Swampcandy: Old School Stomp & Boogie!

Swampcandy Email List = FREE Downloads!!

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“I have been recording music since age thirteen — thanks to an uncle who leant me a four track recorder — I continue to hone this craft to this very day.

I grew up on a farm in Maryland where I was exposed to blues, bluegrass and classic rock by my uncles and grandfather. I started writing my own tunes at age 14 and recored a full length album of original material by age 15. From there I have been in several bands — from hard rock to heavy metal, to loung- jazz, jazz- fusion, art-rock, old-time, old styles of delta-blues and gypsy-style folk....

...and even a comedic skit rock band that went so far as to produce a full blown rock opera!

After a brief stint in a pop / new-metal band that left a bad taste in my mouth, I came to the realization that the forms of music I first came to know best complimented my creative ability; however the vast pallet I feel that I have acquired from delving into so many styles give my current songs a unique edge — making them memorable, thoughtful, and free from the cookie cutter sound of an artist strictly tied to one genre. ”

— Ruben Dobbs

Swampcandy @ 8x10

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“At the opening bars of Swampcandy's The Dirty Suite I got excited...
Down-dirty, bump-and-grind, moaning-and-groaning blues roots music. I'm thinking that these guys are channeling R.L. Burnside or some other departed Hill-country or Delta blues master. The ethnomusicologists will get tied in knots over this one. Is it blues or rock? Is it roots or fusion? It is very clearly blues-based but there is also an element of rock that colors most the cuts.
Some of the instrumentation could be mistaken as contemporary influenced but Swampcandy
(aka Ruben Dobbs) has just done his homework.
He has seen the blues in all it's hues.”

— Tampa Blue, Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange

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"Whiskey-soaked deep woods field holler for the modern age. Step up to the counter and get your Swamp Candy. It's raw & rockin'. It's dark & dirty. And you don't want it any other way. Delicious. Great record."

— Willie Nile - Quote from email

"Ruben Dobbs has done a masterful job evoking the spirit of Robert Johnson and John Lee Hooker on his new album, "SWAMPCANDY". You get the feeling he's been down to the crossroads. He is a man possessed"

— Bob Waugh - Program Director, WRNR-FM.

"Ruben Dobbs channels raw blues power with aggressive slide guitar playing and robust vocals that bring to mind the ghosts of Son House and Leadbelly."

— Cary Wolfson - "Blues From the Red Rooster Lounge"

"Swampcandy reminds me of Tom Waits: pots & pans rattling through yells and shouts, hand clapping, dobro-staccato, in a sweaty back porch-feel, voices crossing each other at random. Like a sort of chaotic happy-go-lucky bunch of guys. Don't misinterpret this: I'm all for this, lots of times it works out just fine. Like this time, it really does. The first song, 'South County', has a haunting banjo popping up like a muppet. This is not common in contemporary blues the effect is that a listener with even just a little imagination finds himself thrown smack in the middle of the Mississippi swamps. Great move! Vocal improvisation (meaning: no sheet music was distributed amongst the members of the 'choir') has a good part in this CD and it works pretty well. All in all, Swampcandy is a project that should be followed up by every blues lover: you get to witness the way the old blues tradition might have started."

— Johan Akkermans - bobtjeblues

" The Dirty Suite should appeal to anyone who likes the blues. Its roots extend deep to the south, where they're firmly planted in that rich musical heritage. Swampcandy is helping to preserve the legacy of the blues with an album of authentic-sounding music from a time and place lost, but not forgotten. "

— Michael Macey - Chesapeake Music Guide

"True boogie blues author: David Gilroy Seldom comes along a true blues artist that plays the good old boogie and stomp. This is one of those artists. I can't get enough of this stuff. It does the soul good! What we are author: Thomas Walkowiak the shallowness of much of todays music is about commercialism and hit status, not so with The Dirty Suite. This entire album speaks from and to an honesty that is rare. Swampcandy may never be a wide spread must listen for the masses but for those of us who need our souls and hearts touched it is a must have . Amazing author: Tom Fantastic album. Swampcandy is one of the best modern artists I have listened to in a long time. A truly inspirational, low-down album you -must- get your hands on! "

