Singer, songwriter and guitarist Gary Rue is the first of three free outdoor concerts on the back deck of The Mainstay in Rock Hall, MD on Saturday June 28 at 7:00 p.m. The Mainstay’s summer outdoor concert series is sponsored by Peoples Bank, The Kent County Arts Council, The Rock Hall Business Association and The Mainstay.
Gary Rue is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist from St. Mary’s County, Maryland. His most recent recording “Wake the Sleeping Giant” was released a few months ago. His music is mostly original songs that tell stories from the American experience past and present, with memorable melodies filled with elements of folk, jazz, bluegrass, Americana.
Gary Rue
He’ll also share some great stories and classics like “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” “Tennessee Waltz,” or a Ventures medley. His own songs are inspired by everyday things and people and the stories they could tell. He will be playing vintage Martins in various tunings.
Rue says, “I am inspired mostly by everyday things like the song “Walking Dan,” inspired by a guy walking on the road with everything he owned on his back or the time my mom gave me her father’s old tool box and I wondered about all the things my grandfather built. “The Old Tool Box” became a song. Or when my brother graduated from law school and I was sent to the store to get supplies for his graduation party. This was in the 70’s and there were chimps performing at the store. I talked the trainer into coming to the party and bringing, “Sammy the Chimp.”
Gary Rue learned to play guitar by ear, starting at the age of 8. His father, a violin player, loved to have his son accompany him on guitar while playing classic jazz and pop standards.
Rue studied jazz and composition with legendary jazz musician Jerry Mahoney at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and then graduated from the Hartford Conservatory of Music. Passionate about song writing, he furthered his studies of musical arrangement through the University of California, Berkeley. Delving ever deeper into his craft, Rue began to study in workshops hosted by such jazz giants as Joe Pass, John Scofield, Pat Metheny, Larry Coryell, and many others. In his early years he had opportunities to tour with such legendary acts as The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Chuck Berry which exposed him to other musical styles. For a long time he played bluegrass and Americana with country artist Jeff Miller and then the Blue Grass Magicians and the Smoke Creek Rounders.
He launched his solo career with his debut CD “American to Me” in 2010. He followed that with, “1812 Tide of War,” a project where Rue collaborated on the lyrics with writer and historian Donald G. Shomette, who spent more than three decades researching and writing about the War of 1812.
His third album, “Wake The Sleeping Giant” an album of original material with folk, jazz and traditional influences was released in November 2013.
The other concerts in The Mainstay’s free outddor summer concert series feature good-time jug band music with the Philadelphia Jug Band on Saturday July 26 and blues with Johnny and Zep on Saturday August 30.
Bring a comfortable chair. In the event of rain or excessive heat, the concert will move indoors to the air-conditioned Mainstay.
The Mainstay (Home of Musical Magic) is the friendly informal storefront performing arts center on Rock Hall’s old time Main Street. For information call 410-639-9133. Information is also available at The Mainstay’s website http://www.mainstayrockhall.org.
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