Ruby Jane first contacted me when she was about 13 or 14 years old, before she, actually, moved to Austin, on MySpace. She said she was moving to Austin and could I suggest who she should play with. (Well, I didn’t suggest Willie, Asleep at the Wheel, Blues Traveler or Lady Gaga. She did all that on her own.) Her mom, JoBelle was like “What are you doin’ contacting some grown man you don’t even know?” Ruby said “But he’s so nice and look at all these people he plays with!”
I played several gigs with Ruby, early on, with Marvin Dykhuis, David Carroll and Willie Pipkin, kind of country-folksy gigs. She was aware that I played with Freddy Powers and asked me about Freddy and his style of Swing guitar playing. Though she is, mainly, a fiddle player, she plays guitar and wanted to learn how Freddy played. We made arrangements to get together on Monday nights, guitar lessons, and we would cook my only good recipe….Linguine with a sauce made of lots-o-garlic, parsley, oregano, basil, olive oil and chicken broth. I got the recipe from Il Fornaio, in Little Italy, NYC, after eating there, years ago.
We did that for about year straight. Teaching Ruby was like pouring water into a bucket. That easy. She never asked me to show her a chord, twice. I would teach her chords that took me weeks at master, with Freddy, but she just a natural born musician.
My band, Stop the Truck, had gone to play at Equiblues rodeo in St-Agreve, France. It’s a legit rodeo, the largest outside the United States, I think. It is put on by Philippe Lafont. Philippe had booked Stop the Truck in 2002 and STT with Freddy on 2008. Philippe knew that Freddy, dealing with Parkinson’s Disease would not be able to do this again, so he booked us to return in 2010. He also invited Ruby. I can’t tell you how proud I am to have taken Ruby Jane on her 1st trip to Europe and Freddy on his last. My mentor and my protege. Ruby and Jobelle were thrilled to be in France. A mother and daughter trip to last their whole lives.
Ruby knows her guitar legacy, the history of where her knowledge came from, from,. me, from Freddy before me and from Paul Buskirk who taught those chords to Freddy and Willie Nelson, back in 1954.
One thing that really impressed me about Ruby. When we did her show, she wore a bright, flowery dress that flared out when she twirled. she raced and pranced from one end of the stage to the other hootin’ and hollerin’, arms flailin’ about……. but when she played with us, backing up Freddy Powers, she wore a black shirt and gray pants, stood close to still and behind Freddy. For a kid to have that kind of sensitivity and respect for the artist she was supporting, blew me away. Freddy absolutely adored her.
I am immensely proud of Ruby Jane. Her music has evolved, continuously, as long as I’ve known her. I love her like she was my own. I love JoBelle, too. We made a bond that will last me into my twilight years…..Aw shoot, I’m already there.
Ruby Jane and her mom, Jobelle climbing to the top of Le Puy-en-Velay volcanic spire in France. (see next photo)
My Entertaining Life-Steve Carter 