The ten-year-old four-piece combo — led by vocalist/songwriter Ruby Dee and guitarist Jorge Harada, and supported by Dylan Cavaliere on doghouse bass and Jody Suarez on drums, with frequent guest artists onstage and in the studio — plays an Americana that encompasses Northwest alt-country, Texas honky-tonk, Bakersfield twang, Memphis rockabilly, Western swing and good old-fashioned rock ’n’ roll.
After nearly constant touring for the past seven years, including 700-plus dates across America and Europe, songs from the band’s fourth album, MILES FROM HOME (Dionysus Records, June 2008; produced by Conrad Uno), still earn steady airplay, including “Cold Pines and Red Dirt,” which earned band front woman- lead vocalist and songwriter Ruby Dee- runner-up honors in Songwriter magazine’s 2007 competition. The album charted in at #86 on the AMA Top 100 for more than four weeks and #26 on the Texas Third Coast Music FAR Top 40. The “Round and Round” video, released in May 2009, earned great acclaim with its cameos of Seattle rockabilly musicians and famous musical neighborhoods.
“Blending snarling rockabilly with honky-tonk heartache, Ruby Dee and The Snakehandlers have crafted their best recorded set thus far,” said Blue Suede News of the album. “The heart of the 13-song set emanates from Dee’s original material which combines poetic expressionism and hillbilly sass. Aided by Jorge Harada’s top-flight guitar work — which alternates ballroom tenderness with rowdy roadhouse rock — she sounds like a Texas dance hall chanteuse visiting us from another era.”
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