C. Ruth Ascending

In a brand new song, for his upcoming project C. Ruth & the Mango Street Trio, Charles Ruth brings forward the idea of an eagle with a crow on its back, pecking at its neck. The eagle doesn’t fight back, it simply ascends to an altitude where the air is too thin for the crow to withstand, forcing it to fall away. This analogy is one Ruth feels close to in his pursuit of a peaceful, meaningful life. 

Charles Ruth was born and raised in Nigeria. His father was a military general and his mother, a nurse. In 2007, while Ruth was 14 years old and away at boarding school, his father was politically assassinated. As the first born son of a targeted military general, there were legitimate concerns about his own life being in danger. Shortly after the assassination, a recruitment agent from UPEI happened to visit the high school Charles was attending. This put Prince Edward Island on their radar and gave his mother the idea to arrange for Charles to relocate, and through this chain of events, Charles arrived. 

He spent a few years trying to find a groove, somewhat unsure what direction his life should take. He tried his own stint in the military with a brief trial training, but ultimately decided it wasn’t for him. He was carrying around a lot of frustration, but around this time his perspectives started to shift. Just as he was starting to find his way in Canada, his mother fell ill and passed away in 2016. He was 23, and this hit him hard, but his drive to combat the pain and settle into peaceful, joyful living was pushing its way through and thankfully, it would not be held back any longer. 

In 2019, Charles started writing his thoughts and feelings down, and organically, this is where his music journey began. It was an exercise in patience and surrender, but one that was filling his soul with new life. He was moving out of his own way and the songs started to pour out as if they belonged in his timeline. He was after contagious good feelings in the tone, flow, confidence, and sonics, but wasn’t shy about the darker nature of the words. He understood that it was okay to have fun and still feel his pain. He writes from experience, giving the world an outward take on his inward world. This is truly a process of self discovery, and for Charles, it is constantly in motion. 

Charles spends his days working for a small organic food service called Growers Station Inc, and he is also running a small business called Umbrella House PEI that markets and sells spray free sweet potatoes, grown by Raymond and Nora Dorgan at Westech Agriculture in Alberton, PE. His experience with the farming community of PEI has given him a heightened sense of the beauty and wisdom that comes with slow Island living. It contributes to and pairs very well with Charles’ soft and kind human nature. 

On the musical horizon, his new endeavour, C. Ruth & the Mango Street Trio (Charles, Chris Chisholm, Danika Poirier, Ivan Garnica), will release a single from their new EP in late May. They have also been invited to perform at NXNE in Toronto in June. 

C. Ruth is ascending.