Mason Ruffner
Visit the Mason Ruffner
website
Born in Illinois and raised near Fort Worth, Texas, Ruffner was
drawn to the guitar at the age of 14 after hearing Jimmy Reed play at the
Skyliner Club in his home town. Playing the guitar "just like Jimmy
Reed" became his driving ambition. An uncle bought him a used Fender
Stratocaster and a new Super Reverb amplifier and he began playing with
several garage bands around town. Rock and roll temporarily sidetracked him
until a chance meeting with blues vocalist Robert Ealey at the Cellar Club.
Ruffner wound up a member of Ealey's band, The Five Careless Lovers, making
as little as $2 a night for some gigs but learning a lot about playing the
blues. Ruffner was playing with Ealey when Ealey opened his own Fort Worth
Club, The Blue Bird, which occasionally booked Stevie Ray Vaughn and Anson
Funderburgh, both guitar players that Ruffner sat in with and who he
considers his strongest influences. In 1980, Ruffner put his Stratocaster in storage, bought an
acoustic guitar, and decided to become a hobo musician. On his way to New
York he stopped in New Orleans and started playing for tips in the French
Quarter. He met some people who had connections with clubs on Bourbon Street
and decided to stick around awhile. After a couple of months of playing on
the street, Ruffner sent for his guitar and amplifier and talked his way into
playing the early evening shift at the 544 Club. After six months of trial
and error (and playing with a number of musicians), Ruffner put together a
powerhouse blues trio, The Blues Rockers, that had many taking note. Not only
did Ruffner's hard Texas style of blues playing attract tourist in droves,
but he was one of the very few acts that attracted local music fans to
Bourbon Street In 1985, he was signed by CBS Records after one of the label's
executives heard him play. The label encouraged him to pursue rock and tone
down his blues approach. It was a stylistic change Ruffner was initially
unwilling to pursue but the lure of success in the lucrative rock marketplace
proved too hard to resist. CBS released two creditable LPs which put him on the rock and
roll fast track but didn't quite put him on the top of the heap. In the late
1980's, Ruffner took the earnings he'd made as a minor rock icon and bought a
spread in rural Wimberley, Texas. He kicked back and pretty much played when
he felt like it. After a decade of living the good life in picturesque Texas,
Ruffner decided, in the fall of 1998, that it was time to shift gears. He
considered returning to New Orleans but eventually decided to move to Memphis
where he started out playing solo gigs at BB King's Club. These solo shows
gave Mason a chance to use his National Steel, which would come into play on
his soon-to-be-recorded album for Burnside Records. Mason's road to Burnside
Records began in the fall of 1997 when Don Hamilton, a fan of Mason's and of
Burnside, sent a letter to the label owner Terry Currier concerning a
"great guitar player" looking for the right home. After several
paragraphs, it was revealed that "his name is Mason Ruffner and here is
his phone number". Being a long time fan, Currier contacted Mason
immediately, asking him if he would like to make a blues record. Ruffner's
response was "That's the kind of record that I've wanted to make for a
long time!" After a dialog of several months, Mason called in the Summer
of '98 to say "I'm ready to make that record!" The decision had been made to record at the studio of Mason's
musician friend, singer/songwriter Keith Sykes. Before starting, he put
together a new band and prepared them for what was about to become Ruffner's
first blues recording. The band included drummer Bo Harris, bassist Dave
Smith (bass player on both Johnny Lang CDs), and keyboardists Parker Card and
Mark Avsec (Donnie Iris, Mason Ruffner). The new ensemble also included a
powerful element: a horn section. Art Admaiston on sax and Scott Thompson
blowing trumpet added the Memphis sound which helped make "You Can't
Win" an album that Mason and his fans could be very proud of. Ruffner's
new home in Memphis seemed to have a direct influence on his expanded
approach to his music: "When I lived in Texas and New Orleans I never
would have considered playing with horns," said Mason, "I just
wanted to hear guitar, bass, drums and maybe a keyboard. When I got to
Memphis, I started hearing all these great bands with a saxophone and a
trumpet. It really opened my ears. I could have done this CD in Texas, but
I'm glad now I waited until I got to Memphis. It's a much better record with
the horns on it ... This is the blues CD that I've been wanting to do for a
long time." With his return to the blues and the release of his new CD
"You Can't Win", Mason will be bringing his Memphis blues to a town
near you soon.
"You Can't Win' represents Mason's return to
the blues. Mason Ruffner is considered one of the finest rock/blues
guitarists of our time. He has played and recorded with Bob Dylan,
(He's featured on Dylan's "No Mercy") and has recorded with
that album's producer, Daniel Lanois on his recording'Acadie". He
released two albums on CBS. His first self titled release was produced
by Rick Derringer in 1986 which was followed by the Dave Edmunds
produced "Gypsy Blood" which sold over 250,000 units. The
title track from "Gypsy Blood" was included in the movie Steel
Magnolias and received heavy airplay. In between the records, Mason
toured with U2, Crosby Stills & Nash and The Firm. After a
move from Wimberly, Texas to Memphis, Tennesse, Mason set up shop and got
together a cast of great local players including bassist Dave Smith, drummer
Bo Harris, keyboardist Parker Card and the horn section of Art Edmaiston on
saxophone and Scott Thompson on trumpet. The result of this is "You
Can't Win", a collection of songs inspired by the 'Memphis' sound and by
his return to blues. Cut mostly live in the studio with few overdubs, it
captures a rawer side of Mason, rounded out with some Memphis styled horn
work.
|
