Review & photos by Andrew Bansal
June 12th 2014, Amoeba Music, Hollywood CA: Primarily known as a member of rock groups Red Sparowes and Marriages, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter Emma Ruth Rundle has started her own solo career, and released her debut album ‘Some Heavy Ocean’ via Sargent House on May 20th. While she prepares to embark on a run of US dates in support of King Buzzo, who played a fantastic LA show himself the night before at the Echo (check out my coverage of that show here), Emma Ruth Rundle did a short 30-minute free in-store performance at Amoeba Music in the heart of Hollywood yesterday evening. Having witnessed her musical talents in Marriages a couple of times in the recent past, I was looking forward to seeing how she handles herself as a solo performer.
She presented material from ‘Some Heavy Ocean’ along with a couple of other tunes. Despite the album being out and about for a good three weeks now, this was my very first listen of any and all of its tunes. She started the set here with ‘Shadows Of My Name’ off of this album, a song that’s still stuck in my head as a result of its eerie atmospheres and expressive vocals, and this is in spite of the fact that I attended a whole another concert last night immediately after this gig. As she progressed through the set, song by song she succeeded in drawing more and more people at the store nearer to the stage, including many that were here merely to shop and were completely unaware of the gig prior to its start.
To go along with greatly emotive vocals that captured this audience’s imagination, Emma produced exquisite sounds through her acoustic guitars and an array of effects on her pedalboard, specially from the third song onwards when the guitar volume was cranked up. The overall sound quality on this Amoeba stage was sufficient and apt to assist Emma bring her tunes to life.
For those familiar with the bands she’s played in, this gig presented her in a very different light, and it was a true exhibition of her as a singer, songwriter and performer. There is no greater test for a musician than as a solo act, for there is nothing to hide behind, and Emma Ruth Rundle certainly excels in this newfound aspect of her musicianship. ‘Some Heavy Ocean’ is, by all means, a fine slab of folky acoustic guitar-driven psychedelic rock, both in its studio-recorded form, and based on this performance, in the live setting as well.
Check out more photos of Emma Ruth Rundle from the gig below, or view them here if you’re on a non-Flash device:
Emma Ruth Rundle links:
EmmaRuthRundle.com
facebook.com/EmmaRuthRundle
twitter.com/EmmaRuthRundle
instagram.com/EmmaRuthRundle
EmmaRuthRundle.bandcamp.com
Emma Ruth Rundle on tour:
Jun 25 – Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge
Jun 28 – Milwaukee, WI @ Shank Hall *
June 29 – Chicago, IL @ Subterranean ^
Jun 30 – Grand Rapids, MI @ The Pyramid Scheme *
Jul 01 – Columbus, OH @ A&R Music Bar *
Jul 02 – Hamtramck, MI @ Small’s Bar *
Jul 03 – Cleveland Heights, OH @ Grog Shop *
Jul 05 – Syracuse, NY @ The Westcott Theater *
Jul 06 – South Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground *
Jul 07 – Portland, ME @ Port City Music Hall *
Jul 09 – Dover, NH @ Dover Brick House *
Jul 12 – Hamden, CT @ Ballroom at Outerspace *
Jul 13 – Brooklyn, NY @ Saint Vitus ^*
Jul 15 – Philadelphia, PA @ Bourbon & Branch ^*
Jul 16 – Washington, DC @ DC9 ^*
Jul 18 – Charlottesville, VA @ The Southern *
Jul 19 – Charlotte, NC @ Visulite Theatre *
Jul 20 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle *
Jul 22 – Atlanta, GA @ The Basement *
Jul 23 – Birmingham, AL @ The Bottletree *
Jul 26 – Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live *
Jul 27 – Austin, TX @ Red 7 *
Jul 28 – San Antonio, TX @ Limelight *
Jul 30 – Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress *
Jul 31 – Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace
Aug 27 – Dublin, Ireland @ Button Factory – Sargent House Label show w/ Russian Circles, And So I Watch You From Afar, Tera Melos, Mylets & No Spill Blood.
* Supporting King Buzzo
^ w/ Dave Davison (Maps & Atlases)
^* w/ Stephen Brodsky (Mutoid Man)
Emma Ruth Rundle In Marriages on tour:
Aug 16 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile # ^
Aug 17 – Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre # ^
Aug 18 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge # ^
Aug 20 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent #
Aug 21 – Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst Atrium #
Aug 22 – San Luis Obispo @ SLO Brew #
# w/ Boris
^ w/ Master Musicians of Bukkake
Amoeba Music links:
Amoeba.com
facebook.com/Amoeba
twitter.com/AmoebaMusic
instagram.com/AmoebaHollywood