Hustle & Flow

Singer IveY Ruth Jones – Steps Into A New Unknown

Enjoying an IPA from Maltitude at Banks Food Hall after work, Ivey – such a future of Columbus rock ‘n roller she’s on a first-name basis with the scene – says she enjoys the rhythm of the freelance lifestyle, going between seasonal work as a self-professed river rat who “loves to show off Columbus” and a gigging musician.

“With both, it’s all Go! Go! Go! and then suddenly uncertainty. I think that’s the same cycle we experience throughout life. Me being the way I am – people like to use the word ‘free spirited’’ – I adapt better in that kind of environment.”

Her strong suit of adaptability is sure to come in handy as Ivey — already a seasoned vet at just 31 years of age — navigates uncharted water following her departure in May from a long-time collaboration with the Shelby Brothers.

One thing, however, is certain about Ivey’s next destination: You’ll hear her singing, committed as she ever is to her life-long passion for singing as self-expression and her passion in sharing original songs to resonate with us all.

“I think I feel more confident singing than I do when I’m talking,” Ivey explains. ” Because I know what’s going to come out when I sing is going to come out better than when I’m talking. I’ve always had a deep, raspy voice and my speech impediment was way stronger when I was younger. So I got made fun of for that.”

She wasn’t bullied to the point of being shy — “just feisty” — and leftover self-consciousness about her speaking voice is the reason she never talks to the audience while performing. Sing on stage for them, though? Yes, please. Belt out powerhouse vocals and heartfelt harmonies for a crowd? Absolutely.

“I came along with the typical Katy Perry story,” Ivey says. “What I mean is, when I was growing up, there were multiple female singers becoming famous that had all started out vocally expressing themselves in church. Then they stepped out all wild, like, ‘Okay, I’m a badass now.’.”

Lovingly calling her father, Rick Roper, “one of the kindest men you’ll ever meet,” Ivey says she was encouraged and lucky enough to sing with him since she was little. A family of 7 kids, the Ropers were first members of Edgewood Baptist before switching to Highland Church on Second Avenue, where her family has been ever since. During this time, as contemporary Christian music became more and more popular, Rick — who plays in the band Clarke and the Tom Petty cover band The Breakdowns — was the musician churches turned to when they started leading worship services with contemporary music. “I was 15 when I got comfortable enough and started getting out there on stage with him,” Ivey says.

Ivey’s voice proved good enough to earn a choir scholarship to Chattahoochee Valley Community College (CVCC). However, her unbridled style of vocal expression turned out to be the radical square peg in the restrictive round hole of academia.

“I always felt confident in the choir,” she remembers, “But when it came to voice classes, I’d get up there and try to sing an Adele song, which is going to be deep as hell. I would always feel very out of the box. Getting critiqued was never fun. I’d be like, ‘This is not what I like about music. I just want to sing.” Getting torn down daily isn’t what music is about. It’s all a feeling. I sing on tune (and sometimes out of tune), because it’s what I feel, it’s not what I was ‘trained’ to do.”

She cites Celine Dion as a favorite. “I’ve always been very intrigued by her; I never understood how a tiny woman had a range that big and with that much control,” she recalls. Other early influences include the Beach Boys and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young “teaching me how to do harmonies.” Ivey admits she doesn’t like Katy Perry all that much but did have an initial infatuation with a band called Eisley before falling head over heels “love sick” for Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant and Jimmy Page.

Although being a mother is her favorite thing of all, “It’s hard, very hard sometimes,” Ivey says about balancing her role as a parent of four while still pursuing her dreams as an artist. “I am insanely lucky and blessed to have my family, my parents and my partner. They’re all very supportive. And I think it helps having a dad who’s a musician – that was his dream as well, and my mother watching and supporting my father having that dream. It’s really cool to see them come together to support me too.”

Ivey has released two official singles under her name. The first, “Drowning My Good” — co-written with Jesse Shelby (available on YouTube) – was inspired from Ivey summing up her low-point shitty day in a text with “I feel like my mind is drowning out anything good.” The second, “This is Me,” was originally written by her father.

She records flashes of lyrical inspiration with notes on her phone and is currently composing lyrics about a daughter finally learning her mother’s lessons. She’s also “having discussions” with local and surrounding musicians about “dabbling” in new sounds with new line-ups.

Ivey is committed to following her musical dreams, no matter where it takers her. Truly Ivey’s muse is the journey , not the destination. “Would I like to be famous? Do I think I’ll ever be a Taylor Swift? End up singing back-up vocals for CeeLo Green or something like that?” she asks.

“If that happened, that would be great. I just genuinely love music. It’s one of the main things I can do to feel confident and [to feel] that I’m in the space where I am supposed to be. I connect the most with the universe when I’m singing. I taught myself early on to not get disappointed when things let you down. I’m from a family of seven kids, so that teaches you that you can’t have too many expectations, ‘you can’t always get what you want,’” she says, borrowing a quip from the Rolling Stones. “You have to be loose and limber as far as what’s going to happen in the future”.

We look forward to seeing where this ever winding road takes her.

To join along on Ivey’s journey, follow her on Instagram at @IveYRuthMusic and enjoy her songs anywhere you listen to music.

By Frank Etheridge

COVER IMAGE BY JESS JONES @jessjonesboudoir