Ruth and Max Bloomquist

What can we say about early March in Western Michigan? Some days are sunny while others are far from it, and we never know what form the precipitation might take. We have just returned from a lovely getaway visiting good friends and sharing music in a warmer climate, but we are happy to be home.

It's February 3, so more than 10% of the month is behind us already. The biggest news is that we have started the recording process for a collection of new songs. There is no release date as yet, as there's still a lot of work to do, but we promise to keep you posted as progress is made.

It really is exciting and satisfying to have this project underway. We have one live in-person show this month: We are truly excited to be appearing at the Ark in Ann Arbor with Annie and Rod Capps and Robin and Jenny Bienemann for the annual "My Folky Valentine" show on Valentine's Day February 14. Please see our schedule for the details. https://ruthbloomquist.com/schedule. While you're there you can see what else we have on tap and start making plans to see us in the future.

Meanwhile, we have continued with our Saturday night live-streaming concerts on Facebook on any Saturday that we are not otherwise engaged. At this point, we plan on Feb. 4, 11, and 18.  Stay tuned for what might be up in March.

All the best,

Ruth and Max

Photo by Bruce Robey

It's the first day of 2023, and we hope that it finds you well and happy, and that the New Year takes you to where you would like to be. 

We have three in-person shows this month, and we hope that you will consider attending if you are anywhere near: January 14 is Winter Wheat, the one-day winter version of the Wheatland Music Festival. https://www.wheatlandmusic.org/winterwheat/  We have played Winter Wheat several times in the past and it is always a great time. Two stages going from 1:30 PM and long into the night held at the Intersection in Grand Rapids, MI. Our set starts at 2:50 PM.  The next day, January 15, we play a concert at the First Presbyterian Church of Grand Haven as part of their Community Artist and Speaker Series. It's open to the public, and there's more information here: https://fpgh.org/event/community-artist-series-events/  Then on Friday, January 20 we will be at an iconic folk music venue The Two Way Street Coffee House in Downers Grove, IL. https://twowaystreet.org  The show starts at 8:00 Central Time, and if you're anywhere near we would love to see you there. Three live in-person shows: Grand Rapids, Grand Haven, ChicagoLand. Please join us if you can. 

All the best for the New Year. 

Ruth and Max

HI Folks! It seems that we have one busy week in December and it happens early in the month, so we want to let you know what's going on and encourage you to come see us in person if you're anywhere near. Here's the schedule for our (as far as we know) last in-person appearances for the year 2022:

Sunday December 4 - Grand Haven, MI. C3 Spiritual Community. Usually just 3 or 4 songs that may or may not go along with the topic of discussion of the morning. 

Wednesday December 7 - Chelsea, MI. ON THE TRACKS Songwriter Showcase(at The Chelsea Depot) A co-bill with another duo The Lucky Nows. It's all about our original songs and how they came to be.

Saturday December 10 - Whitehall, MI. The Playhouse At White Lake. We love to play this wonderful theater, and it's our first time back in over three years. The concert theme will be Changing Of the Seasons, and yes, there will be Holiday songs to go with that theme. 

Also please remember to check our Facebook page <@RuthandMaxBloomquistMusic> for events in our Live From Home live-stream series.

Thanks for reading. Thanks for your support.

We wish you the Happiest of Holidays. Ruth and Max

It's NOVEMBER?! We missed updating you in October. We were busy, but not with much that you could actually engage with. For the first half of the month we were visiting our friends in France. Suffice it to say we had a wonderful and restful time with not a lot of sightseeing and plenty of time with our dear friends there.

Then, almost as soon as we got back home, we packed up again and went to the annual gathering of the Folk Alliance Region Midwest -FARM- near Chicago. Here's a photo from one of our showcases.It was a long weekend of making music, hearing music, seeing old friends, and making new connections. 

We have one (sort of) public in-person appearance in November. On Saturday November 12 we will be playing for Back To Live Music Pop-Up Concerts in Grand Haven, Michigan.

Then in December we have (so far) two opportunities: 

December 7 On the Tracks Showcase at the Historic Chelsea Depot, Chelsea, MI https://www.onthetrackschelsea.com

December 10 In Concert at the Playhouse of Whitelake, Whitehall, MI http://theplayhouseatwhitelake.org

Check our schedule for details here: https://ruthbloomquist.com/schedule

Thanks for reading. Thanks for your support.

Ruth and Max

SEPTEMBER 2022 is here. It may be the end of meteorological summer, but there is still some mighty fine weather to come. We look forward to getting outside as the air starts to cool, breathing deep, and watching the colors change. Some travel is in the offing for us as we visit dear far away friends we have not seen for nearly three years. We hope to post some photos and video of those travels. Music will surely be made.

