My Ruby Experience and Producing the Ruby Amanfu CD, "So Now The Whole
World Knows"
by Dave Matthews (no, not -that one!)
October 11, 2003
I heard of Ruby when she was still in high school here in Nashville
Tennessee and about 16 years old, with one more year left before her
graduation. The son of a friend of mine who had attended the same school
told me about Ruby Amanfu, an extremely talented singer/songwriter who
had won the love of the entire school. It seems she had written and
performed a beautiful song as part of her course work, and the song became
instantly, wildly, popular in the school. That song was "Because of
Love".
At the time I had just received a digital 8-track recorder and I was
looking for opportunities to use it. I asked my friend's son (Peter
Mueller) to invite Ruby to my 'hobby' studio in order to make a demo
recording of the song. Ruby arrived with her friend Rochelle, and basic
music tracks were laid down. Then Ruby and Rochelle recorded the vocals.
I was absolutely floored! Never in my life had I heard such angelic
singing. In my recording position I had my back to the singers, and it
was a good thing, tears were welling up in my eyes from the beauty of
the voices. When I composed myself I told Ruby and Rochelle that I had
never in my life heard such beautiful singing. As they continued to
record parts, I was struck by how fantastic the song was and not just the
singing. It was and is a well written, concise love song, easily
accessible and popular. (I still have that original recording.)
I realized that Ruby was a great talent and I wanted to record more of
her. It was a transcendental, life changing experience hearing Ruby
and her song, and I was determined to record more of such music for the
sake of that spine-tingling experience and in an effort to put Ruby's
beauty out in the world. That wasn't going to happen for another year
however. After that one session, Ruby and I were out of contact for a
year.
A year later, after Ruby had graduated, Peter remarked that he and Ruby
were interested in recording an album, and I expressed interest too. I
was starting up a small record label and publishing company, and I was
hoping to find just such a wonderful talent for a CD project. We
formed a partnership to divide any profits from the CD sales, and I invested
more heavily in recording equipment. During the summer of 1997, Ruby
and Peter assembled the songs to be on the CD. Ruby wrote well with
Peter, where she provided the lyrics and Peter provided a chord
progression upon which she placed a melody. Ruby also wrote songs on piano by
herself. I was prepared to hire studio musicians for the music tracks,
but Ruby and Peter wanted to use friends from school to play the parts.
We began the recording sessions near the end of summer, an experience I
will always remember, and those memories I will always cherish.
One of the first tunes we recorded was "Release". Ruby just sat down
at the piano and played and sang the tune. This was the first time I
had heard it, and once again I was enthralled and tears fell from my
eyes. How in the world could one person so young evoke such a wealth of
feeling! Eventually that song was recorded just Ruby and the piano from
that first session. Subsequent attempts to add instruments or
re-record the piano were successful technically, but didn't convey the same
heart as the original take. That's what we kept and put on the CD.
Other songs on the CD were done by a live recording of the entire band,
with Ruby performing 'scratch' vocals to be replaced later. After all
of the instrumental track were thus recorded, the balance of the
recording sessions were spent on Ruby's voice and some guitar tracks. We
were still short a few songs, we added "Because of Love" to the line-up,
and one day Ruby brought over a new song "Hideaway", which filled out
the project to 10 songs. "Hideaway" was another of those songs which
completely took me by surprise when I heard it, so simple and pure, yet so
powerful. To this day "Hideaway" is one of my favorite tracks on the
CD, and gives me chills every time I hear it.
We would get together in the evenings of that late summer of '97, and
Ruby would work on one or two songs a night. She would record the lead
vocal, then do harmony parts. I confess that every time I heard her
sing, it was like the first experience all over again. Chills went down
my spine as she captured my soul with her singing and songs. Those
sessions were long and tiring, but Ruby kept her spirits and her energy up
and strong. I will never forget those evenings, and that experience
has repaid me many times over for any exertion or expense I put into the
project. My life has been enriched by knowing and working with Ruby
Amanfu, such a wonderful aspect on the path that I follow.
Time ran out too quickly, Ruby and her friends had to got back to
school, Ruby would be taking her first year of college at Berklee School of
Music in Boston. Soon I was left with ten tracks and the task of
adding other instruments and mixing. Ruby and her friends were very sure of
how they wanted the album to sound, I did as much as I could to follow
their lead, and Ruby's especially. I sent some preliminary mixes out,
and Ruby's suggestions were always right on the mark. Ruby was able to
visit during a vacation in the fall and added some more harmony parts
to "Hideaway". During that visit, I helped to promote her to some local
publishing companies. I knew I didn't have enough money to do more
than produce and press the CD's, and I knew I didn't have the knowledge
resources either to promote such a talent as Ruby.
We went downtown one day during her visit to a publishing company so
that Ruby could be introduced to and heard by some real music business
people. We were in a small recording space, and Ruby was virtually
surrounded by half a dozen music executives. Quite a pressure cooker, and
yet Ruby was right on top of it, she gave excellent, articulate
responses to their questions. No one had any doubt of the intelligence and
insights of this talented person. After a few introductions, they asked
Ruby to demonstrate her voice and songs. She was amazing! In all of
the time I was recording her, I never realized what a performer she was.
Sure I knew she was a great singer, but the way she captured the
executives in that room made it obvious to me that she was destined for
stardom, just a matter of time. Everyone in that room was awestruck by her
singing, and even those jaded professionals were impressed by her
songwriting...but mostly impressed by Ruby herself. That meeting and other
performances began a bidding war for Ruby that resulted in a contract
later the next year. After that meeting however, Ruby went back to
school in Boston.
Over the winter my wife Becky and I worked on the CD project, mixing,
editing, and adding instruments as best we could with the equipment we
had. We didn't have all of the lovely digital editing tools now
available, and only a handful of outboard equipment like reverbs, etc. In
retrospect that was a good thing, it kept the album sparse and in the vein
of what the performers wanted. Today I'd add a lot more 'ear candy',
or not, I guess I'd still follow Ruby's lead and suggestion. She's been
right so-far. Ruby chose the title of the CD, "So Now The Whole World
Knows", after lyrics from the song "crybaby", and I chose to further
title the CD as "Ruby Amanfu". When the CD was finally released in the
spring of 1998, copies were sent to the university that Ruby was
attending. I will always treasure this email from her:
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Subject: There HERE!
From:eyram R Amanfu
Date:Fri, 01 May 1998 15:33:24 -0300
To:davmatt@United.Net
They are selling like hotcakes! I'm so STOKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Everyone's talking about it. I walk around the dorm and hear people
playing
it loud in their dorm rooms! OMIGOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!!!
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The only thing I want to add in this article relates to Ruby's
performances. If you ever get a chance to hear Ruby live, GO!!! You will not
be the same following her performance. She has a natural showmanship
talent as well as her singing/songwriting talents. She always performs
well with either a full band or just her on the piano. I have been to
many of Ruby's engagements here in Nashville, and she never fails to
invoke the same transcendental experience in me. Everyone in the
audience is a fan of Ruby by the end of her show. No one fails to be moved by
her grace, beauty and power. Times are tough in the music business
these days, but I know she will continue her rise to stardom. Certainly
soon, the whole world will know!
Thanks for reading,
Dave
dave@lostfrogs.com
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