Terri Pippin-Grannis of Zellie's Opry House in Howard City, MI created this video for Ruth's song Michigan Girl. Thanks Terri! We'll be playing at Zellie's this summer on July 28.
Radio Video
Ruth and Dan appeared on John Sinkevics' Local Spins radio spot to pormote our upcoming performance at Winter Wheat (1/7/12). Here's a video of the song they played.
Welcome 2012
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Ruth and Max Bloomquist Muskegon, MI Folk / Acoustic Americana
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Another year comes to a close, and we are so thankful for fans like you that have helped us and supported us as we do what we love to do best. It was a year of adventures including some great benefit shows close to home, live local TV and radio appearances, club dates, house concerts, successful trips to the national and mid-west Folk Alliance conferences, and interesting travels around the mid-west and even Europe. We were joined in many of our best adventures this year by our dear friends 
Daniel Seabolt and John King, who brought their outstanding talents on fiddle and guitar respectively along with the great pleasure of their company. The best way to see pictures of some of our adventures is to visit our public FaceBook page and look at our photos there.
If you haven't visited our website at www.ruthbloomquist.com in a while, please click on over and check it out. We have changed hosts and taken personal control over the content. We hope you'll enjoy it and visit often, and please let us know if you have any suggestions for it.
We have some fun shows coming up in January. The "biggest" one is January 7, the annual WINTER WHEAT event put on by the Wheatland Music Organization.
They put on several events during the year in addition to the legendary Wheatland Music Festival, and this is the first. Held at The INTERSECTION in Grand Rapids, MI, there will be 2 stages and 13 bands. We play on the Front Lounge Stage at 4:00 right between Hawks and Owls and An Dro. Doors open at 1:00 PM and there will be music until 1:00 AM, so plan to spend some time and have a ball.
Winter Wheat and some other fun events are listed in the schedule below, and you can always visit our website at www.ruthbloomquist.com to find our when we're playing near you.
Happy New Year. We wish you health, happiness, and good music.
Sincerely,
Ruth and Max
| PRESS |
"What a show--great musicianship, great songs, and Ruth's voice just melts over the crowd like butter on a biscuit...delicious! Let's do it again! " Terry Grannis, Zellie's Opry House
"Turn Back A Page - Real songs with real emotions, great instrumental work, superb harmonies and one of the best female vocalists in the business (Ruth, of course!). This CD is pure listening pleasure."" Al Kniola, Host, The Back Porch, 88.1 WVPE Public Radio
"This band has a growing devoted following here in the Midwest, but the music I heard and the performance I saw are of a caliber that deserves to be seen on the best national stages!”" Phil Doolittle, Paint Creek Comfy Concerts
| UPCOMING SHOWS |
| The Intersection | Grand Rapids, MI | Sat Jan 07 12 | 01:00 PM | |
| Tuesday Musical at Grand Haven Community Center | Grand Haven, MI | Tue Jan 10 12 | 12:00 PM | |
| Maple Street Chapel Concert Series | Lombard, IL | Sat Mar 17 12 | 07:30 PM | Tickets |
| > See More / Details |
| WIDGETS |
Putting Down roots for the Holidays
We are really looking forward to our concert this Sunday, Dec. 18 at the Howmet Playhouse with Mike Struwin and the Holiday Ramblers. I met Mike last year when I got the call to play some bass on his Forgotten Hymns CD. I really enjoyed it. The sound and arrangements are really rootsy, and the selection of material is really cool.
So...when Mike contacted us about a possible holiday themed show in the area with a portion of proceeds going to a local charity we jumped at the chance. Howmet Playhouse manager, Katie Trzaska made it easy and suggested that the Whitelake Giving Tree was a worthy charity.
Here's a link to an article on mLive.com.
Bloomquists and friends having a bluegrass Christmas at Howmet Playhouse
A few days ago we visited the Giving Tree headquarters at St. James Church in Montague. Here's a shot of the wonderful food and gifts that they distribute to about 350 LOCAL families in need. We think they're doing a great job.
We hope to see a lot of our friends at the show to raise some funds for this great cause.
December Already?
It's December already, and you haven't heard from us since September. Sorry we've been so silent. It has been a busy Fall (especially October) and now the Solstice, Winter, and Christmas are all right around the corner.
Did we mention October? We and our bandmates John King and Daniel Seabolt took a 20 day tour in southern France and the UK. Here's a link to some photos of the trip. We had a wonderful time and received many invitations for return engagements. The weekend after we got back from Europe (still October mind you) we headed right down to Sparta, IL for a two night stand and then straight over to Columbia, MO to play a concert there. We drove straight home on Halloween Day. Whew! What a lot of fun!
November was a little slower. We played a house concert as a duo, and two shows with the help of Dan Seabolt: a fun benefit event for the upcoming commemorative sculpture to the original Snurf Board (invented in Muskegon!) and a night at Muskegon's Hennessey's Irish Pub (always a good time).
Now let's talk about the near future. Here's a show where you can really help us to raise some money for the White Lake Giving Tree. Here's the Press Release:
Ruth and Max Bloomquist and Mike Struwin and the Holiday Ramblers will be “Putting Down Roots for the Holidays” with a Fundraising Concert at the Historic Howmet Playhouse
On Sunday, December 18th, the Historic Howmet Playhouse will be filled with the sound of traditional holiday hymns with a bluegrass twist as the Ruth and Max Bloomquist Band and Mike Struwin and the Holiday Ramblers celebrate the season. West Michigan folk and Americana favorites Ruth and Max Bloomquist will perform with their band mates Daniel Seabolt and John “Sky” King, and Kalamazoo-based Mike Struwin will perform with Josh Bolt on mandolin, Rick Willy on fiddle, Mark Alberts on upright bass, and Al Bates on Dobro and banjo. These musicians are ready to deck halls, bluegrass style.
Mike Struwin & The Holiday Ramblers will be performing songs from their album “Forgotten Hymns”, along with other holiday favorites throughout the month of December at select locations around West Michigan, delivering a portion of the proceeds from ticket sales to various local charities. Part of the proceeds of the December 18 concert will go to the local White Lake Giving Tree, an outreach program in the Whitehall and Montague area that provides food, gifts, and other assistance to families and residents in need. Providing support since 1981, the White Lake Giving Tree assisted over 350 families in 2010 and has used the time and talents of hundred of volunteers. For more information or to volunteer, contact St. James Catholic Church in Montague.
“Putting Down Roots for the Holidays” is sure to put you in the Christmas spirit and is the perfect way to celebrate with friends, family, and your favorite musicians. Join Ruth and Max and the Holiday Ramblers at 7:00 pm on December 18 at the Howmet Playhouse for an inspiring night of holiday cheer. Tickets are $10.00 for adults, $5.00 for students, and are available in advance at Whitehall City Hall and at the door. Call 231-894-4048 or visit www.howmetplayhouse.org for more information and to listen to the bands.
Links:
Ruth and Max Bloomquist: http://www.ruthbloomquist.com/
Mike Struwin: http://www.mikestruwinmusic.com/index.php
A video of a song from Stuwin’s album, “Forgotten Hymns”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOVV3_rUJgg
FaceBook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/264677993580557/
If you haven't visited our website recently, please do click on the link and stop by. It's all new and redesigned with steaming audio with read-along lyrics, photos, a link to our YouTube Channel, our show schedule, and lots more. We'll be adding and switching out content as time goes by, so visit often to see what's new. Look for some special Holiday content as soon as we can get Ruth's new Holiday song recorded.
Thank you so much for your continued friendship. We hope all your dreams for the Holidays come true.
All the best,
Ruth and Max