World Music News

Sam & Ruby to Release Debut Album - "The Here & The Now" on Rykodisc - In Stores Next Week on August 11

Monday August 10,2009

"truly like nothing I have ever heard...something ethereal, almost spiritual...their undeniable connection transcends their surroundings and stays with the listener."
-The Examiner

"navigates a wide divide.. from the seductive soul.. to the rootsier realms ..the songs dabble in softer hues, the supple arrangements-vary the shadings and add to the allure."
- Performing Songwriter

"you get a sense of life... every little piece adds to the greatness of the bigger picture... never leave you wanting more except for more of Sam & Ruby themselves"
- Beyond Race

"...these self-professed "musical soul-mates" certainly make a one-of-a-kind pair. Their song "Heaven's My Home" (featured in the film The Secret Life of Bees) stitches together folk, soul and a pinch of country in an effortlessly unique, ear-catching way."
- Nashville Tennessean

It's rare when new artists meet the challenge of addressing universal themes in unique ways. But that's exactly what Rykodisc duo SAM & RUBY have accomplished with the dozen songs on their debut album THE HERE AND THE NOW, releasing August 11th, 2009. If the best music sometimes defies category, then Sam & Ruby are in a league of their own-with a unique blend of pop, folk/R&B, and a sprinkling of Americana roots mixed in.

Gifted songwriters and artists on their own terms, Sam Brooker and Ruby Amanfu came together amidst the pressure cooker that is the Nashville music community, finding creative commonality despite very different backgrounds.

Brooker was raised in Green Bay, Wisconsin, while Amanfu was born in Ghana and eventually raised in Tennessee. Those geographical influences, along with the experiences gained via living the artistic life, give the tracks on THE HERE AND THE NOW a sound that comes from everywhere and nowhere simultaneously.

Beguiling and entrancing, these ultra-talented musical soulmates envelop listeners into an emotionally charged world of flawless harmony. The Tennessean's Dave Paulson describes the duo as "effortlessly unique." Songs like the opener "What Do I Do Now," with Brooker's funky, finger-picked backbeat introducing Amanfu's expressive vocal, sets the stage for the pair's musical mesh. SAM & RUBY, together with co-producer Chris Farren seem unafraid to throw in whatever instrumentation the communication calls for, giving each track character-- appropriate to the moment.

"While most of the songs dabble in softer hues, the supple arrangements -- a hint of violins on "Heaven's My Home," a bit of brass on "Too Much" -- vary the shadings and add to the allure," says Lee Zimmerman of Performing Songwriter magazine.

The foundations of relationships - human and otherwise - inform most of the songs on THE HERE AND THE NOW. The Grammy-nominated "Heaven's My Home" (written by Amanfu with Katie Herzig and as previously recorded by Canadian roots outfit The Duhks) speaks to the pair's spiritual side, but even tracks like "The Suitcase Song" can be looked at through the lens of both the literal and the metaphysical.

But the core of the album's subject matter comes from the joys and pains of one-to-one, man-to-woman interaction. From the lifting up of love on "This I Know," to the realization of needed separation found on "More," to the abject statement "Ain't Love Somethin'," SAM & RUBY come at the idea of human contact with fresh eyes and empathetic souls.

Says Ruby, "We try not to fear honesty in our writing and tackle the things that hurt, the things that aren't always pretty. We wanted this record to be honest and conversational."

It's that smooth, sexy take on the everyday that makes the music on THE HERE AND THE NOW stand out, and makes the story of SAM & RUBY one that's begging to be told.

Tour Dates

> Find out more at the Sam & Ruby MySpace page

Sam and Ruby Video : This I KNow : Performed live at the B. Sharp Showcase in NYC