Shooting Star - Ruby Friedman

Listen to the full audio story

Download the MP3

Ruby Friedman is a tall, curvy redhead who favors big heels and small dresses. On stage, she's a dish. But much more important is what happens when she opens her mouth. She belts, she whispers, she screams and she yowls, and the audience is enraptured -- whether she's sitting in with a jazz band in Studio City or fronting her own Ruby Friedman Orchestra in Hollywood and beyond.

Everyone who's ever seen her comes away floored -- but can she get the music industry to wake up?

Sitting in the small Miracle Mile apartment she shares with her boyfriend, music critic Chris Morris, the two explain: it's not her. It's you. Friedman says her shows are filled with fans from the industry. "But I think they're scared!" she says, and she giggles. The Ruby Friedman Orchestra is too unlike what the industry has seen before, and they're just not sure what to do with it. She talks about the shallowness of Hollywood. "This is the most superficial town on the planet!" she exclaims. "You think the A&R people are looking for good music? They're not looking for good music!" Morris chimes in as well. "They're looking for a package. They're looking for a package. OK?"

Morris has been covering the music industry for 25 years, and says Friedman is doing everything right. Although it's somewhat frowned upon for a musician to take her own meetings -- management should be doing that for her, while she hides herself away in a proper ladylike manner -- Friedman has been meeting with interested labels. She's organized a UK tour for this summer. Her band's song, "Shooting Star," was used in commercials for "America's Got Talent." Now all they can do, Morris says, is keep working, "and keep praying, too."