Ive made the decision to take Outlander off iTunes and other digital stores for a while.  The reason is that I would like to sell only on Bandcamp and see if this results as something better for business.  iTunes and other stores were taking too much cut from these downloads.  Bandcamp doesnt charge and on top of that you can choose how much you will pay for the download.  So if you wanted to help out more, you could.  Sorry for the inconvenience and feel free to share you comments and thoughts.

Here is a link to the website:

BUY CD USING BANDCAMP

Ciao to all,

I just finished the summer tour.  Buskers Bern, was by far the greatest of shows.  Playing with the Los Soneros de Cuba.  Some of the greatest Cuban musicians.  Buskers Bern is more like a musicians marathon.  Pretty much non stop, for three days.  This is a buskers festival, but unlike any other street festival ever seen.  People from all over the world come to play there.  One of my favorites was ALHOUSSEINI ANIVOLLA – Desert Blues.  The band and I, enjoyed greatly the crowds in these shows.  I am so thankful to have had this band and all the fans there.  Here are a couple of pictures from the shows:

ENJOY!

Feels like a long time since I last wrote in my blog.  There has been so much that has gone on in my mind and out of my mind also.  But as I say “I’d rather be out of my mind, than in it”.  I dreamt of writing a song that would be sung by a woman that looked more like a man, but even in my dream I wasnt really sure.  Then there was the recording in Miami, I had to leave the completion date open for now.  Since mid february, I have been focusing on focusing.  I have decided to put on hold projects to focus on things closer to home.  Projects that are in Torino.  Even though playing in Madrid once a month was great for experience, and I shared some of the greatest times with the greatest players, it wasnt reaching a level of satisfaction that I thought would have been achieved over sometime.  And thats a big reason for my moving on, even though I thought a lot more could have gotten done.  Right now, I am writing an emense amount of music, and doing many collaborations with people in Torino, where support is strong and the weather now is sunny and motivating.  Ive been playing with the band, Bad Raggazzz, also with Gaia Mobilij, the accordion players and a fiddle player, Marco Getzo, also with Matteo Castellano, collaborating on theatre shows and a Pianist name Juan Carlos, that plays a great cuban style piano.    With all this and plenty of gigs coming up, I would say, there is enough on my plate right now.  Keep in touch and speak soon!  Leave comments if you’d like … — SOL

Ciao a tutti!

Tomorrow I will be on my way to Miami to start recording with Bobby MacIntyre.  Very Excited!!

I have put together this kickstarter program to raise funds.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/262320811/sol-ruizs-second-studio-album

Here is a bit what it is about:

I got it all ready, the studio, the producer, the musicians, the ideas, the songs, now, all I need is your help!  I’m putting the hat out.  For the past three years I have been on a musical odyssey that has brought me across the Atlantic, finally, to the old country of Europe.  Enjoying the cobble-stoned streets, the traditional music , and the wonderful people I have met both in performances and picturesque plazas.   I’ve thrown away all my belongings, except my guitar, to fit everything into a duffle bag to be here.

After sleeping in train compartments, living in communes and joining gypsy caravans,  I’m now ready to tell my stories of wanderlust and the rollercoaster vertigo of life on the road.   Inspired by the encouragement of Bobby MacIntyre, the producer from my last record Outlander, which will share his creative juices to make a great sounding record, using technology that incorporates analog and digital recording.   Together we’ve come up with a cohesive set of ten songs that represent me in these past 3 years.  The process will take one month and a half  and will include a handful of extremely gifted musicians and studio engineers that have already offered their talents for the record.

With your pledge I will be able to complete my second studio album.  I know that it seems like a lot of money, but consider that now adays we dont have that big label to do everything for us, we gotta do everything on our own, paying the studio, musicians, mixing the tracks on the CD, and mastering, CD Art and the list goes on.  This is just the basic amount to get the CD into motion and into YOUR hands.  Here’s a way that you can be a big help to the creative process and give something back to the music you believe in. I am asking you to donate, with whatever means possible, so we can get this record into motion and out into the wide world!

Me estoy preparando para irme a Alemania a tocar con el grupo.  Que por ahora vamos a decir que se llama Gibber Jabber.  Estoy muy feliz de tocar allí por primera vez.  Toco en un festival de calle.  Y seguro que va ser una buena aventura.  Vamos en el VW que, bueno, no esta en las mejores condiciones para viajar pero seguro que lleguemos.  Esperamos en un pedazo.  Las cosas van bien .  Todo este verano hemos tocado, yo y la banda por mucha de Europa.  Empezando con Italia, mi nueva querida base.  También, tocando con Los Picadillos, un grupo de música fusión de Madrid.  Empecé a tocar con ellos hace dos anos y ahora están caminando mas las cosas, estamos haciendo un disco juntos, que esta muy rico para basilar.  Quiero también tocan en Miami, y puede ser que hacemos unas cosas por allí.  Toque en London, Switzerland y Sardenia, isla bella bella.  Ahora en Alemania.  Y me da mucho placer conocer todos que eh conocido por el camino. También eh compartido el escenario con músicos bravisimis. Ahora, espero el otoño que, bueno, se pone frió, y toco en Barcelona, que por lo menos no hace tanto frió.  Hasta las quince y las dieciséis.

Im now in Madrid, where I am working on a record with some really great

and talented people.   The record is a mix of Cuban music and New Orleans vibe.

The group is called Picadillo.  Which is a typical Cuban dish, basically groud beaf,

with tomato sauce, and what ever else you got.  Say raisins,eggs, olives and potatoe.

That would go in.  So basically the group is like this.  We’ve grabbed a little from here

and from there to make a really special album.   I play some gigs here for now

and then I back off to Italy for reheasal for the shows in Switzerland and Chieti.

Playing at The Cuban Bar in Camden, London … The first Cuban to play at this bar … t’was an honor …