Ruth
Ruth McGillivray - Lead Vocals
One of the most surprising secrets in today’s Canadian blues scene is the voice and presence of Ruth McGillivray. Simply stated, she’s an amazing talent. Her deep, rich tone turns heads when she starts to sing, but it’s the emotion that stops people in their tracks; aching tenderness to power and fury in about a verse and a half.
The electricity, freedom, and honesty in her delivery are reminiscent of Janis Joplin. She does it for love and the audience can tell. Tom Harrison of The Vancouver Sun says of her signature rendition of Piece of My Heart, "She makes the song her own."
“Everyone asks me when I started singing,” says Ruth, “And I always tell them it’s the classic story. Dad was a preacher and I grew up singing in the choir.” As a teenager Ruth performed in churches throughout Canada with her musical family, and started writing her own songs. Later, Ruth’s work gave her the opportunity to meet the jazz fusion band, Uzeb, and that sparked a love of jazz. She developed her ear, range, and keen sense of melody singing the lines of Alain Caron and Michel Cusson. A bootleg tape of Etta James taught her to tell a story with soul, so it’s no surprise that the day she finally walked into a blues club, she put up her feet and knew she was home.
Voice lessons with Vancouver jazz singer, Jennifer Scott, gave Ruth the technique and confidence to begin fronting Vancouver-area bands. For years she performed the music of Etta James, Bonnie Raitt, Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight, but eventually she grew tired of copying others. When Sheldon Bradley joined her R&B cover band, they began to pursue a mutual interest in songwriting. In 2003 they released their first independent CD, River of Soul, under Ruth’s name.
River of Soul showcased a wide range of influences, demonstrating Ruth’s ability to write and sing blues, funk, gospel and jazz with equal proficiency. These days, her diverse musical tastes are being fed by artists like Jon Cleary, Cassandra Wilson, Eva Cassidy, Susan Tedeschi and Warren Haynes.
Ruth and Sheldon renamed themselves the Bradley/McGillivray Blues Band and released a second CD, Livin' This Way, in 2008. It features the drop-to-your-knees abandon fans have come to love in Ruth’s live shows, and was cited by Canadian Musician and Real Blues Magazine as "one of the best Canadian blues albums of 2008."
