Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexander Ruwe.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I grew up in the small town of Mt. Vernon, Illinois. It was a lovely place to grow up, and I still return once a month for a monthly performance at RARE Chophouse on the last Wednesday of the month. It’s the longest residency I have underway and gives me an opportunity to stay connected with old friends.
I attended Eastern Illinois University for my undergraduate work, majoring in philosophy, but earning minors in music, French and English. I then moved to the St. Louis area and began a post-baccalaureate, pre-med program at Washington University. While there, I began working for a medical scribe company, and soon found myself working in a management capacity for them and traveling all over the Eastern half of the United States. It was a tremendous experience, and I still apply much of what I learned from my peers and management team in the work that I do today.
At the age of 26, I left behind the U.S. and moved to a small city in Spain called Albacete. It was there that I met my wife, Laura. I’ll save the story for how we got here for a second interview — haha — but we made our home in St Louis, initially, but recently bought a home in Belleville, IL, so we could be close to family. We have an almost 1-year old son, named Alexander — or “Alexander Good Boy” as we call him.
When I first returned from Spain, I began working for a tech company in Clayton, but I was busy making music on the side — writing songs, performing, etc. Through my performances at several legendary places around town — Broadway Oyster Bar, Tin Roof, Evangeline’s… I began to get exposed to people who would invite me to play private parties, corporate events, and weddings.
As those opportunities increased, I was put in position to do that work full time. I left my tech position 3.5 years ago, and have been working as a full-time musician, entertainer, and songwriter ever since.
About 80% of my work comes through entertaining in a variety of settings — backyard parties, local bars, nightclubs, weddings, corporate functions, holiday parties, and the list goes on. That music might be performed solo acoustic, solo piano, as an acoustic duo, a small ensemble, with our event band “The Red Jackets” (www.RedJacketsBand.com) or as a DJ.
The Red Jackets is a 6-piece, high energy party band, featuring some of my favorite young talents from across St Louis:
- Joanna Serenko
- Tanner Caldwell
- EJ Henderson
- Canaan Gibbs
- Clinton Twombly
We launched the band in 2021 and have been performing and chipping away at the act ever since. We are having a ton of fun together as a team, and I remain excited about what the future holds for the act as a whole, as well as for the individual artists and their individual pursuits with music.
The other 20% of my work comes from writing and publishing my own compositions. This last year, I was hired by the Barbershop Harmony Society to compose music for high school choirs — which was a big challenge, but super rewarding. I am thrilled to announce I was invited back for this year, and have a brand new series of compositions underway for the Anna Coyotes. I also released a singalong children’s book called “Good Night, Little Darlings.” You can learn about the book, or (better!) purchase a copy today at: www.GoodNightLittleDarlings.
I am also in the midst of recording my first solo record with producer, Gary Gordon. We’re not finished with it just yet, but we’re currently classifying it as “alternative country.” It’s a bit singer/songwriter, a bit folk and a little bit rootsy. Some All-stars in the industry have been kind enough to share their talents on the record, and I am proud of the music we have made together to date. Fingers crossed that arrives in the back half of this year.
Long term, I hope to open and run a venue in St Louis, where I can invite artists from St. Louis and beyond to come entertain and share their art. And mayyyyyybe, they’ll be kind enough to let me sing and play a couple of tunes with them.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Ohhhhhhhhhhhh it’s been chaos. Haha.
If I had any advice for musicians — but this is true for anybody — it would be to diversify your income streams. I took some hits early on while building my career, leaning too hard on opportunities that eventually slipped away from me and left me in a world of hurt financially.
I am much more conscious of how I make a living now, and more balanced in not drawing the entirety of my earnings through one place.
Beyond that, I came from a business background, so I approach a lot of my work — be it composing or working and performing in a group with others — from that vantage point. Musicians and artists operate differently than most business professionals though, so I have had to adapt my ways of communicating, scheduling, etc. in order to better serve the community I work within now. Lots of learnings over the last few years, and if anything, I feel I have more to learn this year than I did the year before. It’s funny how things play out.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
A few things:
I am not a guitarist or a pianist, despite the pictures you see and the performances I do. Haha I’ve been forced to chip away at these instruments so I can do what I really love to do, which is write songs and sing. But historically, I have never been deeply interested or passionate with either of these instruments. I should note that just in the last year or so, I have found a love for both of these instruments and am now much more interested in playing them well. I have a long way to go with each craft, but am slowly chipping away at habits and approaches to practice that will help me improve at the both of them.
Beyond all that, I should note that we launched a new act this past summer for a summer-long, pool party at Le Meridien in Clayton. It’s a 4-piece act with Logan Perez, Tony Lampman & Nick Lampman, and I am thrilled to announce that the series will continue through the summer of 2022. Join us every Thursday evening beginning in mid-May.
What do you think about happiness?
I loooooooooooooooooove the work that I do! Most of my days are spent with my instruments in my studio space, where I am studying and practicing, or composing something new. And most of my nights are spent in a rehearsal space with other musicians from St Louis, or on a stage as a soloist, with a band or as a DJ.
I find all of the work that I do to be very rewarding — from composing, to performing, to collaborating, to leading a band, to developing others, etc. It all brings me a lot of joy.
As I mentioned earlier, my plan is to open a venue of my own in the City of St Louis, in hopes of helping other musicians throughout St. Louis and beyond to have yet another stage where they can share their craft(s).
Contact Info:
- Email: alexanderruwemusic@gmail.com
- Website: www.AlexanderRuwe.com and www.GoodNightLittleDarlings.com and www.RedJacketsBand.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexanderruwe/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlexanderRuweMusic/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/alexanderruwemusic
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/alexander-ruwe
Image Credits
Tammi Camp, Patricia Carcelen, and Laura Planiol Campos
Patty Moore
April 5, 2022 at 6:00 am
Alexander doesn’t play music. Alexander IS music! His personality could not be more upbeat nor infectious. Rhythm flows out of him and results in a higher vibration throughout his audience. He makes his performances appear easy as he plays, sings, stays attuned to the audience’s requests and response, ignores interruptions; all the while, giving his gift straight from the heart because there it is always to be found.