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"Pomp and Circumstance" EP

by Casey Ruff

/
1.
I was conceived between Centipede and Ms. Pac Man arcade machines Mama had me on a green pool table She said I sank the 8 ball on the break before I could crawl I was born in a bar I'd say Mother please could you spare me some dollars for some quarters and a Roy Rogers and a Shirley Temple for the farmers daughter I've gotten older, man, but I haven't got too far from being born in a bar I was born in a bar I live in a bar I'll die in a bar but I tip pretty well so you know I won't go to hell I was born in a bar I started bar tending when I was 18 my buddy's passed around my older brothers ID I said I know you're only seventeen, you don't look 23 but we can't afford to ignore a revenue stream we gotta make a living in this bar you'll say where is the propriety in this society to have kids in environments like bars but the alcoholics with their empty wallets got all the knowledge you can't buy from college just by living in a bar so, when I'm dead, tell the ferry man I gotta come back and pay my tab say Amen May He Be Reborn In A Bar I was born in a bar I live in a bar I'll die in a bar but I tip pretty well so you know I won't go to hell I was born in a bar
2.
We agreed when we began that love wasn't what we wanted, and I believed it Well, I signed on the dotted line and I thought this would fit just right. How wrong was I Stop me, stop me from loving you It was fun, a little too much. I grew accustomed to us...just a little too much And I broke my only rule, I feel in love with you, like them fools been known to do Stop me, stop me from loving you And I don't know what I'm gonna do So Stop me, stop me from loving you
3.
My sweet adversary, I don't wait for anniversaries, to celebrate my hate Walk behind me My dearest enemy, architect of my destiny, do your worst- you'll get the best from me Walk behind me And I don't care what they say... I love my hate. I love my hate of you. You know I do, as I say I love my hate. I love my hate of you. You know I do. Because you burned down my fort. You threw my toys on the floor. I can't abide you anymore Walk behind me You're just a succubus. you raised some sonsabitches. You're just an itch I'll never scratch. Walk behind me. I love my hate. I love my hate of you. You know I do, as I say I love my hate. I love my hate of you. You know I do. Walk behind me.
4.
"Wrong Tree" 04:25
Why do I try so hard, to fill your love with me? Why do you keep your arms so hard to reach? I'm barking up the wrong tree. Claws broke to my toes I'm supposed to go back home but I don't. I've been losing my voice Now the summers over. The nights have gotten colder. The leaves have turned and they burn upon the breeze. As I've been barking up the wrong tree. Been howling, growling, sighing, crying, with a grief that will not ever sleep. I've been losing my voice
5.
Well I said good bye and she said good luck good luck don't hurt much, but good bye surely does good luck doesn't take much, but good bye takes it all ...it takes it all I said good bye and she said good luck When he said good bye, I couldn't think of much He was gonna have a time giving us up Good luck's what I said, but good bye is what I meant He said good bye and I said good luck Lie to me, Try to be strong Love should not have to be hard But it is When she said goodbye, disguised as good luck I nearly lost my mind, what the heck did she mean by that anyway? I'm not green in love, I'm black and blue...darling because of you I said good bye and she said good luck When he said good bye, I knew it was for good Now I was gonna have the time to do the things I should Good luck didn't take much but good bye broke my heart he said good bye and I said good luck Lie to me, Try to be strong Love should not have to be hard But it is

about

Praise for 2014 release:

"Pomp and Circumstance" EP

More circumstance than pomp, Casey Ruff's new album is the sound of a barely contained urgency: a guilty conscience, another round, a finger in the face of The Man. This is your father's Alt-country if your dad is Stompin' Tom Connors or an unhinged Neil Young. It's a conservatively dressed elderly gentleman with a heroin jones and a raised .45. Like someone eloquently describing a house fire through a big 'ol grin - just telling it like they see it. Casey writes what he sees. When he sings "I was born in a bar", you can believe him.

What makes the record greater than the sum of its parts, the weirdness just below the surface, is the undeniable brightness of it all. The themes are tough and adult but the pitfalls of revenge-lust and self-pity are mostly avoided. One might expect the usual aggressive, steel-toed bar band arrangements from such lyrical themes, but the ensemble's orchestration is clean, tight and smart without sounding stuffy or over-rehearsed. It sounds like a good time, like Casey and his band are in love with each other.

Casey Ruff wears the familiar Americana garb like a denim suit that's a little too small for him. He's bustin' loose and marching onward. Happy graduation, Mr. Ruff.

— Morgan Geer of Drunken Prayer
www.drunkenprayer.com

credits

released April 1, 2014

Roseann Barnhill- background vox
Caleb Bue- bass guitar and vox
David Busby- bass
Kubby Casual- drums, marimba, bells, and tympani
Casey Ruff- acoustic guitar and vocals
Jeremy Ruff- trumpet
Kathleen Ruff- baritone sax
Randi Lee Tunnel- trombone
Adam Tunnel- lead trumpet
Kate Voss- piano and vox
Dan Walker- lead guitar and vox
Mark Lawrence Wurscher- background vox

The birthday party singers on "Born in a Bar" are:
The Mayors of Ballard
Colin J Nelson
Paul Beaudry
Charles Wicklander
David Sproull
Lance Moore
Natalie Quist
Marc and Amanda Laurick
Peder Nelson
Eda Beers
Jess Wrenn

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all rights reserved

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about

Casey Ruff Seattle, Washington

A singer/songwriter residing in Seattle, WA and originally from Custer, MT. Known by migrant beet laborers as "El Dragón de las Altas Llanuras". Former high school mascot. Future nihilist. Acting Vice President of the M. Bellucci Fan Club. Sounds like AmeriContra, Gravelvet, and Frontier Orchestral ... more

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