There is a hidden track in Muddy Ruckus’ new album, “Pretty Bones,” that a lot of people might not fully understand. It’s called “Road Kill and the Eternal Flight,” and if it sounds like a lo-fi recording, that’s because it is. Singer, guitarist, and co-founder Ryan Flaherty recorded the song during a campfire jam session with his friend Sam Davis singing.
Davis died recently, and Flaherty felt the track was a fitting way to memorialize one of his best and longest friends. “Pretty Bones,” Flaherty said, is Muddy Ruckus’ death album.
“It really messed me up and it really affected the direction of the album, and, sad as it sounds, fueled its intention and passion,” Flaherty said. “(Davis) passed away during the recording of the album,” he continued. “It inspired lyrics on some of the songs that hadn’t been finished yet.”
Davis’ untimely death has a heavy presence on the Portland-based band’s darker sophomore album. “Farfetched,” which Flaherty included on the record as a tribute to Davis, is a prime example. With lyrics like “I’ve been broken / I’ve been lost / I’ve been stolen from my thoughts,” Flaherty captures the moment when tragedy strikes, but it’s still too soon to feel emotion.
Despite the somber lyrics, the songs Flaherty creates with vocalist and drummer Erika Stahl are, for the most part, infectious, foot-stomping Americana tunes. Similar to the White Stripes in duo power, Muddy Ruckus delivers a full-bodied sound with nothing but a guitar and “suitcase drums” — a small drum set that can be broken down into a single suitcase.
Unlike their self-titled debut, which featured several musicians on some of the tracks, Flaherty and Stahl decided to record the latest album by themselves. They said the band recorded live in order to reflect what the listener would hear at a live show.
“There’s layering here and there, but for the most part, we want how we sound on the album to sound like we are live,” Flaherty said. “We stick with the stripped-down thing because we want people to hear what we do and not what they imagine we do.”
Ryan Flaherty and Erika Stahl of Muddy Ruckus. photo by Jasmine Inglesmith Photography
Evolution of an album
Flaherty lived and performed in the Portsmouth area for several years. Muddy Ruckus, though, is now based in Portland and has been playing regular gigs in Maine. After one show, Stahl said, the duo was approached by Anthony Gatti, a fan and frequent show-goer. Gatti offered to record the band in his basement space, Bulkhead Studios.
Flaherty said the band wrote and recorded the songs in increments. They would sporadically enter Gatti’s studio to record a single song, and then return a short time later to record another. The loose schedule allowed them to develop their sound and shape the album’s atmosphere.
“When we were in the studio, we had about four or five songs ready,” Flaherty said. “I personally like not having so much of a solid plan, maybe just an idea. Record the songs you have and see how they go from there, instead of going in expecting to record an album.”
For the most part, the songs fall into two categories: tunes they had let simmer for years, and songs they developed in the studio. The album opener, “Make Things Right,” was a song the band had been working on for over 10 years. Other tracks, like “The Wind,” were written as the band was recording the album.
Muddy Ruckus also took their practices and songwriting on the road. Threatened with constant noise complaints from their neighbors, Flaherty and Stahl had to write and rehearse their songs before gigs and in the studio. The band fine-tuned their songs on stage and eventually brought them to “Pretty Bones.”
“Me and Erika have (since) moved into a house, and that has changed everything for us,” said Flaherty. “We’re able to explore our sound, we’ve been able to get louder. She’s blasting out on the drums now.”
“Some songs you just have to sit on for a while, while others push themselves out like a tulip in the cold early spring.” — Ryan Flaherty
Spreading the sound
Instead of going with the traditional album release party, Muddy Ruckus is doing more of an album-release mini-tour, playing several shows around New England. The band’s New Hampshire release show is on Saturday, May 14, at The Press Room in Portsmouth, a venue Flaherty used to play when he was a resident of the Seacoast. The band is planning a big tour of New England during the spring and summer and is currently booking a national tour, going as far as New Orleans and Texas.
But even as the tour approaches, Muddy Ruckus continues to write new songs. Flaherty said he and Stahl are already planning a follow-up to “Pretty Bones.” They’ve written a crop of new songs over the last month and will be recording at the Great North Sound Society in Parsonsfield, Maine.
“They are still in their raw state and I want to get them before they dry out and become something else,” Flaherty said. “It’s all new tunes this time.”
With their new living space and new songs, Muddy Ruckus can move on from death and breathe new life into their music.
“Some songs you just have to sit on for a while, Flaherty said, while others push themselves out like a tulip in the cold early spring.”
Muddy Ruckus plays a CD release show on Saturday, May 14 at 9 p.m. at The Press Room, 77 Daniel St., Portsmouth, 603-431-5186. For more information on the band, click here.