Merry Christmas (and CD Update)

Dear Friends,

Thank you all for your generous support for us and for our music. As a gift for our fans during the Holiday Season, we are making available a free download of Ruth’s popular song Michigan Girl. This is the newly recorded version of the song similar to how it will appear on our new CD. Just go to the link below and click on the BECOME A FAN button and follow the directions. Those who have already become our fans at this website are already eligible to collect the free download.

http://www.reverbnation.com/ruthandmaxb

We know you have been patiently waiting for the new CD. Well, the music gods have other ideas than a Christmas or New Years 2010 release. We are so close to being finished with just a few small adjustments to make. We are trying to make it as perfect as we can because you deserve it that way. Also, we have decided to use the services of a National Radio Promoter to help us get the CD to as many folks as possible. In order to optimize the radio promotion, we will have to delay release just a little longer. We are grateful for your patience in this matter. Folks like you on our email list will be the first to know when the CD is available.

Merry Christmas and a Spectacular New Year to you all!

Ruth & Max

Ludington Area Center for the Arts Nov. 28 2009

The Ludington Area Arts Council operates the Ludington Area Center for the Arts at 107 S. Harrison St. in downtown Ludington, Michigan. They have taken over an historic Methodist church to house their facility. We were booked to play for their Holiday Extavaganza on Saturday night. These pictures were taken by our friend Phil Gigante.

Interim director of the Arts Council, Terry Murphy introduced us. She and her group of dedicated volunteers had organized the Extravaganza weekend to include a fine arts and crafts fair, a bake sale, and concerts both Friday and Saturday nights. They even set up a little cafe that served great food out of the old church kitchen. The chicken noodle soup was to die for.
Ruth gave her Takemine an airing and a workout. The setlist included some songs that will appear on our soon to be released CD including Daddy Was An Old Man, Same Old Grind, I Hear Your Footsteps, and Michigan Girl; some of our old favorites like Mama Said and I Know Love; and Ruth's original Christmas song One Little Child, among others.
Between sets we chatted with the guests as they sipped wine and munched hors d'oeuvres among the art objects in the vestibule gallery.
Old churches can make wonderful concert halls, and we enjoyed playing in the space immensely. If you hear of an event happening at the Ludington Area Center for the Arts don't hesitate to attend. You'll enjoy yourself just like we did, and we hope to be invited back again.

We have a fun weekend planned next Saturday and Sunday. On Dec. 5 we'll be joining Steve Albert on banjo at the Barnes and Noble Bookstore in Muskegon from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM. A percentage of the store's sales will go to benefit WBLV Public Radio, so come on out to see us and do some Christmas shopping. NEXT, on Sunday Dec. 6 we'll be at Mainstreet Pub and Eatery in North Muskegon for an AMARYLLIS REUNION! That's right our dear old friends Steve and Sue Reeths will be in town playing some gigs and they've asked us to join them for this one. We'll be starting there at 7:00. See our schedule at www.ruthbloomquist.com for more details. We'll all be playing tunes from our respective upcoming CDs and a lot of our old favorites for sure.

Looking Forward to Saturday

We're really looking forward to our concert this Saturday night November 29 at the Ludington Area Center for the Arts, and of course we're hoping for a good crowd. We've never played in Ludington before and we're sure to have a good time. All the information is on the flyer above, and the Ludington Area Arts Council has a website with even more.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!

New Video I Hear Your Footsteps

Here's some video from a Concert With Friends, November 6, 2009, Frauenthal Theater, Muskegon, Michigan. Bruce Ling plays mandolin. We hade a great time playing with the Oat Bran Boys and Hawks and Owls. The audience of 900 or so was wonderful, and we raised money for United Way. Thanks to Bob Skolnik for putting it on.

A Concert With Friends

The third annual "A Concert With Friends" was a wonderful time and a great success. Thanks to Bob Skolnik of Mona Lake Productions, we once again were able to join with some great musical friends in the legendary Frauenthal Theater to raise money for the United Way.















Hawks and Owls opened the show with their traditional oldtime sound.
L-R Joe Van Acker, Bruce Ling, Becca Shilt.












For the end of Hawks and Owls' set they were joined by the Oat Bran Boys for a rousing version of Deep Elem Blues.









Then the Oat Bran Boys took the stage. L-R Richard King, John King, Dan Seabolt.

"The Oaties" always do a great job. The brother harmonies are top notch and they're great pickers.


