JAMAICA - Bran-Nu Entertainment’s recording artiste, Ruth-Ann Brown,
recently received six nominations in five categories for her EP, ‘RUTH’ at the
Annual Washington DC Reggae Music Awards. The categories in which she is
nominated are ‘Best Reggae Female Recording’, ‘Song of the Year’ (two
nominations for ‘I Love You’ and ‘Jamdown’), ‘Songwriter of the Year’, ‘Best
Reggae Recording’ and ‘Best Female Performer’. The awards ceremony will be held
in May 2012. Rhoan Bromfield, executive producer and producer of the EP ‘RUTH’,
is also nominated in the category, ‘Producer of the Year’.
In addition to the nominations, Ruth-Ann Brown and producer,
Rhoan Bromfield, just completed her next single, ‘Any Day Now’, which is slated
to be released within the fourth quarter of 2011. ‘Any Day Now’ celebrates returning
home to the place of one’s peace.
If you’re in the Washington DC area, you can see Ruth-Ann
Brown performing said songs in addition to unreleased material this coming
Thursday, November 10, 2011. For further information, visit both Ruth-Ann Brown
and Bran-Nu Entertainment online at
http://www.facebook.com/
ruthannbrownmusic
and
http://www.facebook.com/
brannuent
.
The EP, ‘RUTH’ is available for download online at iTunes
and Amazon. ‘Any Day Now’ will be available for download soon.
With an intense passion for
writing poetry combined with an undeniable talent to woo others with
her voice, Jamaican singer and songwriter RUTH (born Ruth-Ann Brown)
launched a career on the Reggae music scene in late 2005.
She was born to Frank Brown,
a primary school teacher and farmer, and Janett Hemans, a high school
teacher and dressmaker, on August 28, 1984 in the small community of
Chesterfield, in Westmoreland.
Unlike many other artistes,
RUTH did not grow up listening to Reggae music, neither were her parents
involved in the music business in any way. Her father played the guitar,
piano and harmonica leisurely and her mother sang and still sings in
her church choir. One would wonder where she learned to write to Reggae
rhythms when the only background she had in music was singing on the
church choir. Brought up in a strict Seventh - day Adventist household,
RUTH only heard ‘secular’ music as she passed by shops and bars
in the vicinity of her home. This was the kind of music she gravitated
towards.
She was always singing at home
while doing chores, and she was known around the community for performing
at church crusades, weddings, and funerals; at school, she was known
as a poet, who preferred to write several poems each day than to eat
lunch or play. Her friends encouraged her to take singing seriously
but she did not take this advice until 2005 when she recorded her first
single, ‘As It Is’ on the Di-Mon Cut label. This song, about a triangular
affair, received tremendous airplay on various radio stations in Jamaica.
Her voice has been described
as smoky, strong, soulful and melodic while her lyrics are compelling,
straightforward, and unusual, ‘hitting the nail on the head’ and
reaching out to a wide audience whose members can relate to the concepts
she highlights. A sentimentalist, who finds meaning in every thing,
RUTH enjoys writing about personal experiences relating to love, family
life, social issues, injustices, among other timeless topics.
RUTH’s main musical influences
include Sade, Sinead O’Connor, Tanya Stephens, Sizzla Kalonji, and
the Marley family. Of course, she is yet to perform alongside these
icons. Her music, however, has been featured on various Jamaican radio
stations including IRIE FM, RJR, FAME FM, ROOTS FM and ZIP 103 and she
has been interviewed on CTV and HYPE TV in Jamaica and WPFW in Washington
DC. She has shared the stage with Freddie McGregor, Beres Hammond, Ky-Mani
Marley, I-Wayne and many more.
After signing to independent
label, Bran-Nu Entertainment in 2007, RUTH began working on her debut
album, which features her first two singles on the label, ‘Unfamiliar
Feelings’ and ‘Chillin with my Baby’ which were released on February
14, 2008. The not yet titled album which is a collection of personal
experiences about relationships, issues related to migration, work,
and life in general and features songs like ‘Jamdown’, an ode to
her home country is soon to be released.
