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 represente ...

, 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 interest ...

’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, Germany. 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 pres ...

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,

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,]

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 Nuremb ...

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, Michael Hill's Blues Mob, Candye Kane, Omar & The Howlers, Aynsley Lister, Laurence Jones, Skinny Molly, Joanne Shaw Taylor,

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, Ana Popovic, Shakura S'Aida,

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 ...

, Samantha Fish,

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 relo ...

, 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,

and Samantha Fish 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, 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 pr ...

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 Brothe ...

, Mike Zito, Charlie Wooton and Yonrico Scott. 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 ...

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 signed a recording contract with Ruf. In 2015 Eliana Cargnelutti released two albums with Ruf. In 2017, Vanessa Collier released her second album, ''Meeting My Shadow'', on Ruf Records. In February 2020, Whitney Shay released her third album, ''Stand Up'', on the label. In 2021, Ghalia Volt released her third album, ''One Woman Band'', on Ruf Records. Katie Henry'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