FLIPSIDE Online

Local musician sharing stories from the road

By Brent Stewart, The Southern

Ruvane Kurland will permier his documentary from the road Saturday in Carbondale. (PROVIDED)

"Ruvane Kurland Live From the Midwest," documentary premiere, along with performance by Six String Ride. 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The Liberty Theater, 1333 Walnut St. $3 for students, $5 for thecommunity. For more information, go to www.ruvanekurland.com.

Ruvane Kurland has played many shows over the last several years, and probably has quite a few stories to tell about life "on the road." Like that one night in Columbia, Mo., where they forgot he was booked to play.

"I'm there with my cameraman and my PA and I'm all ready to do this and they have poker night, so there are only 15 people in the whole place with a capacity of 350," he said.

Such is the life of an independent musician, which Kurland definitely is.

"Basically, I do all my bookings," he said. "I don't have any management yet, I don't have a booking agent, I don't have publicity people like the big guys of the world."

Kurland is from Council Bluffs, Iowa. He began playing piano in the third grade and quickly moved on to learning violin, trumpet, and baritone. It wasn't long, however, before he had a revelation.

"In seventh grade I realized that girls at summer camp liked guys that played guitar," he said with a laugh.

And that's where it all began. Kurland picked up the guitar and started learning songs by artists such as R.E.M. He eventually began writing his own music and by the time he graduated high school, he was ready start playing out. His first show was at a place called "Downtown Grounds" in Omaha, Nebraska.

"I played my first professional show at 17 and continued through college and just haven't looked back," he said.

His debut album, "Acoustically Speaking," was released in 1996 and followed up by "Esoteric Perfection," a year later. In April 2000, he released yet another collection of acoustic sounds, entitled "Drops of Time."

Living in Chicago after graduating from college, his "day job" brought him to Southern Illinois in 2004.

Kurland is the director of the Hillel Foundation at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. It's a job that compliments his music career well.

"The beauty of it is, in the summer when I'm not working with students I have time to get out on the road and go tour," he said.

On his first summer tour, in 2005, he played 20 shows in 28 days. It was quite an education for someone who had never booked an extended tour before.

"I learned that just getting a gig isn't necessarily worthwhile," Kurland said. "Driving four hours to play for $50 isn't always the best idea."

On his 2006 Summer Tour, Kurland brought along cinematographer Brad Holtzman, a Cinema and Photography student at SIUC, to document his travels. The result is the DVD, "Ruvane Kurland, Live From the Midwest," which he will premiere at the Liberty Theater in Murphysboro this weekend.

The DVD concentrates on Kurland's performances and encounters in the various landscapes and towns in the 10 states he visited last summer.

"I think it tells a couple of stories," he said.

"First and foremost, it tells my story. It speaks to independent artists, how non major label artists can go out and do their own thing and be successful at it."

Locally, Kurland may be recognized more for his "other" musical project, Six String Ride, with Steve Wierman. Last year, they released their debut CD, "Traveler."

"This last record I'm really proud of," said Kurland. "I know it's tough for artists to say that about work that's a year old or older, but I'm still proud of it. We put a lot of time and energy into it.

"It was the first time I had done an all-acoustic disc, so Steve and I decided to replicate our stage show as closely as possible."

Six String Ride has gathered such a following in the area that Inheritance Valley Vineyard has even named a wine after Kurland, "Ruvanesque," a sweet white wine.

Kurland is not your typical Carbondale musician. It would be safe to say that music is another full-time career. He doesn't look at it as a hobby or something that is secondary to his "day job."

"I don't consider my music to be 'on the side,'" he said. "I consider it an equal partner in my life to my work with the Hillel Foundation.

"As long as they stay in proper balance, I wouldn't want to neglect one for the other."

brent.stewart@thesouthern.com

351-5074