INTERVIEW: Ruby Mack
Ruby Mack
The Photo Ladies Interview
Feminist folk group Ruby Mack, comprised of Emma Ayers (vocals/guitar), Abbie Duquette (bass ukelele), Zoe Young (guitar/vocals), and Abs Kahler (fiddle), explore a unique perspective on the story of Adam and Eve for their recently released debut album Devil Told Me. On the album, they imagine themselves as direct descendants of Eve in a timeline in which she unashamedly bites into the apple in the Garden of Eden, sharing the knowledge she learns with the rest of the world. Hailing from Pioneer Valley, MA, the group was formerly called the Emma June Band but recently changed their name to Ruby Mack, taking their name from their areas Ruby McIntosh apple. Proud of their deep New England Roots, all 4 members feeling deep ties to different parts of the New England landscape. With their new album, the quartet question what it means to be a woman, offering new perspectives through old stories and present their own brand of folk that casts the genre in a different light than folk songs of the past. They give credit to their time spent in Pioneer Valley, MA, a place full of magical energy, inspiration and a cooperative spirit that fueled their music and shaped who they wanted to be as musicians. The band recorded their album in an old church with engineer Andrew Oedel of Ghost Hit Recording, giving the album a decidedly live feel. “We really wanted it to have that special magic of a collaborative performance, and the energy we get from singing together,” explains Young. The result is a group of confessional and uplifting songs. Their goal is to question what society expects of them, embody and express their true identities, and inspire others to do the same...to be themselves in a world that wants to dictate how it feels people should be and the roles they should play, especially womxn. With plan to write and release more singles until they can safely tour again, Ruby Mack is definitely a band to keep on your radar. You can connect with the band and purchase their album via the following links:
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify | iTunes/Apple Music | YouTube | Deezer | Bandcamp
You all met through the Massachusetts folk scene after each making your own music prior. What led you to want to form a band together and what other projects are you a part of outside of Ruby Mack? What can you tell me about your goal as a band of pushing aside societal norms and boundaries?
ZOE YOUNG: Emma and I actually grew up together as family friends (we’ve always called ourselves sisters) and have been singing together our whole lives, so I guess that is where our band story really begins. Then Emma, Abs, and I attended the University of Massachusetts, Amherst where we started playing music together with a few other folks. Abs and I teach at the Kid’s Academy at Greyfox Bluegrass Music Festival and we made Emma come one year. The three of us started playing on some tunes that Emma had written and things just fell into place. When Emma introduced us to Abbie in 2018, we began playing as a foursome- she was the missing piece we had been needing. The four of us all share the same sense of humor which definitely holds us together in both the tough moments and the happy moments and helped create a space for us to experiment musically. We never set out to be a band that pushed aside societal norms. I think it’s just in our nature to push the boundaries of what society expects from us as women and nonbinary people. Individually, we all have big personalities and we don’t like being told what we can and cannot do in the world of music. Singing together feeds us, fuels us, and inspires us to show up authentically in the world. And we quickly learned that others felt held and fed by our music. So that’s what we set out to do- feed our own hearts and in turn, the hearts of others. Outside of Ruby Mack, Emma has her own solo project under the name Emma Ayres.
You will be releasing your new album Devil Told Me on October 23rd on which you reclaim the story of Adam and Eve and question why Eve shouldn't be able to bite into knowledge. What led you to want to explore this concept for your album? What can you tell me about the recording process, which took place in an old church and gives the album a live sound?
ZOE YOUNG: The theme that runs through this collection of songs is about being brave enough to show up as yourself, and to ask for what you want. Without curiosity and being willing to try things, what is there? Without accepting the good and the bad in life as it comes, as Eve did, what is the point? To us, there is no good without the bad, and there is no bad without the good, both must exist at once.
We decided we wanted to record most of our album live, meaning instead of tracking out each instrument and vocal part separately, we recorded each song all together in a full live take. We wanted our spontaneity and the energy we get from one another to be captured in the recordings. The only song that we did not record live was “Milktooth”, which really came together the day we recorded it in the studio. Abs wrote their fiddle lines live in the studio, making us all cry in the control room as they recorded it. The harmonies were also arranged that day in the studio, and the recording reflects the live collaboration we all value so much.
ABBIE DUQUETTE: It was the icing on the cake that we recorded in an old converted church — not intentional, but damn does it really make the concept of the album come full circle.
What can you tell me about your mission to push social boundaries aside with this album, exploring feminism and social justice through the lenses of religion and mythology? Emma-what can you tell me about your love for oral tradition and storytelling and how that influenced the album?
