THE SONG LIST:
1. "First Time In A Long Time"
2. "maggie (cabin door)"
3. "Good Time (with Dierks Bentley)"
4. "Atlanta"
5. "California Plates"
6. "Lovin' You Is Killin' Me"
7. "Almost Beautiful"
8. "Right Where I Want You"
9. "Marie"
10. "Who's Gonna Get Me Over You"
11. "On the Inside"
12. Bonus Track - "Good Time (Alternate Version)"
Finally, after months (OK, years) of rumour, speculation, and whisperings in the darkened corners of the dericruttan.net message board, I finally have an official release date for the new album! On April 1, 2008, First Time In A Long Time will hit store shelves across Canada – mark your calendars! I’m so excited to FINALLY be able to say that. As most of you know, when I recorded
Deric Ruttan, I had had only one cut as a ‘professional’ songwriter. In the last 4 years I’ve had upwards of 20 songs recorded by other people, and I think this new album reflects the life I’ve lived and the ‘songwriting lessons’ I’ve learned since recording
Deric Ruttan. I’ve always been very hands-on with all aspects of my career, and that goes for in the studio, too. It was cool to get to co-produce this album with my friend and co-writer, Brett Beavers (producer of the Dierks Bentley albums). The album features songs co-written with Jimmy Rankin, the Doc Walker boys, and Stan Lynch of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, among others. In selecting the songs for the album, Brett and I chose songs that we felt would sound great live – a natural evolution, I guess, for someone who is starting to tour more, and really thinking a lot about “taking the music to the people.”
Speaking of “taking the music to the people,” in April we kick off our First Time In A Long Time album tour. We’ll start in Ontario and work our way west, with tour stops in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia. This is the first time I’ve headlined my own tour, and I’m really looking forward to it. We’re playing a variety of rooms and I’ve tried to keep the venues small and intimate – that’s how I think my music comes across best. Check out the Appearing page at www.dericruttan.net to see specific tour stops. Shows are added
only when they are confirmed – check the site regularly to see if your town’s been added. We plan on visiting close to 20 towns/cities on the April tour…
On January 28th we released “First Time In A Long Time” (the follow-up to “Good Time”, the duet with Dierks) to radio in Canada. I have high hopes for this song – like I mentioned in the last newsletter, I wrote it with Jimmy Rankin, and it’s been the focal point of our project ever since Brett and I went in to make this record. It has a mood and vibe that reminded us both of “When You Come Around.” There’s a real anthem quality to it. I performed it at a benefit show I did along with some other artists at Cook County Saloon in Edmonton a few weeks ago, and the whole crowd was singing along by the end of the song. (I also was the coach of a celebrity hockey game held at the West Edmonton Mall that trip – coaching people like Gord Bamford, Shane Yellowbird, Jason Blaine, and Jessie Farrell, to name a few. It’s a wacky world).
The “First Time In A Long Time” video (the one we shot in Regina in December) is now playing at CMT Canada. You guys can vote for it at www.cmt.ca (Like I mentioned in a journal entry a while back, filming the video for “First Time In A Long Time” proved to be quite a challenge, complete with a cinematographer -- that’s a fancy way of saying ‘camera man’ -- getting stranded in Jamaica and being unable to make the shoot, leaving me hotel-bound for 3 extra days in frozen Regina the week before Christmas. Anyway, we got it done, and I think it looks great…)
In the last newsletter I told you Rob (tireless webmaster), had revamped the Video page at www.dericruttan.net, so that visitors could see my videos in their entirety, not just clips of the first minute or so. Rob also created a Deric Ruttan video page at the popular YouTube website. My youtube page has exposed my videos to an ever-growing audience. So far, “Good Time” has had close to 18,000 views! Check out the YouTube page at www.youtube.com/dericruttan Rob has also been working on a revamp of our website, which will have a cool new look that ties into the new album photos and artwork. The new site will launch in April, to coincide with the album coming out in stores. Our website address will not change, though – we’ll still be at www.dericruttan.net
Well, the countdown is now on for April 1, 2008. It truly is the ‘first time in a long time’. I hope we have great first week sales (hint, hint)! I thank you in advance for your support of me and my music, and for being so patient as we got this album written, recorded, and ready to release. I hope to see all of you out there on tour in April, too – chances are, we’ll be playing in, or near your town.
Take care, God bless, and I’ll see you on the road…
Deric.
