Today we’d like to introduce you to Ruthie Craft.
Hi Ruthie, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Singing began as a necessity for me. As a 9-year-old with Tourette syndrome, obsessive-compulsiveness, and chronic anxiety, music was not the first stop on the clinical train of treatments offered to me. As such, my voice was a tool that was left up to me to discover. And it took a while, at that. I wasn’t exactly exposed to a vast ocean of musical influences till full-fledged adulthood. But until I discovered the likes of Michael Jackson and Fleetwood Mac— I had Billy Joel, The Beach Boys, and later, the queen Adele—to infiltrate my young mind with clever melodies, dreamy harmonies, and vocal runs that made my heart stutter. And any time I sang, my Tourette’s didn’t exist. The crooked painting on the wall faded into obscurity. Tomorrow was in the future and yesterday was in the past. When I sang, only sound was there in the present. Only melody lived in that moment with me. Before I knew it, singing began to morph from “therapy” to “passion”, and it was all I wanted to do. Now, at age 26, it’s still all I want to do. And I still love Adele.
That passion has taken me to some pretty neat places so far, including a duet with Keith Urban in front of a sold-out auditorium, an appearance on American Idol, and my personal favorite, sharing a bill with Sir Mix-a-Lot. But that’s just the beginning. These days, I’m working to integrate my name and my music into the city that I am ecstatic to call my new home, Austin. So far, this city is second-to-none in warmth of sunshine and community alike, and there is absolutely nowhere else in which I would rather kick the next phase of my music journey into top gear. Seattle bore me, but Austin is going to baptize me.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I don’t know jack, but one pearl of wisdom I’ve picked up along this road is that it’s never easy, and there are no short-cuts. The things that seem like short-cuts are usually more like IOU’s, and you usually end up paying for it somehow or another in the end.
But that’s the pessimist in me talking. The more optimistic (and frankly more honest) part of me believes that a bumpy road is the road less traveled, which to me means it probably leads to something more beautiful and rewarding than whatever you find on Easy Street. Those bumps include but are not limited to: Tourette syndrome struggles with OCD and anxiety throughout my childhood, a bipolar diagnosis as an adult, recurring physical injuries, and countless (I mean COUNTLESS) heartbreaks.
But those are just bumps. And even better, they are fuel for my journey. No one promised an easy road or a guarantee of neon lights and screaming fans at the end of it. So I try my best to stay healthy and keep my head on straight for the hike.
So, no. It hasn’t been a smooth road and I don’t ever expect it to be. But I’ll be damned if I’m not having fun along the way.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a Seattle-born, Austin-based singer/songwriter with a blue soul and a bright yellow personality (and purple hair, to boot). Thanks to my infinitely terrible luck with romance, my music is typically born from heartache and then christened with a healthy amount of sass for a well-rounded heartbreak bop. With honest, emotive lyrics and all-out vocals, I aim to do more than just entertain–I seek to find common ground. There isn’t a soul on earth who hasn’t experienced heartbreak, anxiety, or betrayal. Those aren’t fun emotions, but that doesn’t mean the soundtrack to them can’t be.
Contact Info:
- Email: booking@ruthiecraft.com
- Website: ruthiecraft.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/ruthiecraft
- Facebook: facebook.com/ruthiecraftmusic
- Other: https://spoti.fi/3zQhtle
Image Credits
Lavender Bouquet Photography Lilly Lilova Hayden Westberry Brittne Lunniss
