Ruth Minnikin & Her Bandwagon

July 15 - Parade Square - 12-1pm - Halifax, NS

July 23 - Best Buy Concert Stage - Halifax, NS

July 25 - The Carleton - Benefit CD release - Halifax, NS

Aug 13 - Train Station Inn - Tatamagouche, NS

Aug 20 - The Beckwith Bash - Beckwith, NS

Aug 26/27 - Summer's End Festival - Grand Manan, NB

Sept 10 - The Chatterbox Cafe -Pugwash, NS

- New press links at bottom of page for 'Depend on This' -

"Wow...we are instantly impressed. This album features wonderfully intricate, involved compositions with the primary focal point being Minnikin's cool soothing vocals....We immediately decided this had to be a TOP PICK for this month because Ruth is treading in some absolutely fantastic territory here. GREAT STUFF...!!!"

Baby Sue - TN, USA

5 stars

Feb 2010

"it’s an accomplishment that, even when the tunes take on radically different creative forms, they always retain the core spirit and sense of life affirmation that makes this such an intriguing, challenging and ultimately mesmerising listen.

www.netrhythms.co.uk

March 2010

"...Bold and inventive release from the multifaceted Canadian songwriter"

www.americana-uk.com

8 out of 10

Feb 2010

"conspicuously stirring. Brimming with vitality and talent, Ruth Minnikin lends an unorthodox charm to the life raft that carries her adventurous followers through bright tunnels of light and into the unknown."

Exclaim! - Toronto

March 2010

"The constant is Minnikin’s effortless alto, as casual and unpretentious as ever, though here it reaches high into its upper register with results as impressive as this bold new direction."

Now Magazine - Toronto

March 2010

"just when you think you know where Ruth is going to reside, she shifts and her next record could be recorded in a farmhouse, a disco, on a bus or with Symphony Nova Scotia playing behind her. That's the great thing about a creative spirit. You never know where it's going or where it will end up, but you know the risks will end up in rewards for the us all... it just might take us a few months to catch up."

Hero Hill - Halifax, NS

Jan 2010

- Bio -

Twenty-seven months, two weeks, five days and eleven hours after it's noble beginnings, Ruth Minnikin and her Bandwagon will release their orchestral opus, 'Depend on This' on December 16th in Halifax (January 26th throughout Canada, May across the United Kingdom and Scandinavia).

During it's creation, Minnikin tirelessly cultivated her creativity over months of mournful mornings, aloof afternoons and nestled, late-night writing sessions. 'Depend on This' takes it's walk on the red carpet of artistic endurance and tested every ounce of Ruth's body and brain.

With the vision of a tiny symphony swaying in her mind's eye, Minnikin mentally battled and yearned for the momentum to finish the piece. Minnikin describes the completed album as "a conceptually dramatized exaggeration of an avant-garde jalapeno pepper on a life raft."

Depend on This' uber-calculated conclusion spans the Atlantic Ocean and unites seventeen magical musicians, twenty-three integral instruments, a men's vocal choir, three pop producers, one sound artist, and a handful of visual artists.

On her acclaimed 2006 release 'Folk Art', Ruth Minnikin stuck to the essentials. Contained in a hand-sewn, ink-stamped canvas case, the album's packaging reflected the music within. Rootsy, bare and without pretension, 'Folk Art' offered eleven tracks from an artist with her focus set on the songs and the live-recording process.

Minnikin's varied and accomplished musical history has surely helped hone this kind of concentration. Her first band, Booming Airplanes, was signed to EMI during the Halifax pop explosion of the '90's. Her chamber-pop side project, The Heavy Blinkers developed a cult following all over the world, and at the turn of the millennium, Ruth made two albums and toured the UK and the US with alt-country quintet, The Guthries.

- Ruth's song 'Depend on This', received honorable mention in the 16th annual Billboard World Song Contest!!

Here is what they had to say about it.

"Very cool song, unique and fresh. Excellent work. Wonderful blend of sounds and musical flavors."

- Some past nods -

"Ruth and her brother are from Nova Scotia and play an assortment of instruments (accordion, mandolin and guitar) and sing glorious harmonies. By the time they left the stage, there was a queue of 11 people at the merch stall, to buy their CD."

Maverick - UK

"Canadian country gal Ruth Minnikin just gets better and better."

Uncut - by Rob Hughes

"There's a hootenanny in the doll's house."

London Sunday Times - by Stewart Lee

"Play her when you have company and absolutely everyone will ask you who the singer is. Some will say she sounds like a female Leonard Cohen."

Monday Magazine, BC

"Ruth Minnikin has a voice that would harmonize happily with the McGarrigle sisters and writes songs of stark but simple emotion that are evocative of Natalie Merchant or Gillian Welch at their respective best."

Maverick Magazine, UK

- Some of the big-wigs Ruth has been lucky enough to share a stage or CD with are: Beth Orton (UK), David Byrne (UK), Orwell (France), The Handsome Family (US), Calexico (US), Kris Kristofferson (US), The Lemonheads (US), Joel Plaskett and The Nova Scotia Symphony (CAN), Buck 65 (CAN) and Blue Rodeo (CAN).

