Chris Ruhe

Chris Ruhe, award-winning, singer-songwriter, is a blues/jazz musician who grew up in Kansas City, Kansas, where he absorbed the music that still animates him. His first group, the Night Riders, a larval rock'n'roll group, played around the bars of Kansas City in the late '50's. Later he moved to 60's California where he played with the band that became Creedance Clearwater Revival.

He was active as a musician in the civil rights movement and met Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was part of the folk revival, and still is, and plays with Pete Seeger to this day. He absorbed latin american music while living in Honduras in the 70's. Also in the 70's he lived in Manhattan where he studied jazz, played the New York showcase circuit, and released his first LP, "Earthrise". In the 80's he moved to Peru, then Chile, where he achieved fame as radio and TV personality, Compadre Chris.

He produced one cd, "Zing", with wife, Janet. He toured with his own blues band. He played with Dizzy Gillespie on one special evening at the Santiago Baha'i Center. He returned to New York in 1993. Since that time, he has produced cd's for himself, as well as cd's of other artists. He produces musical events at the Howland Cultural Center, Beacon, NY. Recent tours include: Midwest USA and Canada - 1998, New York to California and back - 1999 (With Dutch guitarist, Arash Azami), New York to Texas and through the South (With guitarist, David Whitman) - 2000, Romania and Bulgaria - 2000, Midwest - 2001, Romania and Poland - 2001, New York to California and back (With singer-percussionist, John "Beaujack" Mangum) - 2002, New York to Colorado and back (with wife, poet-singer, Janet Ruhe-Schoen), and East Coast (with the Blazin' Band) -2004, and finally, Romania - 2004.

He currently plays with the Howland Wolves, in a jazz-standard duo with alto-player, Chris Shann, and with the Blazin' Band. His cd's, "Chris Ruhe's Chartreuse Blues", and "Still Rockin' (down that Highway Paved with Song)", have sold well for independent releases. He is currently working on two new cd's: one of piano tunes, and another a collection of original songs. He appears every Monday on an environmental radio program, Planet Blue, from 5:30 to 7:00 pm. It streams online at WVKR.org. He is a Baha'i and has an abiding faith in a better future. He is married and has four children. He has nine guitars, one old piano, and a hybrid car.