Rich Ruth Releases Arresting Single 'Crying In The Trees'

Nashville-based experimental musician Rich Ruth has released the second single from his forthcoming album Water Still Flows (June 21 via Third Man Records).

Alongside the release of “Crying In The Trees” is a mesmerizing live video featuring psychedelic projections that envelop Ruth and the other musicians as they perform the arresting single.

In support of the new album, Rich Ruth will be touring headline shows this summer including dates at The Blue Room in Nashville (June 22) and Union Pool in Brooklyn, NY (June 28) as well as opener dates with All Them Witches and Mikaela Davis– full dates below and get tickets HERE.

“Crying In The Trees” features Ruth on guitar, bass, and samples, plus Reuben Gingrich on drums, Mikaela Davis on harp, and Sam Que on tenor saxophone. “In the fall of 2023 while home on breaks from extensive touring, I unintentionally locked into a creative zone fusing samples and heavy drone guitar,” shares Ruth. When he shared the tracks with Reuben Gingrich, Ruth’s only guideline on the composition was to approach it like Elvin Jones playing stoner metal, which was delivered with incredibly passionate intensity. “Then I added Mikaela Davis on harp and Sam Que on tenor saxophone and it morphed into something different altogether, continues Ruth. “To me it sounds like Alice Coltrane and Pharaoh Sanders playing with Sleep while a sampled flute / gamelan ensemble plays in the distance.”

This new track follows the release of the explosive lead single “No Muscle, No Memory,” which served as a beautiful introduction into the bold sonic world crafted by Ruth for his third LP. Both songs encapsulate everything Water Still Flows stands for–an atmospheric aural experience inviting introspection and experimental exploration.

Water Still Flows combines elements of spiritual jazz, synth-infused post-rock, doom, drone-metal, Kosmiche and more – the album born out of a time of transience for Ruth who was touring relentlessly for two years with S.G. Goodman and with  his own outfit.  Unmoored from waking up in a different city every day, he’d spend what little free time he had on breaks crafting enveloping drones at his home studio. In making this album, he sonically finds a way to unpack and process the feelings that come with the challenges of breaking the mold–in Ruth’s case, Nashville’s notorious sound–to carve his own path while also struggling with the anxieties of being a touring musician in 2024.

Says Ruth: “After spending a large portion of the past 12 years touring and recording, none of this stuff has gotten easier. Much of the anxiety and intense feelings I've poured into this record are a direct correlation to the uncertainty of trying to earn a living with music.

Despite many hopeful opportunities I've been given, it has taken a toll on my body and mental health merely trying to survive playing music in the current age. The soothing quality of these new pieces reflect a constant search for solitude and stability. The frenetic, heavier parts mirror the tense variability I feel on a regular basis as a working musician. At the end of the day, all of the sacrifice and uncertainty is a small price to pay for the privilege to share this music with people.”

Recorded at Ruth’s home studio and mixed by Jake Davis (William Tyler, Skyway Man), Water Still Flows reflects his unwavering devotion to collaboration. Its seven tracks are peppered with marquee collaborators, which include saxophonist Sam Que, harpist Mikaela Davis, pedal steel player Spencer Cullum, drummer Ruben Gingrich, violinist Patrick M’gonigle, and more. “Working with people who are just better musicians than me, or play drastically different instruments like harp and saxophone, opens up millions of new pathways of where the music can be taken,” says Ruth. “I’ll stitch a narrative out of these improvisational ideas but letting these players do whatever they want without parameters creates a much more unpredictable and interesting thing.”

With his foray into ambient recordings starting with his 2019 LP Calming Signals and his acclaimed 2022 album I Survived, It’s Over, Ruth has firmly established himself alongside peers like William Tyler and Luke Schneider as one of Nashville’s foremost experimentalists. “If I analyze it, it’s more that the Nashville music community I grew up with is getting older, settling down, and feeling quieter. The nature of people that are good at music is that they're probably drawn to weirder things.”

Rich Ruth Tour Dates:

4/28: Fort Worth, TX - Tulips *

4/29: Oklahoma City, OK - Beer City Music Hall *

5/1: Baton Rouge, LA - Chelsea’s Live *

5/3: Knoxville, TN - The Pilot Light ~

5/4: Asheville, NC - Eulogy ~

5/5: Winston-Salem, NC - The Ramkat *

5/8: Raleigh, NC - King’s ~

5/9: Charleston, SC - Music Farm *

5/10: Savannah, GA - Victory North *

6/22: Nashville, TN - The Blue Room ~

6/25: Washington DC - Pearl Street Warehouse ^

6/26: Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda’s ^

6/27: Woodstock, NY - Colony ^

6/28: Brooklyn, NY - Union Pool ~

8/21: Bloomington, IN - The Bishop ~

8/22: Chicago, IL - Constellation ~

8/23: Goshen, IN - Ignition Music Garage ~

8/25: Detroit, MI - Third Man Cass Corridor ~

~ Headline Dates
* w/ All Them Witches
^ w/ Mikaela Davis

Photo Credit: Ryan Hartley

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