Before we go we do have one show that we want you to be aware of especially if you're in the West Michigan area. On Saturday night September 10 we will be at the very wonderful and soon to be closing venue Seven Steps Up in Springlake, Michigan. Please do join us if you can for this bittersweet goodbye to our friends there and to one of our favorite stages to play anywhere. Here's where to get your tickets: https://sevenstepsup.com/event_registration/221 Enjoy it all friends, as we enter those months that end in R.

Ruth and Max

How'd it get to be April 6 already? We hope you're doing fine as we pass through Michigan's false Spring into the real thing. The lilies of the valley, day lilies, and daffodils are showing their little green heads, so things are looking up. 

Out biggest news is that April 23 will be our 100th Saturday night livestream concert from home. We've been doing them since March 28, 2020 skipping the occasional Saturday that allowed us to play somewhere for a live audience (usually outdoors). We still don't know just how we'll celebrate this milestone, but it'll be fun. Meanwhile, if you'd like to view a recent one, here's a link: https://fb.watch/cdqN-Lvhqf/ 

As usual lately, we don't have a lot happening in the "live in person" area this month, but we will carry on. Easter Sunday we return to C3 - West Michigan's Inclusive Spiritual Connection in Grand Haven. We always enjoy their Sunday gatherings even though it's only a few songs. 

May 7 we will be in concert at the Chrystal Theater in Chrystal River, Michigan. We are excited to be making this road trip to the western edge of Michigan's Upper Peninsula to share our music. 

Thanks! 

Ruth and Max

It’s March 2022. Yesterday was nearly a shirt sleeve day. Most of the snow is gone from our yard. More snow is predicted to fall soon. We’re not complaining (yet) because yesterday’s temps in the 60s felt mighty good. We’re looking forward to getting out of the house a bit more as the weather warms up, and we have a few concerts on the calendar already. 

In the meantime, we plan to continue our Saturday night “Live From Home” series whenever we are not live in person on a stage somewhere else. Follow our Facebook page to get notices of these and other events: https://www.facebook.com/RuthAndMaxBloomquistMusic/ 

THIS MONTH 

Sunday March 13 5:00 EST we will be swapping songs on ZOOM with our friends February Sky.   A virtual in the round concert with February Sky and Ruth & Max Bloomquist. TO BE BROADCAST VIA ZOOM. You must register to attend. Here is the registration link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYpcuigpzguGtat2d0mbr5JGuINm59niDai  After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. 

Thursday March 24 7:00 EST Ruth joins host Andy Baker in the round with Nicholas James Thomasma live on stage for a Songwriter Showcase at the Black River Tavern in South Haven MI. More info:  https://fb.me/e/1hOY3RG5t 

Watch for more dates as the weather warms and check our schedule often. https://ruthbloomquist.com/schedule 

Thanks for reading and caring. We couldn’t do it without folks like you. 

Ruth and Max

With Valentine’s Day coming upon us, here’s what’s new and what we’re up to. 

As you probably know, we have been live-streaming via FaceBook nearly every Saturday night for nearly two years, taking the occasional Saturday off for those rare (these days) opportunities to play for live in-person audiences. We had such and opportunity on January 22nd at the well known venue Seven Steps Up in Springlake, Michigan close to where we live. It was inspiring to finally return there after our March 2020 booking there was cancelled due to the Covid lockdown. As a bonus, our concert was live-streamed via Mandolin so that those who could not attend in person could enjoy the experience with us. We are thankful for the opportunity and to all who attended both the in-person and live-streamed versions of the show. You can see a video of a song from the show linked below. 

We have one live appearance in this month of February, also near home, for the Sunday morning gathering of C3: West Michigan’s All Inclusive Spiritual Gathering. We always enjoy it there. 

In March, Ruth will be appearing in a songwriter showcase at the Black River Tavern in South Haven, Michigan along with series host Andy Baker, and our friend in music Nicholas James Thomasma. 

As always, thanks for checking up on us. We truly appreciate your support. If you have any suggestions for future venues we would love to know about them 

All the best, 

Ruth and Max

HI! We are super excited about our January 22 concert at Seven Steps Up in Springlake, Michigan. Taking a break from our usual Live From Home series, we will be on stage at the venue with a live audience AND live-streaming via the Mandolin platform. Tickets for the livestream are available here: {https://bit.ly/3I0SZbR} AND tickets for the in-person show are available here: {bit.ly/3yDDEKR} This concert is the long awaited replacement for the one that was cancelled due to Covid-19 in March of 2020. Proof of vaccination and masks will be required in the venue. We are so grateful that Seven Steps Up has been able to stay afloat during these difficult times and are now able to invest in this new streaming technology. We wish them success with this concert and many more to come. Meanwhile, we will continue our regular Saturday night livestreams from home whenever we are able. Please follow us on Facebook @RuthAndMaxBloomquistMusic for notifications of those. We are ever so thankful for you, our friends and fans. Thank you, and best wishes for the coming year. Ruth and Max