Ruf Records is a German

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

, which was founded in 1994 by

Luther Allison Luther Allison (August 17, 1939 – August 12, 1997) was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was born in Widener, Arkansas, although some accounts suggest his actual place of birth was Mayflower, Arkansas. Allison was interested ...

’s manager, Thomas Ruf, to promote Allison's career. The motto of the

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

label is "Where Blues Crosses Over". The company's office is located in

Lindewerra Lindewerra is a municipality in the district of Eichsfeld in Thuringia, Germany. It is part of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Hanstein-Rusteberg. Before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 Lindewerra was one of the few villages in the German Democra ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. As of 2008, Ruf had produced 120 releases, sold over one million

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

s, received two

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

nominations and ten

Blues Music Award The Blues Music Awards, formerly known as the W. C. Handy Awards (or "The Handys"), are awards presented by the Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization set up to foster blues heritage. The awards were originally named in honor of W. C. Handy, " ...

nominations. Past and present artists include Luther Allison, his son

Bernard Allison Bernard Allison (born November 26, 1965) is an American blues guitarist, based out of Paris, France. Biography Bernard Allison was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States. His father, Luther Allison, was a Chicago blues musician. Allison moved ...

Louisiana Red Iverson Minter (March 23, 1932 – February 25, 2012), known as Louisiana Red, was an American blues guitarist, harmonica player, and singer, who recorded more than 50 albums. He was best known for his song "Sweet Blood Call". Biography Born ...

Eric Bibb Eric Charles Bibb (born August 16, 1951) is a Grammy-nominated American-born blues singer and songwriter. Biography Bibb's father, Leon, was a musical theatre singer, who made a name for himself as part of the 1960s New York folk scene; his u ...

Canned Heat Canned Heat is an American band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1965. The group is noted for its efforts to promote interest in blues music and its original artists and rock music. It was founded by two blues enthusiasts Alan Wilson and Bob ...

Joanna Connor Joanna Connor (born August 31, 1962)] is an American Chicago-based blues singing, singer, songwriter and virtuosa guitarist.] Early life Connor was born in Brooklyn of New York City, and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts. After moving to Chic ...

Kevin Coyne Kevin Coyne (27 January 1944 – 2 December 2004) was an English musician, singer, composer, film-maker, and a writer of lyrics, stories and poems. The "anti-star" was born in Derby, Derbyshire, England, and died in his adopted home of Nurember ...

Sue Foley Sue Foley (born March 29, 1968) is a Canadian blues guitarist and singer. She has released 15 albums since her debut with ''Young Girl Blues'' (1992). In May 2020, Foley won her first Blues Music Award, in the 'Koko Taylor Award (Traditional Blues ...

, Friend 'n Fellow,

Larry Garner Larry Garner (born July 8, 1952 in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States) is a Louisiana blues musician best known for his 1994 album ''Too Blues''., quote: " One music journalist noted "If you define 'blues' by the rigid categories of structur ...

Michael Hill's Blues Mob Michael Hill's Blues Mob is an American blues trio. The members have variously included Michael Hill, his bass guitar playing brother, Kevin, and singing sisters, Wynette and Kathy. Originally formed in the early 1990s by Michael Hill (born 195 ...

Candye Kane Candice Caleb (November 13, 1961 – May 6, 2016), known professionally as Candye Kane, was an American blues singer, entertainer and adult film star. She loved to sing as a young girl and even appeared on "The Gong Show," as a kid. She dreame ...

Omar & The Howlers Omar And The Howlers is a Texas based electric blues and blues rock band, The original Howlers was formed in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in 1973. Three years later they moved to Austin, Texas. The band has regularly toured European countries.

Aynsley Lister Aynsley Lister (born 14 November 1976 in Leicester, England) is a British blues-rock guitarist/singer and songwriter. Biography Lister started playing guitar at 8 and played his first concert in a bar band at the age of 13. He had learned g ...

Laurence Jones Sir Laurence Alfred Jones, (18 January 1933 – 27 September 1995) was a senior Royal Air Force commander. RAF career Educated at Trinity School of John Whitgift, Trinity School, Jones joined the Royal Air Force in 1951. He was made Officer C ...

Skinny Molly Skinny Molly is an American southern rock band from Nashville, Tennessee, United States. The band was formed in 2004 by guitarist/vocalist Mike Estes (guitar player for Lynyrd Skynyrd and Blackfoot), Dave Hlubek (guitarist and founding member ...

Joanne Shaw Taylor Joanne Shaw Taylor (born 1985, England) is an English singer and guitarist. She was discovered by Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics at the age of 16. Taylor's albums via Ruf Records, ''White Sugar'' (2009) and '' Diamonds in the Dirt'' (2010), p ...

Dani Wilde Dani Wilde (born 25 August 1985, in Hullavington, Wiltshire, England) is a British singer-songwriter and guitarist who fuses roots genres including blues, country, gospel, soul and Americana into popular song. The American periodical, ''Blues B ...

Oli Brown Oli Brown is a British blues guitarist and singer-songwriter. He has released three studio albums and one live album. History Brown was signed to the German blues label, Ruf Records, in January 2008. He released his debut album, ''Open Road'' ...