John and Dan have been playing dates with us as part of the Ruth And Max Bloomquist Band, and we've been lucky to have them.



After the intermission we began the second half of the show with a couple of songs from our soon to be released CD. Then Bruce came out to play mandolin with us on another soon to be released song, Ruth's "I Hear Your Footsteps". He stayed on while the Oat Bran Boys joined us for "Daddy Was An Old Man" and then took a break while the Oaties backed us up on a few more tunes.







On one song, the Cajun flavored Thibideaux, Rich and Max traded instruments and shared a vocal mic. The height disparity made for some physical hilarity.














By the end of the show we were ALL on stage for Bob Skolnik's favorite singalong, You Are My Sunshine. The crowd 900 plus demanded one more and who were we to say no. Looks like we'll all be back next November.

A Concert With Friends Tickets Available

We hope all our West Michigan friends will come out to this show in Muskegon's beautiful Frauenthal Theater. You'll love the eclectic acoustic music of the Oat Bran Boys and the traditional old timey sound of Hawks and Owls, and we'll be able to join them all on stage in various configurations. Proceeds to UNITED WAY. Don't miss it.

Concert in Murfreesboro, TN

While we were in Nashville for the IBMA World of Bluegrass, our friends Jeff and Wayne threw a house concert for us in Wayne's spacious (and very clean) garage in nearby Murfreesboro. We were honored to play for their invited friends and family.


Wayne operates a sound company, so he set up a sound system for us. Jeff shot video. We'll post it here and elsewhere when he finishes his editing.



We enjoyed a great meal with the invited guests and then we shared our music. A good time was had by all, and Wayne vows to do it again next year.

IBMA WoB 2009

The band all went to the IBMA World of Bluegrass Conference 2009 in Nashville. We had a blast! L-R below, Max, Ruth, John, Dan.
Certainly, one of the highlights of the trip was our showcase at Layla's Bluegrass Inn, above. Thanks to fellow Michigander, Dave Burley, we joined a number of great bands in this "off premises" showcase venue. There were lots of familiar faces in the audience and we made some new friends, too.
Michael Martin Murphy (yes, that Michael Martin Murphy) has released a Bluegrass CD called Buckaroo Bluegrass. He showcased, above, with fellow PineCastle recording artist Audie Blalock and Redline. Note Lou Reid dashing in to add his fine harmony. Michael gladly had his picture taken with Ruth. Think she's happy to meet him?


We ran into our friend Claire Lynch wandering around the trade show. It's a great place to meet people and find old friends. We chatted with Claire for a long time. She's a delightfully encouraging lady.You never know who you might get to meet at IBMA. Here's Ruth with country star Lynn Anderson and producer Bil VornDick. Notice Bil is wearing one of Ruth's handmade lanyards.
Our friend Mike Sumner is now playing banjo with IBMA female vocalist of the year Dale Ann Bradley. This showcase, above, was his VERY FIRST SHOW with Dale Anne (right). Kim Fox adds her great harmony singing.
Some of the members of the Ruth Bloomquist Lanyard Club met on the street corner near the Nashville Convention Center: L-R, Ron Murphy, Lora Murphy, John "Sky" King, Ruth, and Max.
It was Dan Seabolt's first ever IBMA World of Bluegrass. He could usually be found as above, playing fiddle in one of the neverending jam sessions. He got kinda famous among the hard core jammers as the fiddler that never quits.

The Harvest Moon rose over a truck on I-94 as we made our way home after a full week immersed in the World Of Bluegrass 2009.

Mid-West Dahlia Society

We just got home after playing an afterdinner show for the Mid-West Dahlia Society. They're having their annual show and meeting this weekend at Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids, MI. It was put on by the Grand Valley Dahlia Society. They were a wonderful audience, and oh my, do they grow some gorgeous blooms. They are all sizes and styles and very colorful. Here's Ruth with one of the big ones at the show, and a few shots of the lovely bouquet that was given to us last year by the president of the local Dahlia Society.

Bluegrass On The Lakeshore

We had a blast playing the festival today. I was proud of us. We were strong and relaxed on stage. Dan and John were on fire. The folks from C&S sound did a fantastic job. Thanks go out to Ron Ballard, John & Ruth Lakatos of the Patchwork Band, MC Terry Grannis, and all who made it happen. The audience was delightful and responsive.

