Bright As You Can,” the new album from Mike Merenda and Ruth Ungar, better known as Mike + Ruthy, is a family affair. In any other context, that description wouldn’t be a compliment — what’s less rock ‘n’ roll than a family band? But when Merenda sings on “Word On The Street,” the album’s second track, “We kick ass together in this folky band,” it’s clear that, for him and Ungar, there’s nothing more bad-ass than family.
The sentiment comes through strongly on the record because it’s a philosophy the husband and wife duo live. Their children, 7-year-old Willy and 3-year-old Opal, travel with them on tour, and “Bright As You Can” features an appearance from Jay Ungar, Ruth’s father and a folk legend in his own right. The album is also their first featuring a full band since they set out as a duo in 2008. They’ve been touring in support of “Bright As You Can” since it was released in June, and their next stop is at Birdseye Lounge in Portsmouth on Friday, Nov. 6.
“It’s being true to our dreams and being true to what we see as important in the world,” says Ungar. “That’s a big part of parenting, in a way — teaching by example that there’s meaning in the world and reflecting that back for people is a really useful and valuable job.”
It’s a job the two have had for close to 15 years. Their first band, The Mammals, a collaboration with Tao Rodríguez-Seeger, Merenda’s brother Chris, and Jacob Silver, was a fixture on Seacoast stages, celebrated for blending traditional folk and rock. The Mammals went on hiatus in 2007 and Merenda and Ungar began touring as a duo in 2008, the same year they released their first record, “The Honeymoon Agenda.”
“We really wanted to get back to playing with a full band again; that was sort of the thesis for the (new album). A few years had elapsed, so as a result, we had a really immense amount of unrecorded songs to draw from,” Merenda says.
For the record, they brought back Silver, The Mammal’s bassist, and recruited drummer Konrad Meissner and pedal steel player Charlie Rose. The duo adopted the moniker Mike + Ruthy Band for the record and accompanying tour. They recorded the album at their home studio in Woodstock, N.Y., where “the lilacs were in bloom, the windows were thrown open, and we had beautiful gear and a great, relaxed vibe,” Merenda says. “Our goal was to record 12 songs, and we ended up recording 20. It’s been like that with this project — it felt like we caught the right wave.”
The 14 tracks on “Bright As You Can” cover a wide territory. “Word on the Street” offers a meditation on family, while “Rock On Little Jane” is a Motown-inspired message to Merenda and Ungar’s daughter. “Legends Only Appear in Black and White” is a big, full-bodied, folk-rock tribute to the musicians whose legacy the band carries on. Ungar says it’s her favorite track on the record.
“I remember when we first recorded it, I thought it was too intense for the record. But it sounds really lightweight compared to what we’re doing — in the (live) show, it’s gotten huge. … The freedom of playing together and allowing things to take on an extra, exciting energy has been fun,” she says.
For Ungar and Merenda, making music is all about building community. It’s a lesson that Ungar learned as a child, when she went on the road with her folk musician parents. It’s also how Merenda found music.
A Durham native, Merenda credits growing up in the Seacoast with influencing his development as a musician. One of his teachers at Oyster River High School, Dave Irving, “turned on an artistic part of my being, and I don’t know how long it would’ve taken, or if I would’ve found it without him,” Merenda says. “I was more of an athletic type of kid … and then all of a sudden I was the lead role in a play, and that was really a turning point.”
When they’re not on the road, Merenda and Ungar host The Hoot, a biannual music festival near their home in New York that gathers family, friends, and musicians from far and wide.
“It’s wonderful to tour and play festivals all over the country and other parts of the world, but there’s something special about our community … and our community didn’t have an event like that,” Ungar says. “The non-geographic community of musicians who do what we do, who are in our pack, if you will, it’s the best. And if you play a festival, you get to see a few other bands perform. Most musicians don’t have a lot of time to see other bands play.”
“Bright As You Can” looks at the different kinds of family — spouses, parents and children, friends, and all varieties of communities — and celebrates the sweetness and occasional sorrows that come with those connections.
“Most writers … are reflecting their reality,” Merenda says. “This record is a reflection of our experiences, like all our others have been. Now we’re parents on the road, seeing life not only through our eyes, but our kids’ eyes. … It’s mostly light, but there is some darkness intertwined, and I think it’s an honest testament to where we’re at.”
The Mike + Ruthy Band performs Friday, Nov. 6 at 8 p.m. at Birdseye Lounge, 41 Vaughan Mall, Portsmouth. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door, available at brightandlyon.com.