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Ruby’s Return

Ruby Amanfu Pops Up at Three Three Five in Green Bay

If you were lucky enough to get a table at Three Three Five on October 11, you were one of 90 people treated to an evening of big city cuisine and tunes. Chef Chris Mangless – a master at creating pop-up shows – garnished the venue with his culinary excellence while Ruby Amanfu soulfully serenaded the evening’s guests with guitarist Sam Farrell.

The Ghana-born songstress possesses a vocal tenacity right up there with the best in the business. Calling her home somewhere between Nashville and LA, Ruby’s musical path is soaring upward toward more and more success these days. She was a member of Jack White’s all-female group The Peacocks, performed with White on Saturday Night Live and the 2013 Grammys, toured for a short time with Norah Jones, and her fiery ohhh’s and ahhh’s provide background “Don’t Hurt Yourself” from Beyonce’s album Lemonade. The day after her show at Three Three Five, Ruby joined Emmylou Harris, Robert Plant, Steve Earl and Patti Griffin on stage in Milwaukee for the Lampedusa concert, a tour to raise awareness about the worldwide refugee crisis.

While guests filled up on Three Three Five fare, Ruby filled the room with melodies off her new album titled Standing Still. Although it includes songs composed by Bob Dylan, Kanye West, Brandi Carlile and Woody Guthrie, Ruby explained that it’s not a collection of covers, but her artistic interpretation of songs she found personally meaningful throughout her life. She affectionately refers to her new album as “her child” – her “little girl” that sprang forth from her own interpretations.

No stranger to Wisconsin, Ruby spoke about her connections to this area and how it feels like she’s coming home when she returns.

“What Chef Mangless and his staff have created here is a treasure chest for locals in terms of cuisine laced with a creatively curated experience”, Ruby shared. “Whenever I’m here, I feel like my soul is fed, as well as my body. Chef Chris has a heart for service and I knew it the first time we met when I was in Green Bay to play a show a few years back. He opened his restaurant up to us on a day and time that he wasn’t even slated to be there! He fed us until the wee hours of the morning, knowing that musicians don’t always get to eat meals as delicious and wholesome as the ones he prepared.”

Ruby’s music is inspired from her own highs in life, as well as those darker places where we sometimes find ourselves. Her ability to evoke the deepest level of emotion makes you listen to every nuance of her uniquely expressive voice – one we’re happy to embrace each time she visits.

Ruby’s latest album titled Standing Still is available on iTunes. More at rubyamanfu.com.