Meet Ruby Friedman

We recently connected with Ruby Friedman and have shared our conversation below.

Ruby, thank you so much for joining us and offering your lessons and wisdom for our readers. One of the things we most admire about you is your generosity and so we’d love if you could talk to us about where you think your generosity comes from.
Oh, thank you. I think Generosity is a force that finds you. I cannot take credit for it. it is impossible to ignore or deny when it Calls.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I am the lead songwriter, arranger, producer of The Ruby Friedman Orchestra. I also do vocal session work for film trailers, ads, tv , video games, etc. Right now I am finishing an album of ten original tracks and almost finished mixing!! I’m very excited to share this work, Tales Of Our Time., which I co-produced with my musical partner in Portland, Oregon, Ben Landsverk. Most of the subject material on these ten tracks are non-fiction — people I know, people I don’t know, historical figures, places and times, forgotten or ignored important ones. I was a History Major at UCLA and gravitate toward individuals who stayed true to a Calling, especially women unrewarded by fame or fortune but definitely impactful in their posterity, sometimes anonymous during their time or after their time. People who lived and were called to do and did Great Things, in spite of being drowned out, ignored, sabotaged, invisible, and/or unsupported by societal levers. One of the songs is Human and Dog Vs The Apocalyptic World called “From The Storm”.

Bold Journey: There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Ruby: I suppose it depends on your definition of success as to which skills you’d need or have, For me, my definition of success within my art form / for my art form is the satisfied expression of a Vision in melody, orchestration, and lyrical Truth. A work that will be understood long after I am gone by humans wanting to connect with what came before and the meaning we all struggle to capture while we are here. I am not trying to be popular in the now as much as True to what calls me to create.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I have been immersed in music since the womb, so my ear for melody and timing is probably something I didn’t earn but has afforded me a skill of being able to hear very acutely when something is Right or Wrong – when something is catchy or Boring or Intriguing, I do know when people witness me and the band live or hear recordings they are blown away, I would probably say my vocals are very impactful /powerful to others the most since that is the main thing people hire me for, I also coach vocals, but I also know that being a female composer /songwriter is not something people truly see as a non-gendered bracket, even though they know it is, There have been multiple times when my contributions as a composer are invisible and all that is amplified is my singing, or vocal. On an ongoing basis, as well, you will find very few female composers scoring film and tv compared to males. And that is not because we are not out here.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
The book Walden by Henry David Thoreau has been a touchstone in my artistic development and always something I recall in any benighted time while continuing to endure and wondering “Why?” . Being a female artist and being so independent has not been easy, But it is the Transcendence of/ from society while being in it that has provided the most fodder for my cannon. When I think about the Truth that one has to live for something and I know that I am being True, just like Thoreau, then being out in the woods, so to speak, committing to pen, paper, and melody, the meanings of my days for all who follow when I am no longer is very sweet reward and payment, And I do believe what I memorialize is worth all the effort and sacrifice and could not live if I stopped. I am grateful to have the support I have. I look forward to the day there is no undertow.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Ruby Dreaming: Art/Photo: Sinden Collier Vegan Cowgirl: Clovis Northman

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