EMMA AYRES: In the wise words of Pete Seeger: “This machine kills fascists.” Seeger was blacklisted in the 50’s after being accused of being communist by the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC). His songs were a vehicle for social justice organizing. When you can get a room full of energized people singing your lyrics, it becomes a powerful and memorable way to spread a message. The weapon of a song, when yielded by queer folk musicians, is dangerous to the white cis hetero capitalist patriarchy. A song can challenge the status quo and put hatred and other forms of oppression “on notice.” This specific lineage of folk music has always been a source of inspiration for me. When I wrote the lyrics to most of the songs on the album, I employed the lens of Greek mythology to amplify, illuminate, and celebrate the working class. Working class folks make the world go round and it is vital that they/our stories go down in history like Homer’s Odyssey. I see a song as an opportunity to shed a holy light on marginalized identities and a church where a bigoted listener can worship a queer god without realizing it. Music is a powerful force of unity and a way to humanize across identities, political beliefs, and religious values. A melody can be the messenger of an urgent message even if the listener doesn’t understand the words. The message subconsciously becomes one with the listener.
With this album, you dig deeper into what it means to be a woman or even to reject this label. What does being a woman or gender non-conforming mean to you? Do you see womxn pushing back more and more in today's society against the societal norms that they have been taught to accept?
ABBIE DUQUETTE: Hell yeah — I think we saw that with the Women’s March in Jan 2017, we saw that over the midterm elections by electing a record number of BIPOC womxn, we have seen it over social media with the 'Me Too' movement, etc. I’m a firm believer that until our most unrepresented humans in this country are treated with the respect and humanity that is their right, we ALL have work to do. I think the collective “we” of non-cis white males are building strength and understanding that we don’t just deserve a seat at the table, but that we can run the table — and we should look around and not see only people that look like ourselves.
For me, what it means to be a “woman” changes every day. I’m sitting here thinking about what it means and how I feel right now when I hear the word, and I just feel power and strength. I think of all of the badass womxn over the course of history across the world, and am so happy we’re part of that giant community. Womxn = Power.
ABS KAHLER: For starters let me say that we could probably spend hours, days, a lifetime talking about gender (I wish we could!). I view gender as more of a journey than a destination. I have a gorgeous print hanging on my wall from Kah Yangni, a Black trans Philly based illustrator, that reads “Trans is freedom, is adventure, is endless!” which I think sums this up perfectly. The gender binary is largely a tool of colonization, and I am learning how to define my identity outside of this false binary. I believe there is a softness, a strength, and a beauty to femininity that is incomparable to anything else in this world. I view claiming femininity in a society that tells me that being feminine is the worst thing I can be as the ultimate display of courage. It’s important to me that I actively choose my femininity and it’s not something I let society decide for me. I embody masculinity in a host of other ways that I’m still learning how to convey and embody, and very much feel my femininity and masculinity inform one another. Being able to present exactly how I feel on any given day gives me a sense of great freedom and gender euphoria, and I hope that everyone, whether cis or trans gets to experience this to their fullest potential. I do very much see womxn are pushing back more and more against societal norms and fighting against patriarchy and the gender norms that harm not only women but greatly harm men as well.
Pioneer Valley, MA has been especially inspiring for you and has been a main inspiration for the new album. What can you tell me about Pioneer Valley and the inspiration it has had on you and your music? How do you feel that the music culture of Massachusetts has helped you to find your identity as musicians?
ABS KAHLER: I’m wildly grateful that fate placed me in The Valley for four formative years in my early adulthood. There were many queer folk artists I met in the folk scene out in western Massachusetts who I was able to collaborate with and fiddle for who are still some of my favorite artists to this day. I recognized at the time how privileged I was to play with such talented artists, and remember the joy of doing so, but what I didn’t recognize back then was how big a part of my identity my queerness would become. Looking back I think that seeing these artists live their lives authentically and hearing their music reflect that authenticity really drew me in and allowed me to explore my own identity in a unique way. Nowadays it’s really important to me to use the platform that Ruby Mack gives me to create a safe space for other queer folks and send all of the love out into the world I possibly can, whether that’s through words or through fiddle melodies.
ZOE YOUNG: I’m not sure what it is about the Pioneer Valley, but the energy here is just magical. Compared to the bustling city life in Boston, life out here feels slower, and more intentional. The folk music scene is vibrant, and people really show up for their communities, and value the local agriculture, music, and art. There are so many local, community organized events, some favorites include the Garlic & Arts Festival and Green River Music Festival, which all highlight local vendors and talent, and value folks coming together to experience all things beautiful together. The music scene in western Massachusetts has absolutely held us and encouraged us throughout our journey as a band these past few years and inspired us to write and play from our hearts, knowing that it will be received with love and support.
