Faith Evans Ruch – Skin Back Alley

Faith Evans Ruch takes a soulful turn with new singles “Sugar” and “Thank You”

15/02/201617/02/2016 by skinbackalley, posted in News

Memphis singer and songwriter Faith Evans Ruch is set to release two brand new singles on the 26th of February.

Ruch is celebrating the new songs, A-side “Sugar” backed up with “Thank You”, via a release show at Lafayette’s Music Room in Memphis on the 23rd of the month.

The tracks see Faith continuing her sonic evolution, laying down a new Memphis Soul-soaked sound bathed in emotive brass and red-hot guitar licks, and all wrapped up in her captivating trademark southern vocals. In short, we’ve heard them, and the new tunes really cook.

Ruch had originally anticipated “Thank You” taking the lead when she was planning the releases, but explains the move that saw “Sugar” move front and centre:

“Once we got in the studio at Royal Studios I started to fall super hard in love with ‘Sugar’. While I am so excited about both songs (and I seriously cannot wait to share them with y’all), I started to second-guess the choice to list ‘Sugar’ as the B side, and felt that it deserved to be the title track for the double release.

“That was even more evident to me as I mixed with Kevin Houston at Music+Arts Studio and mastered with L. Nix Mastering,” she adds. “I love both songs so much, but I just can’t get ‘Sugar’ out of my head, and (not to toot my own horn – but beep beep) I’m thinking y’all are gonna feel the same way!”

With her trusted live band beside her (Jesse Dakota on drums, Poyee Yancy on bass, Ori Naftaly on guitar) and Lucero’s Rick Steff back to take you to church on the organ, it’s safe to say that Ruch and her Memphis brethren are going to bust these songs wide open during the up-coming release show and at future live dates. You’d have to be out of your gourd to miss them.

Faith Evans Ruch will be playing live at the Folk Alliance International Festival in Kansas City, MO as part of The Folk Fiesta showcase. You can catch her at 11:30pm this Thursday the 18th of February, at 2am on Friday the 19th of February and then again at 1am on Saturday the 20th of February.

Ruch is then set to play live on the following dates:

Feb 23rd: Lafayette’s Music Room, Memphis – Full band single release show
Feb 28th: Mississippi River Radio – Online full band live video stream
Feb 28th: The Buccaneer, Memphis – Solo show between 5-7pm
Mar 03rd: HiTone, Memphis – Acoustic duo w/Ori Naftaly
Mar 06th: The Buccaneer, Memphis – Solo show between 5-7pm
Mar 23rd: Trolley Stop Market, Memphis – w/Jesse Dakota and Jamie Davis

Faith continues to work on her new album and we’ll bring you more news as and when we have it! In the meantime, check out our review of her previous EP, After It’s Said & Done, here, and the good lady’s most recent video, “Cold Blooded Killer”, here.

Connect with Faith Evans Ruch at:
Facebook: facebook.com/FaithEvansRuchMusic
Twitter: twitter.com/faithevansruch
Web: faithevansruch.com

Faith Evans Ruch reveals ‘Cold Blooded Killer’ in new video

29/10/2015 by skinbackalley, posted in News

Faith Evans Ruch has shared the official video for her track “Cold Blooded Killer.”

The song is lifted from the Memphis-based musician’s 2014 EP, After It’s Said & Done.

The new clip was once again directed by Edward Valibus, the man behind Evans Ruch’s previous videos for “Rock Me Slow” and “PBR Song”, the latter taken from the singer and songwriter’s previous LP, 1835 Madison.

“Cold Blooded Killer” is a darkly romantic Tex-Mex rumble; an affecting piece of minacious border balladry. “I creep up like a crocodile, slither like a snake,” sings Evans Ruch, “on the hunt to find a man and take all I can take.” It’s hard to think that any man could resist.

Check out the video for “Cold Blooded Killer” below.

Faith Evans Ruch heads to the UK on ‘Across The Pond Tour 2015’

21/05/2015 by skinbackalley, posted in News

Memphis singer and songwriter Faith Evans Ruch is heading to the UK next week on her Across The Pond Tour.

Evans Ruch will play a series of shows stretching from London to Liverpool.

Says the musician of her upcoming live dates: “The Across the Pond Tour 2015 kicks off Sunday in London before I hop on a train to Liverpool to play a show hosted by my dear friends at For The Country Record with special guests The Jesse Janes. I can’t wait to meet y’all and make some new “mates”!”

The follow up to her debut full length 1835 Madison, Evans Ruch’s most recent EP After It’s Said And Done was released last November to critical acclaim and garnered an 8/10 review here at Skin Back Alley.

In March 2015 it was followed up by the release of a video for EP track “Rock Me Slow”, directed by Edward Valibus. The video sees Faith bringing the end of a relationship into sharp focus, reflecting on what has gone before and feeling the searing pain of heartbreak. It’s also a visual feast and you can watch it below.

