Susan Ruth
Country of origin:
U.S.
Type of music generally:
Mainstream rock
Status:
Most recent release, All I Ever Wanted Was Everything (2014)
See also:
Susan Ruth's site
Comparisons:
Sheryl Crow, Melissa Ethridge, Alanis Morissette (but no country, bluesy, or alterna-rock tinges like them).
Covers/own material:
Own
General comments:
Artist formerly known as Susan Robkin.Straight-forward melodic rock, rich powerful voice, good singer; songs about relationships. (k_hester_k@yahoo.co.nz)
Recommended first album:
how to say goodbye is the only one we've heard
Recordings:
- how to say goodbye (2001)
- Horse of a Different Color EP (1999)
- Surfacing to Breathe (2004)
- All I Ever Wanted Was Everything (2014)
how to say goodbye
as Susan Robkin
Release info:
2001—SoNoS Records
Availability:
Susan Ruth's site
Ecto priority:
Recommended for people who want to support new rock artists.
Group members:
Susan Ruth—vocals, backing vocals, percussion
Guest artists:
Chris Martin—drums
Brent DeRocher—bass, keys, programming, guitar
Jess Gaedtke—guitars, backing vocals, percussion
Joshua Gaedtke—guitars
Erik DeBower—drums
Linton Weems—keys, programming
Derek Brown—bass
Sam MacDonald—bass
Markus Kamp—percussion
Produced by:
Brent DeRocher
Comments:
Please note: We have only heard a 5-song sampler of the album.Susan Ruth's How to say goodbye is impressive for a debut album—good straight forward melodic rock with crunchy guitars. Ruth has a rich and powerful voice which she uses well and with personality. The guitars sometimes dominate things a bit, and they aren't interesting enough in themselves, as are, for example, the similar guitar sound on Rainer Maria's latest. The songs include the catchy gentle walking-pace 'nobody knows you', the strumming 'Happiness' with a weary 'cry cry cry' refrain, distracting vocal distortion in the eastern-tinged 'Broken inside', and the slinky 'Pretty girl' with a bass-line like Heart's 'Magic man'.
I can imagine a slightly re-recorded version of this making it 'big', but maybe lots of albums I haven't heard fall into that category. If you like Sheryl Crow and Melissa Etheridge, it is worth visiting her website for samples. (k_hester_k@yahoo.co.nz)
Thanks to Karen Hester for work on this entry.
