Ruth Wyand

From New Zealand to The Outer Banks Ruth Wyand is not just another “girl with a guitar”. The first thing you notice when you hear Ruth Wyand is her powerful guitar playing but within minutes you will also be captivated by her voice, her songs and her stories. A Ruth Wyand concert is a journey through American music. At age 11, Ruth would sit in her driveway in Atlantic City, NJ and listen to music her neighbor from Durham, NC would play on his stereo - Ray Charles, Mahalia Jackson, ...

From New Zealand to The Outer Banks Ruth Wyand is not just another “girl with a guitar”. The first thing you notice when you hear Ruth Wyand is her powerful guitar playing but within minutes you will also be captivated by her voice, her songs and her stories. A Ruth Wyand concert is a journey through American music. At age 11, Ruth would sit in her driveway in Atlantic City, NJ and listen to music her neighbor from Durham, NC would play on his stereo - Ray Charles, Mahalia Jackson, Billie Holliday. She picked out some of the riffs on her guitar, and was hooked on the blues forever. From playing in biker bars at age 15, to touring as an acoustic soloist in the US, England, and New Zealand, Ruth has charmed audiences with her skills at flat-picking and finger-picking. She was the first woman to win top honors at the Gamble Rogers Guitar Competition, and her ability to compose and sing as well makes her a stand-out in any musical line-up. Ruth has been invited to play at the Chet Atkins Guitar festival in Nashville for Mermer Guitars, the Newport Guitar Festival for Mermer Guitars, Linda Manzer Guitars and D’Ambrosio Guitars and at The Northeast Folk Alliance for The Martin Guitar Co. She has been a headliner at The South Florida Folk Festival, The Gamble Rodgers Folk Festival, The Aiken’s Music Festival and has taken home awards from several songwriting and guitar competitions. The South Florida Songwriter’s competition, The Hank Williams Songwriting Competition, Founder’s Folk and Bluegrass Festival’s performing/songwriter competition, The Gamble Rodger’s fingerstyle guitar competition, Walnut Valley Festival’s songwriter/performer competition, and the Philadelphia Folk Factory’s People’s Choice award. When she’s not on the road Ruth lives in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina where she runs a music school called The Carolinian Studio. She also presents a weekly music show called “Americana Then and Now”, one woman’s journey through America’s homegrown music; a multimedia concert where she plays songs from America’s most influential musicians, songwriters and singers.