- Contact Songmill Music -

info@ruthminnikin.ca

Buy Canadian downloads - Zunior

http://www.zunior.com

Buy American downloads and cds - CD Baby

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/ruthminnikin#

Buy International singles - itunes

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/depend-on-this/id359496131]

Canadian Retailers

St. John’s NL - Fred’s - 198 Duckworth St.

Halifax NS - HMV - Spring Garden Rd.

Halifax NS - Taz Records - 1593 Market St.

Halifax NS - Obsolete Records = Agricola St.

Charlottetown PE - Back Alley Disc - 69 University Ave.

Moncton NB - Spin It - 572 Main St.

Montreal QC - Beatnick - 3770 St. Denis

Toronto ON - Soundscapes - 572 College St.

Toronto ON - Rotate This - Queen St. W.

Sudbury ON - Records on Wheels - 56 Elm St.

Winnipeg MB - Music Trader - 97 Osborne St.

Saskatoon SK - The Vinyl Diner - 628 B Braodway Ave.

Calgary AB - Sloth Records - 736 B, 17th Ave.

Edmonton AB - Blackbyrd - 10442-82 Ave.

Vancouver BC - Red Cat Records - 4332 Main St.

www.myspace.com/ruthminnikin

www.facebook.com/ruth.minnikin.music

www.twitter.com/ruthminnikin

www.sonicbids.com/ruthminnikin

www.youtube.com/ruthminnikin

www.ruthminnikin.ca

Instrumentation

Ruth Minnikin - vocals, guitars, keys, bass

Gabriel Minnikin - vocals, guitars, keys, mandolin

Craig Buckley - vocals, bass, percussion

Brian Murray - banjo, drums, vocals

Anna Plaskett - french horn, vocals

Dave Christensen - flute, bass clarinet, vocals

Discography

High demand for Ruth's unique voice has found her featured on over 55 recordings!!

1996 Booming Airplanes - Yarn - singer/songwriter

1998 The Heavy Blinkers - Hooray For Everything - singer

2000 The Heavy Blinkers - The Heavy Blinkers - singer

2000 The Guthries - Off Windmill - singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist

2001 Joel Plaskett - Down at the Khyber - singer

2001 Hopeful Monster - self titled-guest - singer

2001 The Heavy Blinkers - Better Weather - singer

2002 The Havenots EP (UK) - singer, accordion, mandolin

2002 Paul Bellini - Disco album - singer

2002 The Guthries - self titled - singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist

2003 Ruth Minnikin - Live EP - singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist

2003 Heavy Blinkers -Papa Nez - Tribute to Michael Nesmith - international release - singer

2003 Heavy Blinkers - Split single with Orwell (FR) - singer

2004 The Heavy Blinkers - The Night And I Are Still So Young - singer

2004 Gabriel Minnikin - Hard Feelings - singer, accordion, mandolin

2004 Jason Haywood - Nothing Stays the Same - singer, accordion

2004 Reels - EP - singer

2004 The Hurtin' Unit - accordion

2004 Ruth Minnikin - Marooned and Blue - singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist

2005 Dale Murray - Brighter Lives, Darker Side - singer/songwriter

2005 Kate Maki - The Sun Will Find Us - singer, accordion

2005 The Life and Times of Guy Terrifico - soundtrack to film - singer

2005 KTB (UK) - Bluebird - singer

2005 James Lyons Compilation (UK) - singer/songwriter

2005 Mid-Winter Night's Dream - singer/songwriter

2005 Jonathan Andrews - Halifax Indie Rock - singer

2005 Norma Macdonald - singer, accordion

2005 Old Man Luedecke - Hinderland - singer

2005 Mid-Autumn Night's Dream - singer/songwriter

2005 Gabe Minnikin - singer, accordion

2006 The Hylozoists - la fin du monde - singer

2006 The Divorcees - singer

2006 Ruth Minnikin - Folk Art- singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist

2006 Johnny Stevens - singer, accordion

2007 Orwell (France) - le genie humain- singer

2007 Gabriel Minnikin (UK) - singer, keys

2007 Reels - Autumn Country - bass, singer, keys, percussion

2007 Tribute Album to The Inbreds - contributed - accordion, singer

2007 Adam Puddington - organ, accordion, singer

2008 The Russian Futurists (ON) - guest vocalist

2008 Tribute Album to Thrush Hermit - contributed song

2009 Kelly Sloan - accordion

2009 Rich Aucoin - guest singer

2009 Eric's Trip Tribute - contributed song

2009 Helen Creighton tribute album

2009 Savoury - accordion, singer

2009 Jason Haywood - accordion, singer

2009 Atlantic Voices - Rhino - contributed song

2009 Sloan Tribute - contributed song

2009 Zunior Christmas Album - contributed song

2010 Gabriel Minnikin - guest singer, accordion, percussion

2010 Andrew watt and the Glory Glory - guest singer

2010 Ruth Minnikin and her bandwagon - Depend on This

solo albums

2010 Ruth Minnikin and her bandwagon - Depend on This

2006 Ruth Minnikin - Folk Art

2004 Ruth Minnikin - Marooned and Blue

2003 Ruth Minnikin - EP

Stream from www.radio3.cbc.ca/bands/Ruth-Minnikin

Links

http://www.ruthminnikin.ca

http://www.myspace.com/ruthminnikin

http://www.sonicbids.com/ruthminnikin

info@ruthminnikin.ca