, Ana Popovic,

Shakura S'Aida Shakura S'Aida is a Canadian blues vocalist, songwriter and actress. She is sometimes credited Shakura. History Shakura S'Aida was born in Brooklyn and lived in Switzerland before moving to Canada. S'Aida was lead singer of the 13-piece worl ...

Spooky Tooth Spooky Tooth were an English rock band originally formed in Carlisle in 1967. Principally active between 1967 and 1974, the band re-formed several times in later years. History Prior to Spooky Tooth, four of the band's five founding members h ...

Samantha Fish Samantha Fish (born January 30, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist from Kansas City, Missouri. While often cited as a blues artist, Fish's albums and live shows feature multiple genres, including Rock music, rock, Country musi ...

Walter Trout Walter Trout (born March 6, 1951 in Ocean City, New Jersey, United States) is an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. Biography Trout's career began on the Jersey coast scene of the late 1960s and early 1970s. He then decided to rel ...

, Big Daddy Wilson, and Erja Lyytinen. In 2007, Ruf Records received the Keeping the Blues Alive Award from the

Blues Foundation The Blues Foundation is an American nonprofit corporation, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, that is affiliated with more than 175 blues organizations from various parts of the world. Founded in 1980, a 25-person board of directors governs the ...

of Memphis, Tennessee. Since 2005, each year a group of musicians tours in the course of the 'Blues Caravan' project. In 2011, these were

Cassie Taylor Cassie Taylor (born 1986 in Boulder, Colorado) is an American singer-songwriter and blues musician. She started her career in the early 2000s touring as a bassist for her father Otis Taylor, a trance blues musician. She released a positivel ...

and

as 'Girls With Guitars' supported by drummer Denis Palatin. For the re-edition in 2012, Cassie Taylor was replaced by Victoria Smith. In 2012, Ruf Records signed the

Royal Southern Brotherhood Royal Southern Brotherhood is an American blues and blues rock supergroup, consisting of singer and percussionist Cyril Neville, vocalist and guitarist Devon Allman, vocalist and guitarist Mike Zito, drummer Yonrico Scott, and bassist Charlie Woo ...

, a

supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields * Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry * Supergroup ...

which featured the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

winning

Cyril Neville Cyril Garrett Neville (born October 10, 1948) is an American percussionist and vocalist who first came to prominence as a member of his brother Art Neville's funky New Orleans-based band, The Meters. He joined Art in the Neville Brothers band u ...

Devon Allman Devon Allman (born August 10, 1972) is an American guitarist, vocalist, keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. He is the son of musician Gregg Allman and has appeared occasionally as a guest musician for Gregg Allman and The Allman Brother ...

Mike Zito Mike Zito (born November 19, 1970) is an American guitarist, singer, record producer, and songwriter from St. Louis, Missouri, United States. He is a co-founder of Royal Southern Brotherhood that features Cyril Neville, Devon Allman, Charlie Wooto ...

, Charlie Wooton and

Yonrico Scott Yonrico Scott (October 6, 1955 – September 19, 2019) was an American drummer and percussionist. He was a longtime member of the Grammy winning The Derek Trucks Band, became a bandleader of his own ensemble, the Yonrico Scott Band, and later w ...

. The band was based from New Orleans, and released their first recording ''Royal Southern Brotherhood'' in the summer of 2012. John Wirt of the

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties i ...

newspaper '' The Advocate'', wrote "Zito and Allman also play twin guitar leads that recall, of course, the dual guitar leads played by his uncle, Duane, and Dickey Betts in the Allman Brothers Band." In March 2014,

Albert Castiglia Albert Castiglia (born August 12, 1969) is an American blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. Castiglia has variously worked alongside Junior Wells, Sandra Hall, Aron Burton, Pinetop Perkins, Melvin Taylor, Sugar Blue, Phil Guy, Ronnie Earl, B ...

signed a recording contract with Ruf. In 2015 Eliana Cargnelutti released two albums with Ruf. In 2017,

Vanessa Collier Vanessa N. Collier is an American blues, funk, and soul saxophonist, singer and songwriter. She has been nominated for seven Blues Music Awards and won one of them in 2019 and another in 2020. Her influences include Bonnie Raitt, Norah Jones, T ...

released her second album, ''Meeting My Shadow'', on Ruf Records. In February 2020,

Whitney Shay Whitney Shay (born September 16) is an American blues, soul, and rhythm and blues singer and songwriter. To date, Shay has released three albums including her 2012 debut issue, ''Soul Tonic''. She has won four San Diego Music Awards, including ' ...

released her third album, ''Stand Up'', on the label. In 2021,

Ghalia Volt Ghalia Vauthier, known professionally as Ghalia Volt, is a Belgian blues rock singer, guitarist, drummer and songwriter. She has been involved in the release of five albums since 2016, including ''Mississippi Blend'' (2019) released on Ruf Records ...

released her third album, ''One Woman Band'', on Ruf Records.

Katie Henry Katie Henry is an American blues rock singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter. She has released two solo albums since 2018, and is currently signed to Ruf Records. Her most recent album, ''On My Way'', reached number six on the '' Billboard'' ...

's, ''On My Way'', was released on January 28, 2022 on Ruf Records.

References

External links

Official site
German independent record labels Record labels established in 1994 Blues record labels {{Germany-record-label-stub

See also

References

External links