— cd baby fan reviews

" The Dirty Suite is a stomping blues album that sounds like it comes from the front porches of the deep South. The production on the record makes all the difference, artfully retaining the analog and humidity of classic blues recordings. As the recording brings us so close to the real sound of Swampcandy, so does the uncanny vocal quality of Ruben Dobbs. Armed with a baritone growl and a deep-soul wail, Dobbs blows the doors off on "Insomnia". Also as a guitarist, Dobbs slides all over the guitar with down-home hollers like "Rosie" and the downtrodden blues of "So Low". The foot stomps and hand claps confirm a rabble-rousing good ol' time from song to song. If you're new to the blues (and by blues, I mean something much more from the depths than The White Stripes), this is a great introduction. "

— ANY GIVEN TUESDAY

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Ruben Dobbs released the "Dirty Suite" in 2007 under the name Swampcandy — a foot stomping collection of mostly oringinal blues tunes and work song influenced material.

His next CD titled "She Calls to Me" is a genre bending thrill ride featuring guest artists from Chicago and Maryland and is 18 songs all written by him.

"Deep Fried Butter" is the latest release from Swampcandy and is the first release to feature the new full time member Joey Mitchell . This package CD has two versions of 6 songs and a DVD of them performing live at the Ramshead Onstage. This has only been soft released as it will be partially considered as pre-recording for there full length vinyl LP. That project will be recorded on location in a swamp in Maryland and in a studio setting as well it will also coincide with a documentary style video of the process and visual art concepts that will go into creating this release that will be titled "Horny Toad."— a reference to the many songs that will include horn sections.

Ruben Dobbs Discography:

	Swampcandy: Deep Fried Butter © 2011 Ruben Dobbs More Info / Listen - Written and or arranged, engineered, produced by Ruben Dobbs \| - Video shot by Alison Harbaugh, Rebecca Saunders and Alex Weincek - Video Edited by Rebecca Saunders - Onstage live/recording audio engineered by Chis Hartman - All songs performed by Ruben Dobbs and Joey Mitchell This Collection was born out of a desire to directly represent the band and as far as that goes it is a success. What you see and hear is exactly what the band sounds and looks like. This CD/DVD Consists of 6 songs done live in the studio and the same 6 songs recored live at the Ramshead Onstage. The CD has Both performances and the DVD is a 3 angle shoot of Swampcandy live at Ramshead Onstage.

	Mixed Business: Mixed Business © 2011 Mixed Business More Info / Listen \| Track List - Written and/or arranged by Mixed Business - Produced by Mixed Business & Ruben Dobbs - 6/10 songs recorded or mixed by Dobbs - All song preformed by Mixed Business with small contributions from Ruben Dobbs This collection of songs is by a band that Joey Mitchell (the other half of Swampcandy) is a member of. This is a great collection of original americana music with one Tom Waits cover.

	Alan Wietzmen: A Short Pour In Laredo © 2011 Ruben Dobbs More Info / Listen - Written and/or arranged by Ruben Dobbs and Alan Wietzman - Produced, recorded and mixed by Ruben Dobbs - Songs preformed by Ruben Dobbs, Noel White, Dana Beagini, Ryan Cullen, Brant Dunn, Spencer Nitchie, Forbs and Nate Horton, Ahren Bucchiester - Lead vocals Alan Wietzman This a collection of cover songs chosen by Alan Wietzman (a 74 year old cross between Roy Orbison and Perry Ferral) Most songs on the CD are pretty far from the original.

	Swampcandy: She Calls To Me © 2011 Ruben Dobs More Info / Listen - Written, produced, recorded, and mixed by Ruben Dobbs - Most songs performed by Ruben - Credits for the numerous other performers on this cd can be found here. This CD's working title was "Shut Your Pigeon Hole" this is my attempt to be defined as undefinable. Half of this CD was recorded in Chicago where I lived for a couple months and did nothing but play and concentrate on this CD. It features many guest artists in order to come as close to my vision of these songs as possible.

