Press Release: RUBY DEE AND THE SNAKEHANDLERS READY TO EMBARK ON TOUR BEHIND LATEST RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug. 21, 2008

RUBY DEE AND THE SNAKEHANDLERS
READY TO EMBARK ON TOUR BEHIND LATEST RELEAS

Giant Measures of Country, Rock, Honky-Tonk & Rockabilly
Go into Band’s Second Album, MILES FROM HOME

Austin, TX — Ruby Dee and The Snakehandlers, which captured the heart and mind of their Pacific Northwest birthplace with a delightfully flamboyant country-rock-honky-tonk-rockabilly mix and rafter-rattling live shows, will take off next month on a tour in support of their second release, MILES FROM HOME (Dionysus Records; June 24, 2008).

The alt-country combo will start the tour in Tennessee, hit Arkansas, continue through all of Texas, and then make a sharp right turn for dates in the Southwest and along the West Coast, a very thorough tour that includes special shows along the way at The Five Spot in Nashville and Hi Tone Café in Memphis around the Americana Music Association Festival & Conference, the Granada Theater in Dallas, Austin’s Continental Club, and Safari Sam’s in Hollywood.

Besides the band’s showcase during the AMA Conference, band founder and leader Ruby Dee Philippa and guitar master Jorge Harada will lead their own How to Tour Workshop early Saturday, September 20, with topics from booking and budgeting to safety, contracts and creating a stir. They will also share their experience and knowledge (and tips for staying sane) at the Point Defiance Music Festival in Tacoma on September 6.

Meanwhile, MILES FROM HOME, the band’s second full-length recording, has garnered critical acclaim and airplay.

For instance, Seattle Weekly called the album’s lineup “one twangy gem right after the other,” while Country Standard Time detailed more: “The album starts off at highway speeds with an appropriately half-sizzling, half-smoky take on ‘Settin’ the Woods on Fire’ … ‘Comes a Time’ and ‘Round and Round’ demonstrate that Philippa and the band can slow it down as deftly as they can kick it up … With plenty of shimmer breaking through the road dust, ['Cry All Over Me'] ends the album on a high country-soul note.”

Next year, after Ruby Dee and The Snakehandlers’ springtime move to Austin, the band heads to Europe in May for its third tour through Belgium, Holland, Germany, France, Sweden and Spain, where it’s built a following equally as enthusiastic as its American fan base.

As the fall 2008 tour runs, the band plays on; Ruby continues her wildly prolific songwriting; and lucky audiences get their fix of real, rambunctious, randy, ripping rockabilly.

Upcoming Ruby Dee and The Snakehandlers shows include:
September 20, The Five Spot, Nashville
September 21, Hi Tone Café, Memphis, Tenn.
September 22, Sticky Fingerz, Little Rock, Ark.
September 24, The Granada Theater, Dallas
September 26, The Continental Club, Austin
September 27, Riley’s Tavern, Hunter, Texas
September 28, Floore’s Country Store, Helotes, Texas
September 29, Sam’s Burger Joint, San Antonio
September 30, Take II, El Paso, Texas
October 1, Vaudeville Cabaret, Tucson, Ariz.
October 2, Blooze Bar, Phoenix
October 3, Bar Pink, San Diego, Calif.
October 4, The Puka Bar, Long Beach, Calif.
October 5, Safari Sam’s Rockabilly Brunch, Hollywood
October 6, Muddy Waters, Santa Barbara, Calif.
October 8, Don Quixote’s, Felton, Calif.
October 9, The Boathouse Tallac Historic Site, South Lake Tahoe, Calif.
October 10, Old Ironsides, Sacramento, Calif.
October 11, The Knockout, San Francisco

Interview times are available as well as press kits.
To listen to MP3s and to download hi-res images and more, visit:
http://www.mcguckinpr.com/mcguckin/rubydee/rubydee.htm
Also see www.rubydeemusic.com,
www.myspace.com/rubydeeandthesnakehandlers.

Contact: McGuckin Entertainment PR
Jill McGuckin, 512.217.9404; jill@mcguckinpr.com
Heidi Labensart, 512.478.0578; heidi@mcguckinpr.com