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| TRACKLIST |
| 1. When Love Is A Liar (2:40) 2. Holding On To Faith (4:12) 3. Mayan Kiss (3:29) 4. Fool For Every Season (3:43) 5. No Common Future (4:15) 6. Sweet Southern Eyes (3:38) 7. Where Your Heart Goes (4:13) 8. Simple Dreams (5:03) 9. Broken Hearted World (2:53) 10. Voices (4:21) 11. Give Me A Reason (+Hidden Track) (7:53) |
BIOGRAPHY EUGENE RUFFOLO
Eugene Ruffolo was born in New York City and grew up in surrounding Westchester County. The son of a clothing designer with a love of the classical guitar, Eugene would spend hours as a child listening to the fluid strains of Bach preludes and fingerstyle exercises, as his father practiced tirelessly. It wasn't until his teenage years that Eugene, after flirting briefly with the saxophone and clarinet, one day picked up one of his father's guitars and found the perfect accompaniment for his natural and budding tenor voice. Inspired by the singing and playing of singer/songwriters such as James and Livingston Taylor, Joni Mitchell, and Crosby, Stills ,Nash and Young, the young performer immersed himself in the music, and within a year found himself performing professionally in neighboring bars and restaurants.
When it came time to attend college, music was ironically the furthest thing from his mind. "Strangely enough, probably due to the heavily corporate demographic of Westchester County while I was growing up, I wasn't even aware that one could actually choose music as a profession!" explains the artist. So Eugene ended up studying English Literature and Romantic poetry at Ithaca College, all the while remaining heavily involved in music, performing in the college music circuit.
After graduation, he moved to New York City's Greenwhich Village. Once in N.Y.C., it wasn't long before word of Ruffolo's vocal abilities spread rapidly throughout the highly coveted N.Y. session world. Soon enough, Eugene was getting called to sing on everything from national advertising campaigns, to live TV shows , movie soundtracks, and other artist's recordings. Making his living for years as a hired singer, Ruffolo began to perform live and on recordings with artists as diverse as Garth Brooks, Tony Bennet, Livingston Taylor, Run DMC, David Wilcox, Artie Traum and Spyro Gyra. His singing has been heard on the David Letterman show and Saturday Night Live, and through his contributions to numerous Hollywood Soundtracks, he has worked with composers and directors George Lucas, Brian dePalma and Ennio Morricone.
Despite a satisfying and busy musical career, Eugene naturally became more and more interested in the challenge of composing music and developing his abilities on the guitar. He began writing songs, and after completing an album's worth of material, started working with an engineer whom he had met while recording sessions through the years. Together they completed a four song demo and ,while performing the songs in a Village club, Eugene was spotted by an A&R rep who quickly signed him to his first record deal. In 1998 Eugene recorded and released his debut "Fool For Every Season." The record was produced by Ruffolo himself along with famed producer Ben Wisch, best known for his sensitive work with artists such as Marc Cohn, Patty larkin, and Cheryl Wheeler. John Leventhal, renowned for his work with Shawn Colvin, produced the title track ,a duet with Grammy-winner Marc Cohn. Other featured guest appearances included singers Livingston Taylor,Jonatha Brooke, and Gabriela Anders. The tracks feature the finest musicians that New York has to offer."Fool For Every Season" was subsequently released throughout Europe on Rounder's CRS label where it received widespread critical acclaim, being hailed as a "veritable jewel of folk-pop".
At the end of 2001, Eugene released his much anticipated follow up CD ,"When We Were Kings." Slightly less acoustic but with the same intimate and direct feel as "A Fool For Every Season", the new release benefits from the influences of three separate producers.
In his New York recording studio, Ruffolo produced and recorded six of the Cd's twelve songs himself, responding to feedback from fans that he try a simpler approach which would feature the artist more than the production itself. The remainder of the album is a coproduction effort between Ben Wisch and French producer Alain Mallet, best known for his brilliant work with singer/songwriter Jonatha Brooke and the Story.
Explaining his decision to work with the two, Eugene noted, "I wanted to combine the rootsy and organic feel that is Ben's trademark with the complex and creative sense of arrangement that always struck me in Alain's work". The result is a diverse and rich collection of personal and introspective songs that delight and move the listener.
Eugene is the first prize winner of both the highly respected Telluride Troubador and Merle Fest songwriter awards. He continues to remain active in the New York session scene, while touring several times a year in support of his two releases.
Eugene’s next album "The hardest easy" will be released in september 2004
| SPOILER (EAC LOG) |