Six minutes before midnight on New Year’s Eve, I walked into a small tunnel-shaped bar near my house called Toad. At the opposite end of the room, through a gyrating screen of drunkards, I caught a glimpse of a stomping boot on stage. The place was stockpiled with energy – stoned souls bounced back and forth, men and women slid along the dark floor, and feet pounded with a brash beat that shook the bar-top. Ryan Flaherty, dripping sweat in a thick pair of overalls, vigorously strummed the guitar and belted out bluesy notes; Erika Stahl sat tall and mighty at her drum-kit – mother of rhythm – striking the snare with ferocity and uplifting rich dual harmonies. “Who is this band?” I asked around until a small older woman passing out sparkling party hats told me: “Muddy Ruckus!” She handed me a hat and I danced hard through midnight, ultimately thankful that these two spirits decided to dwell at my local watering hole.
Later that week, I met Flaherty and Stahl at Atwood’s about a mile down the road from Toad; they were getting ready to play another late-night stage. In lieu of 2017 and the new year, the three of us discussed Muddy Ruckus’ current mindset and their attempts at beginning a new album, as well as their history as a band, and accolades they received in 2016.
“So, how did you two originally meet?”
As we sat at the bar – Flaherty wearing the same pair of overalls – he described a show that he was playing in Portland, Maine in 2013. He looked out over the audience and caught a glimpse of a beautiful woman dancing to his tunes. He pulled her up on stage and ever since then, Stahl and Flaherty have been lovers. Like some unearthly sign, Stahl came into Flaherty life when his band was pretty much over; “I was ready to quit the scene.” Flaherty reflected on that time and remembers how much he was drawn to Stahl’s own musical talent. “I loved her voice; she pretty much saved my music career.” Finding some kind of hope for a new start, or possibly a rare strike of inspiration, Flaherty and Stahl became Muddy Ruckus.
Growing up, Stahl’s mother was a music teacher. She told me about all the instruments lying around her house as a kid as her mother’s pupils would come to the house for lessons. However, Stahl is a self-taught drummer. She bought her first drum-kit from a pawn shop when she was a teenager and has kept with it since. When Flaherty was a kid in rural Illinois, he would listen to his next door neighbor playing guitar through the open window and became infatuated with the sound. Later on, he went and saw the Pixies play live – his first concert – and afterwards knew he wanted to be a musician. This may be an underlying reason that Muddy Ruckus’ bluegrass beginnings have moved toward highly-expressive rock with a build-up that keeps you waiting.
When I asked Muddy Ruckus how they would describe their sound Flaherty quickly said, “We are a rock and roll duo basically…folk morphed into rock.”
“Has Maine, where you two live now, influenced your sound?” I asked.
“Inspiration wise, there’s a lot of bluegrass stuff and like my upbringing in Illinois, I have to always look elsewhere for inspiration.” Flaherty and Stahl live in the sleepy city of Auburn and have just recently started messing around with home recording. For Muddy Ruckus, inspirational now comes in the form of the blues. Flaherty has been blasting R.L. Burnside and seems dedicated to infusing his folk-roots with an electric spark. To add a little bite, Flaherty attached a suitcase kick-drum to Stahl’s kit before their most recent album; “I had a snare drum and he gave me a suitcase and said, ‘hell yeah.”
Since 2014, Muddy Ruckus have churned out two full-length albums. Their first, a self-titled mix of fiddle-based, folky swing music, escalated into their most recent release, Pretty Bones, which has led to a more thoughtful, stripped-down listening experience; there is barely any violin, less bass, and it showcases Flaherty and Stahl’s raw sonic chemistry – the differences between both records is astounding. I asked about the first album, but Flaherty simply described it as “a mess” and moved on. “Up until the last year and a half I didn’t know where I was going with our music,” he added. “I’m anxious and eager to get this sound out now.” Here, he is referring to what you will now experience if you see Muddy Ruckus live, what drew me in so quickly as 2017 rolled in. Stahl on the drum-kit. Flaherty on guitar. Just dual harmonies, foot-stomping, a killer backbeat and gritty blues riffs. When listening to their first album now, I understand why Flaherty can hardly look back. It’s as if his raspy vocals were too big for it, too rock & roll. Since then, they have shed their skin allowing hints of this new sound to barge through Pretty Bones, a well-structured, lyrically-inviting ode to beauty in the face of struggle – “It’s so beautiful to be alive / And I don’t know how to make it right!” sings Flaherty on the opening track.
The record itself has helped Muddy Ruckus determine who they are and what they want their sound to be, as both Flaherty and Stahl will say, “It doesn’t represent where we are now.” In terms of the actual recording process, Muddy Ruckus was on tour when they were approached by a man named Anthony Gaudi: “We met a dude who wanted to record us for free, which was awesome…we just went for it, even though we needed like ten more songs.” Because they were confused on what their sound was, they filled the space with unreleased songs that Flaherty had written over the previous few years. With Stahl’s direction and help, they reimagined the songs for the album, creating a mix of catchy melodies and heartbreaking moments. Pretty Bones was well-reviewed after it came out this past June. The day after I talked with them, they informed me that their album was named “Album of the Year” in Boston’s Red Line Roots’ Big Reds Awards.
Flaherty had a restless, determined look in his eyes while we talked and Stahl looked ready to follow him through whatever burning gates they may come across. He is currently eager to start recording their new stuff, explaining to me that “It’s going to be lo-fi because it has to be (laughs).” Recording is expensive when you no longer have someone offering to record you free. However, lack of funds doesn’t seem to present too many problems because lo-fi is what Muddy Ruckus wants. They have cut all the other players from their band with the hope to express as much raw sensation as possible. Their philosophy behind the upcoming album is this: “How much we can squeeze out of both of us without more players.” Flaherty and Stahl hope to have at least a few songs recorded by the spring and will continue to tour throughout the country. I asked them what their current musical goals are and nationwide touring is high on their list. Instead of frequently traveling, though, Muddy Ruckus wants to focus on particular places for longer periods of time before they move on. They believe this will be a more effective way of spreading their sound to people. They told me that they love the freedom of touring and that on their last tour they stayed at a different fan’s house every single night. Their live performance is mesmerizing, and I know first-hand how impactful it can be on a first-time listener. However, after promoting Pretty Bones, they told me that they needed a month-long break to rest. In Flaherty’s words, “Burning out is real.” All he and Stahl are searching for is the ability to keep their music-careers new and fun, “to continue to keep writing…and to travel and have fresh experiences.”
As Muddy Ruckus took the stage, the dim room we were standing in began to fill up. Bar-dwellers crawled forward as the lights flickered and the set progressed. “Who gives a fuck what anyone thinks, let’s kill it,” said Flaherty earlier about he and Stahl’s pre-show mindsets – this was visible at Atwood’s as a hard, fuzzy soul-fire flushed out of Flaherty’s strings into the amp. Stahl’s suitcase kick-drum rattled and kept time as the two lovers shed light on their inner bond with each other and music. Before I got up to dance, I wrote one last thing in my journal – that the blues-rock raw power performance has been done, but goddamn, it’s what the soul reacts to. The heart sinks on the downbeat and you feel yourself fall just to be uplifted seconds later. This is what Muddy Ruckus has taken two albums to develop and they better keep going.
