Ruby Rendrag
It seems like anytime a woman straps on an acoustic guitar, most people have preconceived notions about what is to come. Ruby Rendrag and her eponymous trio enjoy nothing more than shattering those assumptions while delivering soulful, artfully composed and skillfully performed music. Is Ruby Rendrag a pop singer/songwriter? Well, if Superman is any indication, she could easily find a mass audience with that song’s seductive melody, simmering arrangement and compelling vocal. Is she a folk singer? Meditation starts as a bouncing folk-pop tune, with lyrics that are revealing of both Ruby’s vulnerability and strength. Is Ruby Rendrag a rocker? One need only listen to the rest of Meditation to hear her trio of acoustic guitar, Suki Kuehn on cello and Louis Carrillo on drums rock as hard as vintage Led Zeppelin.

Her trio is as exhilarating live as they are accomplished in the studio. There is energy without histrionics, swagger without arrogance, and joy without pretense. When you see Ruby, Suki and Louis live, you get to watch musicians who genuinely love what they are doing. Ruby Rendrag does not indulge in the self-deception so many singer-songwriters exploit to seduce listeners. Instead, her self-assured vocals carry forth a fully realized person to her listeners, not a saint, demon nor martyr.