Rock-N-Roll Conceived by Elliott Ruther

(Sean Rhiney)

Hottest funky rock players in the city

CityBeat (9/21/5)

Ruther has gone from solo/acoustic newbie to Rock God in the space of a few years. The clever politico stacked the deck in his favor with producer Bob Gayol (former MOTH) and a backing band of the hottest funky Rock players in the city; their improv excursions are pure bliss. ERT's musical tribute to King Records and Cincinnati's musical heritage was MPMF's 2004 theme song. Dig it: Led Zeppelin, Aquarium Rescue Unit, a juiced-up Randy Newman backed by WAR. (EW)

"Wouldn't you rather be where rock 'n' roll was conceived?" sings Ruther amid lyrics that reference a laundry list of those names and songs - from "Train Kept a Rollin' " to Bootsy Collins - that were Cincinnati's contribution to the rock landscape."

--(Cincinnati) Chris Varias, The Cincinnati Enquirer, 4/22/5

"a very accomplished collection of Ruther's well-crafted Blues- and Roots-inflected Rock songs"

--(Cincinnati) Mike Breen, CityBeat, 4/23/5

"Literally, rock 'n' roll conceived."

--(Cincinnati) Christine MacConnell, CiN Weekly, 4/20/5

"Ruther's voice, a rapid-fire Neil Young style, evokes old school folk set on a rocket launcher. His clever lyrics are armed with poetic humor, and his songs are reminiscent of early funk - the dynamics are hard to pin down. Or up."

--(Cincinnati) Christine MacConnell, CiN Weekly, 4/20/5

"Ruther's "Rock-in-Roll Conceived" flashes a gritty, loud, in-your-face sound with his mostly acoustic trio, proving that it isn't written anywhere that unplugged music has to be quiet music."

--(Cincinnati) Rick Bird, The Cincinnati Post, 4/21/5

"The Violent Femmes fronted by a soulful Bob Dylan"

--(Cincinnati) Sean Rhiney, CityBeat, 5/4/5

"The centerpiece for the album is Ruther's "Rock-n-Roll Conceived in Cincinnati," a heartfelt salute to the legacy of King Records with such lyrics as "Give me that Brown backbeat/ Give me dat Delmore Dance/ Bring me that Ballard bang/ Send me to Ron Isley's trance," referencing artists that recorded here from James Brown and the Isley Brothers to the Delmore Brothers and Hank Ballard."

--(Cincinnati) Rick Bird, The Cincinnati Post, 4/21/5

"Elliott Ruther's obsession with King Records and the other howling sounds of Cincinnati's yesteryear reverberates in his song "Rock-N-Roll Conceived."

--(Cincinnati) Chris Varias, The Cincinnati Enquirer, 4/22/5

(on the unlisted track) "'Upon Reading the Minutes of the SORTA Board,' an intense burst of old-school, bleeding-raw Punk that's actually about something (just like the good ol' days)."

--(Cincinnati) Mike Breen, CityBeat, 1/6/5

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