Ruby Dawn

Soulfully charged UK prog foursome explore humanity’s place in the universe on powerful second album.

“I’ve waited a lifetime to have this kind of band,” declares vocalist and keyboard player Carola Baer, as she looks back on Ruby Dawn’s beginnings during Covid in 2022. “I have played with loads of people, but this band has become significantly important to me.”

The band crowns a long, sometimes challenging musical journey for Baer, a lifelong environmentalist and humanitarian, who imbues her songs with lyrics reflecting her personal beliefs and fears.

Already, the past two years have yielded two Ruby Dawn albums. The first 2023’s //Beyond Tomorrow// is now joined by //Blood On Water// of which Baer is immensely proud, especially the contributions made by bandmates, guitarist Dave Salsbury with whom she had previously worked, bassist/ producer Ian Turner and drummer Adam Perry.

“But we did not plan it this way!” she says. “One day, it dawned on us we had enough songs for the album. Ian is such a technical guru. He pushed it further and did an incredible amount of work on it.

“I was fussing over the final order, and I am glad they overrode me. The only thing I could do then was sit back and listen, and I cried all the way through it.”

Baer continues: “It was such an amazing thing that happened. The way I write is pretty much based on jams we have together. We record it all, even if it’s 20 minutes long. Then I go through it, pick out bits I like and start forming lyrics. In that regard, I don’t know what a song is going to be like until it’s finished.”

Ruby Dawn’s atmospheric, often hard-hitting sound, is elevated by Salsbury’s resonant guitar solos and the band’s rock steady rhythm section, wrapped around Baer’s soulfully impassioned voice and classically inspired keyboards.

Her views were shaped by 20 years living in California, making music as well as working and going to university. She went into a studio and recorded some songs on cassette which became a solo album //The Story Of Valerie//.

These songs were later rediscovered and three of them appear in a modern guise on the new album.

“They really work because they deal with the same subject that I have been talking about all my life.”

Baer, who has also worked as a classroom teacher, says: “Even in my early days, I knew my music is intense but that’s what always comes out. I can write kids’ songs, trust me! I can have a whole class of children jumping up and down singing. But when I sit down and write my own music, that’s what appears, and I always thought people would think it’s too much or too heavy.”

Already booked for next year’s Soundle festival, Baer is now very keen to get the band playing live shows. “We would love to take our music out to more audiences. With the album now completed, we are ready to gig. I love being part of the prog community because it is full of great people.” AR

PROG FILE

LINE-UP: Carola Baer (vocals and keyboards), Dave Salsbury (guitars), Ian Turner (bass), Adam Perry (drums)

SOUNDS LIKE: Immersive, emotional lyrical journey through a Floydian-influenced soundscape.

CURRENT RELEASE: //Blood On Water// is out now via Bandcamp.

WEBSITE: www.rubydawn.co.uk

— Alison Reijman