Ruby Landen – Martyr, well

When you hit “play” on Ruby Landen’s Martyr, well– you might do a double take. Ruby’s clear, lilting voice, accompanied by soft fingerstyle guitar parts will immediately make you believe you’re listening to a late 60s Brit folk record. Ruby’s soft, sweet songs are wistful and sincere, injecting beauty and the odd wry smile characteristic of that sound.

Ruby was born in northern California where she was raised on a steady diet of trad folk and Americana, attending live shows of Bill Frisell (who later became a mentor) and Eileen Ivers and picking up an interest in the existential beauty in sadness and resolve. Landen moved to Paris at the age of 18 where she began performing on sidewalks and further developing her sound before finding herself – literally and musically – in Brooklyn.

Soaring pedal steel, french horn and fiddle are tied together by soft string overtures. Ruby’s music is quiet but affirmative, the sound of finding redemption in the face of grief and discomfort.

Get Martyr, well on Bandcamp.

Hannah Read on fiddle (tracks 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9) and harmony vocals (tracks 7, 8)
Jerry Cronin on cello (tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
Liri Ronen on french horn (tracks 2, 3, 5)
Rowan Brind on bass (tracks 3, 5, 7, 8)- he also recorded, mixed and mastered the record
Marley Taylor on harmony vocals (tracks 3, 4, 7)
Ruby Landen on acoustic guitar, lead vocals and bits of pedal steel here and there.