Ruth Ungar of Sometimes Why
When your mom and dad are folk musicians, your dad wrote one of the most beloved American fiddle tunes (Ashokan Farewell) and you spend your summers at one of the oldest and largest folk music gatherings in the country, you may be destined to make music your life.
Ruth Ungar grew up in the Hudson Valley of New York State, surrounded by music. Her parents, fiddler Jay Ungar and folksinger Lyn Hardy, played the folk circuit for many years, bringing little Ruth along with them. With a stage for a bed and a fiddle case for a pillow, she developed the keen ability to sleep thru just about anything, but a lot of beautiful music seeped through those sleeping ears.
Ruth headed off to school to study drama and then moved to New York city in 1997 to pursue acting. She performed in an improv troupe and several plays, including "Danny and the Deep Blue Sea" by John Patrick Shanley--the play that inspired her to compose her first song, "Four Blue Walls."
After a few inspiring nights of singing with musicians her age, she dragged her dusty old fiddle and ukulele from their cases and began a new musical journey.
Ruth started working with Mike Merenda, and the two of them moved to Massachusetts, where they met Tao Rodrequez-Seeger (Pete's grandson). In 2001, the three of them formed the Mammals, an indie-folk quintet blending old-timey fiddle and banjo tunes with original lyrical pop songs. The Mammals quickly gained recognition throughout the traditional music community, becoming one of the leading bands in the revitalization of American old-time music.
For the past four years, Ruth has recorded and toured with The Mammals, playing 150 nights a year at rock clubs, folk festivals, and concert halls. The Mammals recently finished a tour with Arlo Guthrie which ended with a Thanksgiving weekend performance at Carnegie Hall, and they will be performing in Australia later this month. Ruth also sings with the Boston-based Wayfaring Strangers as part of their imposing vocal line-up that includes Tracy Bonham and Aoife O'Donovan. And she still finds time to perform with her dad and step-mom in the Ungar Family Band. Even with all this performing, Ruth has also released three CDs with the Mammals, one with the Wayfaring Strangers and her own solo CD, in addition to the new Sometimes Why CD.
"Sometimes Why is very dear to me," says Ruth. "This band has a very rare combination of voices that are soothing and exhilarating all at once." All three members of Sometimes Why are quite busy performing with their other bands, but they managed to perform four shows throughout 2005, and recorded their debut CD in less than 24 hours at what was supposed to be a rehearsal. "I'm so glad we marked out these days in December to get together again! I've been looking forward to this tour for months."