Ruby Dice “Take Me Back” (LP)

Ruby Dice has now developed a collaborative album Take Me Back, and a short documentary Making A Life Out Of Art, celebrating the artists, friendships, and creative spirit that make Austin unique. This album is excellent and features lots of musicians and different musical influences.

URL: https://www.rubydice.com/

Take Me Back features Ruby Dice’s core touring band, with a large group of guest artists which make up over a dozen musicians. This adds much to the experience, iso pointing them all out in the songs is not easy at first, but the core band alongside Dice consists of Calloway Ritch on guitar, Jeff Sanders on drums, David Thacker on keyboards, and Simon Paige on pedal steel. Guest appearances include Shinyribs, Suzanne Choffel, Nakia, Jordan Matthiew Young, Grey Horse, Scott Strickland, Sean McHargue (The Ransom Brothers), Garrett J. Brown, Sophia Johnson, Bri Bagwell, and Jo James.

The songs on Take Me Back, all have a common thread of Dice’s travels through the Austin, TX music scene while rising as an independent artist. The album features a mix of country, soul, blues and Americana influences recorded in the area Dice lives. This combination finds its way through everything from blues-tinged ballads to rock with folk influences.

Kicking off with the appropriately titled “Stories” sets the collection up for its own purpose, with Dice singing about how Austin has stories to tell behind the mention of different styles of music to be found on the track list. As the next song “Grey Horse” featuring songwriter Grey Horse fits right into the momentum of the journey in a town of movers and shakers described by Dice’s lovely vocal delivery, with collaborated male vocal parts, the journey itself is off and running with ease. It’s not hard to take in from the word go, once the first two excellent songs go by. “Little Big Town” introduces a Grateful Dead influence due to some clear nods to “Shakedown Street” with a clavinet also reminiscent of The Band.

“Come Over Baby” is another smooth number with country pop inflections to keep it fresh, and the rest is gravy with some fun-loving and generally inviting lyrics by Dice, complete with country blues picking over classic country strings. As the album wears on, it just gets better as it goes, with the midtempo “Country Show” which keeps the story thriving along. “The Reason” is up next, with strong advice in the lyrics, and Dice coming on a lot like Stevie Nicks at points, which is a compliment and not an easy thing to pull off. “Pockets” is yet another fun track, with some excellent guitar, a thing which helps dominate the album, and some more great vocals featured here by Dice, keeping the story alive with some outstanding lyrics.

“Cosplay Cowboy” is a title that speaks for itself while the lyrics play out in one of the most country-based tracks on the album, with some more fun-loving subject matter, backed by a dueling guitar solo. As the story comes to a close, an almost comedic excursion happens with “Dress To Impress” with a dual vocal performance that threatens to take over the whole mood. The album closes with the title track “Take Me Back” which depicts a more personal reflection of the city of Austin.

Mark Druery