Across The Pond 2015 Tour dates
May 24th: LONDON – The Acoustic Folk Highway – The Harrison (King’s Cross) @ 7pm
May 26th: LONDON – The Abbey Tavern, Kentish Town Road
May 27th: LONDON – The Blueberry Bar, Paul Street, Shoreditch
May 28th: LIVERPOOL – The Caledonia @ 10pm (with The Jesse Janes)
May 29th: LONDON – Folk In The Foyer – Barnet Folk Club @ 6pm

PREMIERE! Watch Faith Evans Ruch’s beguiling new video “Rock Me Slow”

04/03/201506/03/2015 by skinbackalley, posted in News

“Emotionally honest and musically authentic, Faith Evans Ruch’s pursual of her art and ability to be true to herself continue to realise rich dividends,” we wrote last November of After It’s Said & Done, the new EP from Memphis singer and songwriter Faith Evans Ruch.

It’s a statement that is just as true of Evans Ruch’s beguiling new video for the raw and intimate EP track “Rock Me Slow”, premiering in Europe today exclusively via Skin Back Alley.

Directed by Edward Valibus, the video is billed as a sequel of sorts to Ruch’s “PBR Song”, also directed by Valibus and taken from the musician’s stunning previous full length album, 1835 Madison.

“Rock Me Slow” sees Faith bringing the end of a relationship into sharp focus, reflecting on what has gone before and feeling the searing pain of heartbreak. It’s also a visual feast.

Check out the video for “Rock Me Slow” below, and be sure to let us know what you think:

Read our review of Faith Evans Ruch’s new EP, “After It’s Said & Done”, here. You can pick up your own copy via Ruch’s Bandcamp profile here.

Find out more about Faith Evans Ruch at her official website, and keep up to date with the latest news via her official Facebook page.

Album Review: Faith Evans Ruch | After It’s Said & Done

27/11/201428/11/2014 by skinbackalley, posted in Album Reviews

Artist: Faith Evans Ruch
Album: After It’s Said & Done
Our Verdict: 8/10
Release date: Out now
Find it at: faithevansruch.com
Review by: Graeme Blackwell

“Evans Ruch’s pursual of her art and her ability to be true to herself continue to realise rich dividends on After It’s Said & Done.”

Get down on your knees and thank your chosen higher power for the people who have the guts to pack in the day jobs and pursue their art. It takes an enormous amount of courage to give up a regular paycheck and all that it affords in order to follow your muse. But for those who do, and those who survive the transition, a different wealth awaits.

Memphis singer and songwriter Faith Evans Ruch gave in to the little voice at the back of her mind telling her to play her guitar and write her songs. She left her job as a nurse in the process and recorded a splendid debut album, 1835 Madison, that sounded mature beyond Evans Ruch’s years. But then she cites Emmylou Harris and John Prine as her primary inspirations, so that’s not a bad place to begin.

And now, after a successful PledgeMusic campaign, Ruch gifts us her new EP, After It’s Said & Done. And what a gift.

As well as being an accomplished guitar player, Evans Ruch has a unique voice; one that captures the imagination and delivers her songs with nuance, emotion and an otherworldly air. Capable of a soft, warm depth – as seen in the verses of the elegiac “Thanks For The Song” – and clean, crisp, balletic Appalachian balladry – check “Home Is Where The Heart Is” or “The Builder” for proof – After It’s Said & Done is another unqualified triumph.

Once Ruch had decided to pursue her music full time, she played guitar until her fingers bled, “…so I’d know I was working hard enough,” she says. And it shows. Her fretwork here is exemplary. Polished and sophisticated without being flashy, she picks, strums and performs like a seasoned professional. “Dream Come True” is a particular delight in that regard, shifting gears through its running time from uptempo strut to impassioned, poignant serenade, demonstrating in a single song Ruch’s flexibility and artistic reach.

The EP’s final track, “Cold Blooded Killer”, adds a compelling string to After It’s Said & Done’s bow. Akin to the surprise of debut LP 1835 Madison’s “The Showdown”, which built an air of South American menace in its introduction of a darkly romantic Tex-Mex rumble, “Cold Blooded Killer” is an equally affecting piece of minacious border balladry. “I creep up like a crocodile, slither like a snake,” sings Evans Ruch, “on the hunt to find a man and take all I can take.” It’s hard to think that any man could resist.

Emotionally honest and musically authentic, Faith Evans Ruch’s pursual of her art and ability to be true to herself continue to realise rich dividends on After It’s Said & Done. If there’s anything to be improved about it, it’s that we simply need more of it. Six songs and 25 minutes disappear in the blink of an eye, such is the quality of the songs.

According to “Dream Come True”, all Evans Ruch has to do is close her eyes and all her dreams come true. But not without out a little blood on the fingers, hey Faith.

After It’s Said & Done is out now. You can listen to “Home Is Where The Heart Is” from the EP by clicking below.