Deric Ruttan releases new album Take The Week Off
By Alexandra Heilbron on October 16, 2013 | 4 Comments
If you’re looking for a record to kick off a wild party then look no further. Whether your definition of a good time is chucking back a few drinks with good friends – even if it is a weekday – or playing hooky from work and taking a spontaneous “staycation” with the love of your life, Deric Ruttan’s new album, Take the Week Off, will set the mood perfectly. It’s fair to say the Nashville-based, Bracebridge, Ontario born singer/songwriter has a fair bit to celebrate himself these days. Ruttan’s songs have been recorded by Dierks Bentley, Eric Church, Gary Alan, Jason Blaine, Doc Walker and dozens of others. He’s been recognized repeatedly by the Canadian music industry with a variety of SOCAN and CCMA Awards, a JUNO nomination for Best Country Record for 2010’s Sunshine and, most recently, multiple 2013 CCMA Award nominations in categories including Single and Songwriter of the Year.
Then there’s the success of Take The Week Off’s lead single and title track, Ruttan’s fastest rising single to date and the #1 Most Added song in Canada in its first week of release. And as if that’s not enough, one of the album’s tracks, “Mine Would Be You,” has already cracked the Top 10 and Top 20 on the Canadian and U.S. Country charts respectively and become a runaway hit for Country superstar Blake Shelton. When asked about the album’s freewheeling vibe, however, Ruttan just says: “I guess I’m up for having a little more fun these days.” That certainly comes through loud and clear on album opener ‘Pass It Around,’ an irresistibly hooky stomp that celebrates good times past while reminding listeners there’s no better time than the present to fill up a mason jar or three, break out some guitars and throw a party. “And the older you get, the more important that is,” Ruttan adds, “because our time here is fleeting and we need to enjoy it when we can.”
The album plays out like a raucous party; complete with a barn burning jam session featuring A-list players including guitarists J. T. Corenflos and Kenny Greenberg, multi-instrumentalist John Willis, bassists Lee Hendricks and Alison Prestwood and drummer Craig Wright. But alongside the party anthems there are plenty of more reflective moments – songs Ruttan hopes will prompt listeners to reflect on the people who’ve passed through their own lives and the good times they’ve had with them over time.
At times on Take The Week Off Ruttan shows off a side of himself lyrically that’s a bit outside his comfort zone. In fact one song, “Happy Place” – a breezy, laugh out loud funny tune about getting your “smiley face” on for no good reason other than the fact you can – almost didn’t make the record. “I wrote that with one of the first people I met when I moved to Nashville 19 years ago, David Lee (Lady Antebellum). He, Brett and Jim Beavers all sing on it. We all had a shot of tequila, gathered around the microphone and let loose, so it sounds like what it is, a bunch of friends playing music together, but honestly, I was apprehensive about recording it. It’s fun, but it’s kind of silly. Then my wife said, “Johnny Cash had a hit with ‘A Boy Named Sue,’ but he also sang ‘Hurt,’ so I’m gonna say Johnny Cash gave me permission to be ‘the serious guy’ and ‘the fun guy, and ‘Happy Place’ is going to be a fun song to play live.”
Granted, the effect some of the songs on Take The Week Off will have on listeners is to inspire them to have a rip roaring good time and maybe head back to the bar for another drink, but that’s all good, too, he says: “They deserve it. They work hard.” ~Kevin Young
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