You have said that, with regards to changing your name from Emma June Band to Ruby Mack, that your new name grounds you to your New England Roots. Why is that connection important to you?
ABBIE DUQUETTE: New England is our home! It’s where we grew up, and where we learned to be human beings. We all have strong ties to different parts of NE, and through that, have found so much love and support across this area. Venues that have taken chances on us, hometowns have nurtured us, and our family and friends have been our loudest cheerleaders. We are all very connected to our families — birth and chosen — and have nurtured a huge community here. Maintaining our relationships and holding these spaces close are vital parts of our identity as a band.
Two of the songs on the new album, "Jane", a love song for those who feel that they can't exist as their true selves in the world and "Milktooth", a queer coming of age song that you've described as letting go of all of the stories about who you were as a child. What can you tell me about your own journeys of self-discovery and acceptance and using your platform as a way to amplify LGBTQIA voices and issues?
EMMA AYRES: I came out to myself through my lyrics when I was a teenager as it was the most comfortable way for me to share myself at the time. I liked to conceal my identity in metaphors and hoped that maybe someone would crack the code. I would avidly listen to the music of Ani DiFranco and Tegan and Sara, who were my only visible icons of queerness. I hope in using my platform as a musician to talk about and celebrate queerness that one day I can be that social mirror for a young high schooler to see themselves in and smile and take comfort that there are other people out there like them and everything is going to be ok.
I wrote this song in the aftermath of the Pulse Night Club shooting and it is an ode to those who lost their lives on that tragic night and anyone out there reading this post who cannot safely be who they are or is afraid to be who they are. You are not alone. To all straight folks out there—Take a moment of silence for the trans, gay, lesbian, bisexual, non-binary, queer, intersex, asexual and questioning lives that are lost every day on this earth as a result of hate, suppression, misunderstanding, suicide, police brutality, domestic violence etc. Specifically, BIPOC lives. Allies—educate yourselves. Say no to bigotry and hatred. Say no in big ways and little ways. Say no to the white cis patriarchal corporatization of LGBTQIA culture. Fill in the missing colors of the commodified rainbow and reclaim it in the name of we the people. We can do better than THIS.
Your music reflects topics not typically covered in folk music and you have talked about existing in an industry that was not made for you? What can you tell me about your journey into folk music and your journey as musicians in that genre and in the music industry in general?
EMMA AYRES: I think that when you are true to yourself and in your performance, it doesn’t matter what topic you are singing about. People connect with the universality of authenticity and open heartedness. I think that we are unique in that we are unabashedly ourselves and perform from the heart. We are thrilled to continue to work with the industry and push it to continue to evolve into a market that elevates and compensates marginalized voices. The music industry is a state of mind and we can all shape it into what we believe it can be if we work together.
What can you tell me about your love for improvisation, which you have said is where the magic is made for your music?
ABBIE DUQUETTE: Improvisation is what keeps us on our toes and interesting! I personally think it’s how we all grow and learn as musicians. The best part is when one of us tries something new and it inspires another person to do something and then all of a sudden you have this avalanche of new ideas and energy. Another huge part of our work is vocal harmony. We’re at our best when we’re not focused on our individual parts, but rather listening to how we blend and communicate with each other while singing. There’s intimacy and trust that is built through this process.
Emma- You are also the program coordinator and marketing director for Shea Theater. What can you tell me about your work with them and the "Shea Away" concert series that is being held every Wednesday in October, in conjunction with the Great Falls Farmer's Market?
EMMA AYRES: The Shea is the beating heart of the Franklin County arts scene. As the program coordinator I work tirelessly to prioritize the representation of queer local artists and BIPOC artists. The Shea Away concert series is an effort to bring the inside out in partnership with the Garlic and Arts Festival and the Great Falls Farmers Market. I am committed to creating meaningful paid performance opportunities for local musicians. Paying artists and advocating for artists is an intrinsic facet of my political ethos as both a musician and program coordinator.
What's next for Ruby Mack?
ABBIE DUQUETTE: Fabulous question! We finally merged our bubbles after 7-ish months apart, and are itching to write together. Making music makes us happy and even though we can’t perform live, we want to release more tunes into the streaming world. The goal will be to stay connected to our listeners by releasing singles and hit the road again when the time is right and it’s safe for everyone to do so.