Ruby Friedman (and friends) orchestrate a fresh start

Kevin Bronson on
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Ruby Friedman has the eyes of somebody who’s lived a little, the writing chops to make her experiences compelling and a voice that makes it all sound larger than life. The siren of the L.A.-based Ruby Friedman Orchestra is part damaged diva, part drama queen and all exposed nerves.

How she came to to be here (fronting a sextet of ace players and leaving exclamation point-dotted reviews in her wake) from there (some seven years in various studies at UCLA) is “a miracle that’s happening,” she says. And even if she shrouds some of the details in mystery, it’s a noteworthy evolution.

Friedman, whose rock ‘n’ roll is seasoned with dashes of blues, soul, country and show tunes, has worked with the likes of John Taylor, DJ Bonebrake, Billy Zoom, Tony Gilkyson, Brian Head and Gregg Sutton (among many others). She had a band before, so she’s no pilgrim, but she politely declines to discuss her past exploits in the music industry except to explain how they’ve colored her outlook this time around.

“It’s a cruel business if you’re a female,” she says. “The people pulling the strings are male, and they see you as an object and not as an artistic person. … I think I was battered. You will get affection, you will get promises made, you will get your hand kissed, and you wonder how you’re gonna pay your rent. You wonder how you’re going to get to the finish line when the wheels are falling off.”

Not that she is entirely blameless, as you might infer from her single “Shooting Star.” “The reality is,” she says, “that I was not appreciating what was going on.”

After her first go-round, and some personal battles – in conversation, she’s as likely to reference a lesson learned in AA meeting as she is the theory of correspondence – she immersed herself in academia, studying English, political science and history. At one point, her top friends on MySpace were all dead people or literary figures.

“I decided to do music – in parentheses, again – because I’m sitting in a history class at UCLA thinking about changing my major so I wouldn’t have to go to law school,” she says with a laugh. “I kept thinking, ‘What if I were doing music for the right reason? What if I had a vision, like an artist, and treated music like a empty canvas waiting for paint?'”

Most of her new songs are the result of her “trying to be more evolved now,” she says, and her material has attracted some collaborators with heavy-duty credits. Her drummer (and producer) is Alex Elena, who has worked with Avril Lavigne, Belinda Carlisle and Bruce Dickinson. The lineup also includes keyboardist Arlan Schierbaum (Mandrill), bassist Edwin Livingston (Queen Latifah), guitarist Adam Zimmon (Glen Campbell, Shakira) and trombonist Ulf Bjorlin (Vaud and the Villains).

“The testimony of the Ruby Friedman Orchestra is that we have players who could easily be spending their time on major tours, and they chose to play with me,” she says. “It amazing. Without them, I’d be all by myself with my epiphany.”

Instead she’s onstage almost defying onlookers to pigeonhole what she’s doing. It makes sense that her hero is Bessie Smith, but as a chanteuse she isn’t directly stealing anybody’s thunder. Janis Joplin? Maybe, in some of her phrasing. Bette Midler? Friedman can be that brassy. Melissa Etheridge? If you can imagine a punk-rock, vaudevillian version.

No surprise that Friedman, who was reared in Orange County, comes from a family of performers. “I was onstage before I was born,” she jokes. “My mom used to put me up on the table at parties.”

Years later, she’s using her estimable vocal range to make the most of her fresh start. “I’ve knocked on doors and they’ve open. But there’s still the memory of those that weren’t,” she says. “This time, the music is better. And I’m more true to the calling.”

||| Live: The Ruby Friedman Orchestra, along with Olin and the Moon and Correatown, play the Echo tonight in support of the Leslie & the Badgers residency.

Photo by Nigel Skeet