Rick Gunn/Nevada Appeal Former Carson City resident and musician Amber Rubarth plays one of her songs at Comma Coffee. Just releasing her first CD, Rubarth will play at the Reno Hilton on Friday.
Something happened when Amber Rubarth put down her chain saw and picked up an acoustic guitar.
"Something New."
Not only is it the title of Rubarth's debut CD, but it was the theme the 22-year-old former wood sculptor took as her own when she dropped everything after three years of apprentice work and decided to carve out a new life as a musician.
Her music is vintage-by-design, allowing plenty of room for her voice to float over the clarion peaks and cruise the valleys of the genre.
Rubarth moved to Carson City out of high school, splitting wood at Timeless Sculptures and working at Red's Old 395 Grill in the evenings.
In three years she reached the level of journeyman status, "The only female in the studio to ever reach that level," Rubarth sid.
But after a long discussion with the studio's master sculptor, Matt Welter, about life and the importance of following your passion, Rubarth traded the buzz of her chain saw for the strum of an acoustic guitar and the fleshy tones of a piano.
"I wasn't really feeling it, and Welter told me that if you're not feeling it, you've got to figure out what you're feeling and go with it."
So she did.
"Music has always been my favorite thing in life," says Rubarth, who began playing piano by ear at the age of 3.
She went with her instinct and hasn't looked back.
"Everything clicked after I made that decision," she said.
"Here I was working more hours than before, but loving each minute increasingly more," she said.
In the two years since deciding to pursue music full-time, Rubarth has toured hard enough to make a carny faint, coast to coast, including stops at indie mainstays like The Knitting Factory in New York City.
For Rubarth, "Something New" means maybe not having an apartment but always having a Web site.
It's about promoting her romantically downsized vintage sound with cutting-edge marketing tools, like E-postcards, an ingenious way of spreading her music via her fans.
"I learned a lot about running a business in creative ways from Matt," she said.
Rubarth kicks off her "You and Me" tour Friday at The Garage in the Reno Hilton at 9 p.m.
n Contact reporter Peter Thompson at pthompson@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1215.
If you go
What: Songwriters' Showcase including Amber Rubarth and band. Also appearing: Jay Nash, Seth Horan and Joel Ackerson
When: 9 p.m. Friday
Where: The Garage, inside the Reno Hilton, 2500 E. Second St.
Cost: Free
Must be 21 or older
On the Net
www.amberrubarth.
com