In all these years this was our first ever visit to the Muskegon County Fairgrounds. It is the perfect spot for a bluegrass festival and the organizers are promising some improvements next year. Camping is available and there are showers, though they are a ways away from the camping area. That may be fixed by next year. There is plenty of shade in this wooded area, too. The performance and audience area is covered and the stage is of sufficient size. Reasonable growth could call for expansion of this area next year though. Food venders were adequite and catering for the bands was very good, even to the point of accommodating the vegans among us. There were several semi-secluded and sheltered spots available for those that wanted to jam.

We can only hope that the first year for this festival was successful enough to warrant a second one. The potential for growth is certainly there.

Thanks again to everyone involved.

Bluegrass On The Lakeshore Poster

Green Food Bluegrass Festival, AKA Cabbage Crik Reunion

July 19 was a day we had been excitedly anticipating. We had been invited to play a new West Michigan music festival, the Saugatuck Green Food Bluegrass Festival. Not only were we glad to play the festival, but we were doubly excited that one of our favorite bands from the 1970's would be reuniting to headline the show. Cabbage Crik was truly our first ever exposure to live bluegrass and, as we like to say, "Life hasn't been the same since."

The weather was perfect - sunny but not too hot, and the venue was beautiful. The Felt Mansion was directly behind the stage, and the audience was divided between the sunny soccer field and the shade of the surrounding trees.




For our set we were joined on stage by John "Sky" King on guitar and Dan Seabolt on fiddle. We were the only band playing this bluegrass festival without a banjo, but nobody seemed to mind.











We played a mixed set of Ruth's originals including High As A Mountain, Michigan Girl, the yet to be released Daddy Was an Old Man, and some of our favorite covers such as Remember Me (When the Candlelights Are Gleaming) and Crazy.







Sky and Dan played great as always and we all felt really good about our set.







































Our longtime dear friends Paul (banjo) and Todd (bass) Kirchner opened up the whole festival with their band Full Cord.




The Green Food Bluegrass Festival turned into a wonderful reunion of West Michigan Bluegrass and Roots musicians and music fans. There was a lot of hugging and backslapping going on all day.

The Green Food theme of the festival was a great success. Several local restaurants that serve up locally grown food impressed the crowd with their great quality and flavor, and a couple of local microbreweries served up their fine locally brewed beers-fabulous.

We truly hope that the Friends of the Felt Mansion raised some money for this local landmark and that there will be a repeat of the festival next year. If there is don't you dare miss it.

Double Gig Day

Saturday we played two shows, both under tents. Our good friends Tom and Dawn Willi actually came to both shows, and these photos are curtesy of Tom. We had been scheduled

for months to play the fundraising carnival at St. Mary's Church in Spring Lake, Mi.
This was our third year in a row to play this fun afternoon event. The parking lot is always full of children, and the parents and grandparents sometimes like to grab a snack and a beverage and come visit us under the tent while we play. Sound was provided once again by John Lutz in his inimitable fashion. There's never a worry in that department when John is on the job.

Just a few days ago we had a call from our friend Lou Lincoln. It seemed that the Michigander Bicycle Tour which is held in his neighborhood had had their entertainment cancel out on them, and though he was not directly involved Lou was helping out trying to find a replacement. We said we'd take the job and would try to make it up to Edmore from Spring Lake (one hour and 22 minutes according to Mapquest) in time to set up and play at 7:00. Then we immediately called our friend Dan Seabolt to see if he'd help us out on fiddle. Dan's a great player and a great guy and we were SOOO glad he could make it.
Dan only lives about 40 minutes from Edmore so he got there first and met us in the parking lot.
The sound system provided was a bit limited, but we had brought some mics and stands and a few other items and managed to make it work. Dan and Max got cozy and shared a mic for fiddle and vocals. Lou and his family showed up to add to the audience of weary cyclists and provided some welcome "liquid refreshment" for the thirsty bass and fiddle players. Ruth stuck to pure Michigan water.

Oscoda Concerts On The Beach

On Thursday, July 9 we played in as beautiful a venue as any anywhere.

With the setting sun on our faces and our backs to calm Lake Huron, we played for about 200 people that came with blankets and bag chairs for a concert on the beach. Was there ever a better setting for "Michigan Girl"?

Oscoda is a pretty little town and the people there treated us great.

We'd love to play again next summer and a lot of the folks there said they'd love to have us.

Special thanks to Bob and Linda for putting us up for the night and taking such good care of us. These pictures were taken by their daughter Kalie.