Rooted in the blues, fueled by soul, and delivered with rock and roll bravado, Ruby James resounds with genuine grit. Her new album, “Call it Rock & Roll,” showcases anthems built for midnight stages and guitars with heavy grooves, while her voice has the smooth rasp of velvet on fire.
One of those midnight anthems is almost too perfect for our industry’s “midnight ballerinas” (you know, the term dancers need to use on social media to keep from getting their accounts shut down). Ruby’s latest track, “Honey Drippers,” has a sultry flow and smokey groove, which perfectly accompanies her signature vocal style. Sure, there are songs that fit well in the club environment, but few are so perfectly suited.
We had the chance to speak with Ruby about “Honey Drippers,” why it’s “sexy as f**k,” and where you’re supposed to look when you’re hanging out with friends in a strip club.
ED: Your music blends blues soul and rock and roll with genuine grit, or your voice has been described as the smooth rasp of velvet on fire. Talk a bit about your sound and where it comes from.
JAMES: My mom talks about how she was playing Stevie Nicks when I was in the womb, literally. And my mom is a witchy woman, and I think I have some of her witchiness in me as well. So I feel like Stevie Nicks was really my first influence. When I was 14 years old, my mom told me to close my eyes and wave my magic wand, and if I could be anything in this life, what would I be? And I said, Bonnie Raitt. So, there’s blues, there’s rasp. And when I was in high school, Sheryl Crow was the first person that really made me want to play an electric guitar and kind of rock. Lucinda Williams ended up ended up becoming a later influence, but she still totally rocks and is one of the most incredible songwriters.
ED: Rosie Flores, the rockabilly great, plays on several songs on your latest album, including “Call It Rock and Roll.” What was it like to work with such a renowned guitarist?
JAMES: So, Rosie and I have been palling around together since my Austin days. I was in Austin since 2006 making a record with Will and Charlie Sexton, and Rosie and I became really good friends. She took me to Europe and all kinds of places. So she definitely is one of my mentors. I geek out like a little schoolgirl when Rosie rips, and the great thing about Rosie on this album, especially, is that my producer works really well with her, and so he sets her up with this monster Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) tone. She sounds ferocious on my record, and she’s actually on “Honey Driver,” and she’s playing like the monster blues licks, and she, I think, the riffs are in the verses. On the intro of Honey Dripper, there’s this weird sound, and that is her electric toothbrush on the strings of the electric guitar.
“I think it is all sexy, all night long. It is literally made for low-lit rooms and places after midnight, and it’s naughty … feel like all the girls want to be honey drippers … I mean, when we play it I want to be a honey dripper too when I sing it! So I feel like it’s a perfect song for the clubs. I mean, it’s sexy as fuck.” – Ruby James
ED: Let’s talk specifically now about that track, “Honey Dripper,” which is described as a “dirty late-night groove.” What is the song about, and what inspired you to write it? Does it mean something to you personally?
JAMES: I just started calling different kinds of gals “honey drippers,” and I don’t mean it derogatorily. I have a couple of girlfriends who are just so overly sexual and dripping their honey all over everybody, and it makes you sort of uncomfortable, but you kind of like it. I mean, you guys probably really love it. I don’t know if girls always love it, because they don’t know what to do with it, but I think it’s funny, and I’ve been using (“honey drippers”).
I’m a part of a songwriting group up in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, called Steel Bridge Song Fest. They have multiple events, and one is called Love on Holiday, where you spin a bottle, pair up into groups of three, and you also spin a piece of artwork. My group had a piece of artwork that literally looked like dripping honey, and you kind of have freedom to do whatever you want with it. My group loved (the idea), so we just kind of ran with it, and it had this great vibe … there’s just something really badass about this one. In the groove, and the funkiness of it, and I’ve even had people tell me it reminds them of Prince, so I think that is just the coolest thing ever, and I’m obsessed with Honey Dripper, I love it.
ED: Many DJs and entertainers say that music can completely change the energy of a room. What kind of energy do you think Honey Dripper could bring into a club and on a stage?
JAMES: Well, I think it is all sexy, all night long. It is literally made for low-lit rooms and places after midnight, and it’s naughty, and I’ve seen it ever since its inception. Like, when you play that song, it is like all the girls want to be honey drippers. The literal words are saying, this woman is coming for your man right in front of you, she’s a honey dripper. I feel like all the girls want to be honey drippers … I mean, when we play it I want to be a honey dripper too when I sing it! So I feel like it’s a perfect song for the clubs. I mean, it’s sexy as fuck.
ED: Do you have any favorite strip club stories or experiences that you could share? Have you ever been in a strip club?
JAMES: My producer, who is straight as an arrow, he’s never been to a strip club, said to me, “You’re not the stripper, but you’re kind of the friend of the stripper.” And I love that title for myself. I’ve had a lot of stripper friends, I’ve been to a lot of strip clubs, and, and I think it’s its own art form. I think those women are women who are empowered and iconic.
The last time I was in a strip club was a couple years ago with my husband and some friends, and like the other two wives didn’t know what the hell to do, one was outside pacing, and I’m like down in front with like $20 bills. And my husband’s like, I don’t know where to look, and I’m like, you look at the girls, that is what we’re here for, that is what they’re doing, they’re making their money! And so that’s where we look, right there!
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