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Rubyhorse

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Rubyhorse
OriginBishopstown, Cork, Ireland
GenresAlternative rock
Years active1988–2020
LabelsBrash Music
Island Def Jam
Horse Trade
MembersJoe Philpott
Decky Lucey
Owen Fegan
Gordon Ashe
David Farrell
Websitewww.rubyhorse.com

Rubyhorse are a rock band from Cork, Ireland. Their debut album, A Lifetime In One Day, was released in Ireland on 2 June 1995. The band relocated to Boston, Massachusetts in 1997, and following the release of three additional albums How Far Have You Come?, Rise,[1] and Goodbye To All That,[2] they disbanded in 2005. In 2018, they partially regrouped and released 4 singles: A Little Rain,[3] You Gotta Hold On,[4] I Wanna Get Lost,[5] and a remix of their 2003 hit Sparkle.[6] During the pandemic of 2020 the original line-up regrouped for the first time since 2003 and recorded and released Punchdrunk[7] featuring George Harrison[8] from their homes in Ireland, The United States and The Netherlands.[9]

History

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The band formed in high school Cork, Ireland, in 1988, taking their name from a Wonder Stuff song.[10] Having toured Ireland to the point of saturation with their first release A Lifetime In One Day, they relocated to Boston, Massachusetts, in January 1997, and began what would become a 60-week residency performing at The Burren Irish Pub and Restaurant,[11] in the Davis Square area of Somerville, Massachusetts. They won 3 Boston Music Awards within one year of arriving in America.[12]

National tours ensued, as did a battle among various record labels to sign them.[citation needed] Fueled by the group reaching number one on the fledgling MP3 charts (a first for an unsigned group at this point), Rubyhorse signed an ill-fated deal with Interscope Records which saw them relocate to Los Angeles, and record an album with producer Paul Fox, which despite its enormous budget, was never released.

Major-label big-budget lesson learned, the band eventually returned to their roots, finding Ohio-born, Nashville-based producer Jay Joyce, and created the independently released album, How Far Have You Come, on a 16 track machine in his suburban Nashville basement.

Having toured the new album across the country, Island Records signed the band to their second deal under the same Universal Records umbrella they had just left in order to rework the How Far Have You Come album.

In the summer of 2001, the band returned to Nashville with Jay Joyce, recorded some new material (including "Sparkle"), took the tapes to Miami beach for Tom Lord Alge to mix, and finally released Rise, their only major-label album, which features slide guitar by George Harrison on the track "Punchdrunk".[8]

The band toured the country, appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and Good Morning America, showcasing their single "Sparkle" which eventually hit No. 17[13] in the 2002 Billboard charts, won an Irish Meteor award, and can still be heard in movies such as Ed Burns' Sidewalks of New York, and TV shows such as Smallville. The song "Fell on Bad Days" was used in the final scene of the season finale of Season 1 of Rescue Me.

Following the departure of songwriter and original member Owen Fegan in August 2003, the band returned to Jay Joyce’s Nashville compound to record Goodbye To All That, a critically acclaimed album[14] which was released on the Atlanta-based Brash Label. The band toured extensively through the United States and Ireland, and although critically acclaimed, the album never gained the traction it needed to sustain the band who eventually broke up in 2005.

Subsequently, the members pursued solo projects. Joe Philpott formed "Jodavino"[15] and the White Horse Guitar Club[16] who achieved success in Ireland and Germany.[17]

Declan formed a side project with drummer Gordon Ashe called Leftbank[18] and released two albums Why Can't Man Be More Like Animals[19] and The Sky On My Birthday.[20]

Owen Fegan released the "Maps Of Mars" EP[21] under the name "VEMO" to positive reviews.[22]

The original band line-up reconvened during the Covid 19 lockdown and recorded a "live from home" version of Punchdrunk[7] featuring George Harrison.[8] The YouTube video[9] was released on July 2, 2020, and an extended single version was released on October 16, 2020. The delay in the official release was due to permission being required from the Harrison estate to have George's name associated with a new release of the song. Oliva and Dahni Harrison gave it their blessing.

Band members

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Discography

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Date Title Label Type Country
6 June 1995 A Lifetime in One Day Horse Trade LP Ireland
7 July 1998 Mini Hummer E.P. Horse Trade EP US
14 November 2000 How Far Have You Come? Horse Trade LP US
21 May 2002 Rise Island Def Jam LP US
6 August 2002 "Sparkle" Island Def Jam Single US
3 September 2002 Any Day Now Island Def Jam EP US
22 June 2004 Goodbye To All That Brash Music LP US
7 August 2018 "I Wanna Get Lost" self-released Single World
16 October 2020 "Punchdrunk (feat. George Harrison)" self-released Single World

References

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  1. ^ "Rise by Rubyhorse". Music.apple.com. January 2002.
  2. ^ "Goodbye to All That". Open.spotify.com. 22 June 2004.
  3. ^ "A Little Rain - Single by Rubyhorse". Music.apple.com. April 2019.
  4. ^ "You Gotta Hold on - Single by Rubyhorse". Music.apple.com. 22 November 2018.
  5. ^ "I Wanna Get Lost - Single by Rubyhorse". Music.apple.com. 7 August 2018.
  6. ^ "Sparkle (Astronaut Day Remix) - Single by Rubyhorse". Music.apple.com. April 2019.
  7. ^ a b "Punchdrunk (Feat. George Harrison) - Single by Rubyhorse". Music.apple.com. 16 October 2020.
  8. ^ a b c Marinucci, Steve (29 November 2016). "10 Songs You Might Not Know George Harrison Had a Hand In, 15 Years After His Death". Billboard. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
  9. ^ a b "Rubyhorse (with George Harrison) - Punchdrunk 2020. Live from home". YouTube. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  10. ^ "Rubyhorse". The Blackpool Sentinel. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  11. ^ "Second Cup Cafe: Rubyhorse". Cbsnews.com.
  12. ^ "Boston Music Awards 199". Bostonmusicawards.com. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  13. ^ [1][dead link‍]
  14. ^ "Goodbye to All That". Hotpress.com.
  15. ^ "Jodavino". Facebook.com. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  16. ^ "White Horse Guitar Club". Facebook.com. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  17. ^ "The White Horse Guitar Club at Central Arts". Waterfordarts.com. 22 October 2019.
  18. ^ "LEFTBANK". Leftbanksongs.com. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  19. ^ "Why Can't Man be More Like Animals ?". Open.spotify.com. 4 April 2020.
  20. ^ "The Sky on My Birthday". Open.spotify.com. 20 April 2020.
  21. ^ "Vemo : Maps of Mars". Open.spotify.com. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  22. ^ "Premiere: The Driving Lament of VEMO's "My Sad 71"". Atwoodmagazine.com. 20 November 2017.
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