock ’n’ roll.

After almost constant touring for two years, including dates across all of America and in Europe, the band’s been in the studio again with producer Conrad Uno, finishing its second full-length CD (and fourth overall), MILES FROM HOME, due for release by Dionysus Records on June 24.

Two of Ruby’s songs for the new CD, the fast-paced rockabilly “Don’t Need a Man” and the melancholy but beautiful love song “Round and Round,” are already being demanded by fans at live shows. Another, “Cold Pines & Red Dirt,” earned second-place honors in Songwriter magazine’s recent competition. It reflects a new depth and more maturity in her writing and what Ruby calls “a more masterful approach by Harada with his guitar and the spaces in between.”

The band plans a series of CD release shows mid-summer and a national tour in early fall to support the new recording and will continue to deliver its sound to capacity crowds in clubs, rodeos, county fairs and festivals, and private parties. Additionally, members of The Snakehandlers are set to move to Austin at the end of the year.

Right off the bat, Ruby Dee and The Snakehandlers was voted Best Band in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer People’s Picks in 2005 and Best Signed Band in the People’s Picks 2006. The band also earned the 2007 Los Angeles Music Award for Best Country Group with Vocals for its song “Now I Want You (Out of My Head).”

The music grew on audiences — a combination of Ruby’s singing and songwriting informed by her childhood spent between the no-longer-wild foothills of Northern California and the long, straight roads around Big Spring, Texas; her time escaping to South America, driving a truck, working Alaskan fishing boats and the like; and band members’ heroes: Buck Owens, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Hank Williams, Los Lobos, Stray Cats, Merle Haggard and more.

Immediately, fans of Ruby Dee and The Snakehandlers live shows demanded something to take home, which led to the five-song EP CD, FIVE FOR THE ROAD (released in 2003 and still selling online), and the Uno-produced full-length NORTH OF BAKERSFIELD, which has earned a lot of airplay in the United States, Europe and Australia and charted two tracks, “Who is She?” and “I Remember You,” on the European Americana list.

“Ruby Dee and The Snakehandlers make a sweet honky-tonk country racket that’s perfect for long road trips, lazy afternoons and jumpin’ and  jivin’ at the corner bar,” says NWsource.com. “If you like Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Buck Owens, X or any combination thereof, you’ll immediately recognize the band as kindred souls. If you don’t like those great artists, guess what? You may end up dancing to The Snakehandlers anyway, despite yourself. The band’s that good.”

Media Contact: McGuckin Entertainment PR
Jill McGuckin, 512.217.9404; jill@mcguckinpr.com
Heidi Labensart, 512.478.0578; heidi@mcguckinpr.com

# # #