For Immediate Release
Feb. 21, 2007

Ruby Dee and The Snakehandlers in Austin:

8 p.m. Thursday, March 15
Ego’s, 510 S. Congress Ave.
$5; information: 512.474.7091

2:30 p.m. Friday, March 16
Buckaroo Bandstand, Star of Texas Fair & Rodeo
Travis County Expo Center
Information: 512.919.3000

10 p.m. Friday, March 16
Hole in the Wall, 2538 Guadalupe St.
No cover; information: 512.477.4747

2 p.m. Saturday, March 17
Antone’s Record Store, 2928 Guadalupe St.
No cover; information: 512.322.0660

http://mcguckinpr.com/mcguckin/rubydee/rubydee.htm
www.rubydeemusic.com

RUBY DEE AND THE SNAKEHANDLERS
TO MAKE THE SCENE — AND MAKE SCENES —
IN AUSTIN IN MARCH

Heaps of Praise Piled on Band’s Alt-Country NORTH OF BAKERSFIELD

AUSTIN, Texas — If there’s a brunette dressed in high-glam hillbilly apparel spotted belting out a song in front of Austin Convention Center or on a South Congress sidewalk during rush hour in mid-March, with a guitar player at her side or her entire band equally attired, there’s really no cause for alarm.

It’s Ruby Dee, the daring, outspoken front-woman of high-voltage alt-country band Ruby Dee and The Snakehandlers, sharing the great music created by the Seattle-born five-piece band. They’re coming to town to play four shows and spontaneously burst into song along city streets to elicit dancing among the crowds in Austin for the largest music festival in the world.

Songwriter-vocalist-entertainer Dee, Liz Smith on acoustic guitar and harmonies, Pete Smith (no relation) on electric upright bass, Lewis Warren on drums, and album co-producer Jorge Harada on six-string Telecaster create a sound that all but forces fans to the dance floor. They chew up the scenery onstage and in the studio.

The band’s 2006 release, NORTH OF BAKERSFIELD (Dionysus Records), a disc-full of no-holds-barred originals penned by Dee, has earned a wheelbarrow of acclaim and loads of airplay across the country and Alaska, Australia, and Europe.

Greg Yost says of the album in the November-December 2006 issue of NO DEPRESSION: “The first full-length release from Seattle's energetic Ruby Dee and The Snakehandlers jumps with more country spunk and attitude than you can shake your Starbucks grande soy latte at. [The album] highlights the quintet's considerable talent and range as it treads through hard-core honky-tonk, rockabilly and vintage country swing. At the center is Ruby Dee, the band's fiery vocalist. Her unique, twang-laden delivery is the common thread that binds these diverse originals together, from the pedal steel-aided apprehension of ‘Now I Want You (Out Of My Head)’ to the frantic but controlled electric guitar licks on ‘Something Bad’ and ‘Just One Day’.”

In fact, Seattle-area audiences love the Americana band so much, they voted it Favorite Unsigned Band and Favorite Signed Band in The Post-Intelligencer’s NWSource People’s Picks in 2005 and 2006. Ruby Dee and the band are currently working on a follow-up album to answer fan demand.

In addition to its shows in Austin, the band will play at Poor David’s Pub in Dallas on Monday, March 19, and returns for a special Austin appearance April 2 at The Continental Club. Then the band plays through a tour of clubs in the Southeast before it heads to Europe.

Ruby Dee and The Snakehandlers upcoming shows include:

Thursday, March 15, Ego’s, Austin
Friday, March 16, Star of Texas Rodeo, Austin (afternoon show)
Friday, March 16, Hole in the Wall, Austin
Saturday, March 17, Antone’s Records, Austin
Monday, March 19, Poor David’s Pub, Dallas
Tuesday, March 20 , Mercury, Tulsa, Okla.
Wednesday, March 21, Sticky Fingerz, Little Rock, Ark.
Thursday, March 22, Blue City Café, Memphis
Sunday, April 1, Continental Club, Houston
Monday, April 2, The Continental Club, Austin

Interview times are available as well as press kits and review CDs.
To listen to MP3s and to download hi-res images, album art and more, visit:
http://mcguckinpr.com/mcguckin/rubydee/rubydee.htm

Also see www.rubydeemusic.com for tour updates.

Media Contact: McGuckin Entertainment PR
Heidi Labensart, 512.478.0578; heidi@mcguckinpr.com
Jill McGuckin, 512.217.9404; jill@mcguckinpr.com

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