Some diamonds you find in the most unlikely of places. Like in the pages of Country Aircheck, which despite being a great mail-out with a lot of interesting features, I did not expect to discover a brand new artist in there whom I would love. But sure enough, hidden in a brief note on Dylan Scott’s radio tour was the news that another Curb artist, Ruthie Collins, was also on the road playing her music for stations and making friends. The fact that I’m losing faith with the current women of mainstream country was striking enough to send me over to YouTube, where I knew that what I was hearing was big. If not game-changing, then at least unique and influential. And certainly something that I could be a fan of.
The effect was such that I switched over to iTunes and bought her EP without a thought, because in a world where I’m growing increasingly disillusioned with the bro-heavy, party-orientated, pop-masquerading-as-country content on country radio, I knew that something this different and original was bound to be not only enjoyable, but also something that could really take off, given the right place and the right time. While some acts, both new and established, are taking on the sounds of EDM and chart pop to heavily modernize their music and chase crossover success, spurned by the popularity of Folktronica (Avicii on ‘Wake Me Up’ and ‘Hey Brother’ etc), Ruthie Collins does one better. She draws from bluegrass, Americana and traditional country and adds an electronic beat, something that positions her perfectly to please potentially both camps, her authenticity and freshness both as valid as each other. On some tracks, the pop and EDM styles came further to the forefront, such as on ‘Ready To Roll’, while on others the bluegrass and country are far more evident, such as on ‘Trainwreckin’’.
Her lead single is even more fascinating. Working with producer Curt Gibbs, Ruthie muses on listening to Hank Williams’ ‘Ramblin’ Man’, “When I heard Hank Senior sing ‘I love you, baby,’ it just sounded like this guy talking to his girlfriend.” She continues, “I Googled the lyrics and went in to sing a scratch vocal, changing it a bit to be from a female perspective. I don’t know where that melody came from, but I sang it off-the-cuff and we haven’t changed it a bit. The first time I did it, it was all there.” The result is something of a mash-up, a tribute with bite, a sampled Hank providing the hook while Ruthie belts out her version of the lyrics in an entirely new melody. When the hook appears for a second time, a heavy dance beat and a club-ready vocal refrain kicks in, turning the tables on genre like a flip-switch. As a song, it might ruffle some feathers, but her clear love for the original Hank track does enough to settle her stylistic loyalties and allow critics to take her seriously. With Ruthie, it doesn’t feel like a forced attempt to chase trends, rather a way to express herself with all the contradictions of a modern age over-saturated with musical influences.
A major factor in her favor, too, is her image and artistic persona. While her music is intriguing and worthy of note, her impassioned love of all things vintage and display of that across her media means that she stands out as a person. The photo of Ruthie on the front cover of her EP, even, looks rather different to the other women currently fighting for a place at radio. She looks like she could be singing old 50s songs or even classical music, and while for some that may provide a conflict in associations, for most it means they remember her, and fondly. If that weren’t enough, she also has a track called ‘Vintage’ on the record, about hoping for a love that becomes vintage. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen someone in the mainstream carve out their niche so deliberately, and that’s exciting to watch. The fact that she’s signed to Curb and currently plugging herself at radio means there is promotion behind her and a launch pad aimed at the masses. Let’s just hope radio are smart enough to take a chance on it (SiriusXM’s The Highway are already playing ‘Ramblin’ Man’), so that Ruthie is elevated to the level she deserves.