	Van Meter: Songs From Mill Creek vol.1 E.P. © 2008 Van Meter More Info / Listen - Written by Jennifer Van Meter - Produced, recorded and mixed by Noel White. - Preformed by Ruben Dobbs, Jennifer Van Meter, Noel White, Anthony Setola, Jimmy Jacobs, Peter Wolf and a few other artists I played electric guitar, mandolin, and dobro as the primary side musician for this project for about a year I am also present on her full length release "Weather Girl"

	Alan Wietzmen: Last Call Cafe © 2009 Alan Wietzman More Info / Listen - Written and/or arranged by Alan Wietzman and Ruben Dobbs - Produced, recorded and mixed by Ruben Dobbs, Noel White and Alan Wietzman - Preformed by Ruben Dobbs, Noel White, Jennifer Van Meter, Jennifer Riechwien, Jimmy Jacobs, Anthony Setola, - Lead Vocals by Alan Wietzman Alan Wietzman walked into my teaching studio in 2002 at the ripe young age of 67 and said "My favorite bands are Johnny Cash, Hank Williams Sr, Nine Inch Nails and Nirvana. Can you help me" This Cd is the result of this meeting and was 6 years in the making.

	Swampcandy: The Dirty Suite © 2007 Ruben Dobbs / Swampcandy More Info / Listen - Written, recorded and produced and preformed by Ruben Dobbs - Harmonica, washboard and spoons by Hurricane Kevin Leibling This is the beginning of Swampcandy. This CD is all down and dirty delta blues mostly all original minus a few nods to Kokomo Arnold and Son House.

	Burn the Fields: Burn the Fields © 2009 Alan Wietzman More Info / Listen - Written/arranged and produced by Burn the Fields - Recored and mixed by Todd Kruezburge and Jerome Mafaio This cd is a collective effort on the part of myself , Nick Babbis, Rob Eckman, Jimi (HAHA) Davies, and Jeremy Reichwein. The songs on this CD are considered written by the band as a whole. This is a hard rock/pop album filled with triumph and dark romance. On a side note the name Burn the Fields was thought of by Ruben Dobbs and can be found as a reoccurring reference in his music though out the years.

	Dingleberry Dynasty: Jody (a tragic mock opera) © 2007 Ruben Dobbs & Dingleberry Dynasty More Info / Listen - Written/arranged and produced by Ruben Dobbs , Chris Kamch and Dingleberry Dynasty - Recored by Ruben Dobbs - Mixed by Frank Marchand This is a full blown rock opera that was born out of Chris Kamch's desire to create one. He found a partner in me in the spring of 1999 we spent 9 months sipping scotch and writing. The opera was brought to the band and work began. They hit several road blocks along the way but 5 1/2 years later it became a reality. They enlisted the help of basically every one they knew who was willing to help and produced a CD and a live theater production which enjoyed two well attended short runs. The opera left everyone exhausted and Burn the Fields had already begun so Ruben left to pursue other goals, as for Dingleberry Dynasty and Chis Kampch they still raise a stink from time to time in baltimore and DC doing only high profile events for the low brow. I would list Credits but i would be typing for a week. I would tell you more about the dingles but i would be typing for a year.

	Velvetthud: From Friends to Family © 2009 Ruben Dobbs More Info / Listen -Written produced engineered by Ruben Dobbs - Guest artist Meg Murray, Deanna Barney, Nick Bowie This is really my first solo album and my first real attempt to engineer and produce material myself.

	Velvetthud: The Live Demos (Unreleased) © 2009 Ruben Dobbs More Info / Listen - Written/arranged recorded and produced by Ruben Dobbs - Preformed By Ruben Dobbs, Ahren Bucchiester, Ken Crawn and Kamari Sumner Right before I began preproduction for "Jody" before and during doing tech work for Hall and Oates, I had a Band called Velvet Thud; a name given me by my good dead friend William Bastard. This band was a much needed outlet away from the collective writting of Dingleberry Dynasty. We played a few shitty shows and recorded this shitty demo. The songs and performance are great the recording quality .... not so much. Side note: Ahren was 16 when this was recored he plays all the lead parts.

	Velvetthud: Japanese Whisper (Unreleased) © 2009 Ruben Dobbs More Info / Listen - Written/arranged recorded & produced by Ruben Dobbs - Preformed By Ruben Dobbs Out of all the Velvetthud albums this is the shit sandwich......... oh well.......... there are some cool moments though so worth checkin out since it tis totally free. I wrote most of this while on tour with Hall and Oates and missing a sweet gal who would prove to look better walking away as a muse often does. Broke my fuckin heart and i made some good shit so if your into process this is where it starts for the Swampcandy material.

	Velvetthud: Blue Chamber (Unreleased) © 2009 Ruben Dobbs More Info / Listen - Everything Ruben Dobbs Mostly songs about he death of my marriage and the destruction of my family due to greed and the death of the patriarch.

	Dingleberry Dynasty: Doodie Calls © 2007 Ruben Dobbs & Dingleberry Dynasty More Info / Listen - Recorded and Mixed by Frank Marchand - Preformed by Chris Kamch, Ken Sproat, Mike Hackenburg, Tim Dugan, Erin Spicnal, Tara Donavan and Ruben Dobbs This marks Dingles' first time entering a real studio. I had been in the band over a year at this piont. This is an album of skit rock low brow comedy and it is totally fucking genius. It is funny well produced and was a blast to record because the songs had been played live many times before we went in.

	Feedbag: Platinum © 2009 Ruben Dobbs More Info / Listen - All songs written by Ruben Dobbs - Arranged and produced and preformed by Feedbag - Recorded by a total asshole that shall remain nameless - Mastered by Frank Marchand - Preformed by Bryan Jones, Mike Kirby, Jeremy Riechwien and Ruben Dobbs Wow don't really know what to say about this. This band contained my very best friends to this day. Very similar to Burn The Fields. I was the leader of this band but was not comfortable with the role so i fucked it up horribly. Theses songs where the strongest i had at the time. Seatle influenced and angst filled.

	Velvetthud: Pipes and Slumber (Unreleased) © 2009 Ruben Dobbs More Info / Listen Everything Ruben Dobbs Another Velvetthud collection of raw process. dig it.

	William Bastard: Almost Dead © 2009 Velvetthud & Stacey Hate Names More Info / Listen - Music and production by Velvetthud and Stacey Hate Names He was my best friend a poet and brother. We lived that year in a time of endless dreaming. He wrote four large books that year there was no cocaine left for miles..... in the midst of madness we put this collection together. I love this collection more than all others sleep well William, April is past.

	Jo king: The Gurus Sessions © 2009 Ruben Dobbs More Info / Listen - Written By Joseph Karr - Preformed By Joseph Karr, William Bastard, Corina Hean, Mike Kirby, Spenser Nitchie, Ruben Dobbs and Brian Wagoner??? - Recored by Ruben Dobbs These recordings I am super happy with. They were recored to two track cassett tape from the output of a peavy P.A. head at Cafe Gurus where Joe Karr and I played every wednesday for a year and a half for fucking sandwiches. When i look back at this time I some times wonder why we aren't the american Radio Head. I still work with Joe to this day. He is family to me as are all the people i have ever played with on these releases in the archive. He Is a real artist he does not give a fuck for fame or money he lives to create therefor the music, the art, every thing he does is pure. To quote him "I realize the price of security, what it will do for me, and it won't do" I wouldn't change a thing.

	Fungobat: The Lost Recordings © 2009 Ruben Dobbs & Fungobat More Info / Listen - Written/arranged by Fungobat - Preformed by Nick Babbis, Lee Gibson, Nate Allen and Ruben Dobbs - Recored and rough mixed by Stephen Wright The first band post highschool/college that i fronted and wrote the bulk of the material for. We went though a couple drummers and i just felt overwhelmed by the leadership role. We had some indie lable interest from interscope but nothing really came of it and more or less i just quit. There were actually recordings that were mixed from these sessions but they are totally MIA so if they are ever found they will be called the found tapes.

Design: Mark O'Dell | Photos: Freckle Photography | Video: Becca Saunders