Sol Ruiz's New Album Promises Postcolonial, Horny Cuban Blues

​"Playing in Cuba was more than just a gig," says postcolonial and quirky acoustic songstress Sol Ruiz. "It was spiritual. It brought meaning to my existence."

In keeping with the passionate reverence she expresses toward performing music in the ancestral homeland that she has long been barred from visiting, everything Ruiz does - play guitar, sing, or expound on the socio-political themes that inspire her music - is executed with forceful vigor.

Of course, bleeding hearts can be hard to patch. And sometimes, like at one of her engagements while on the island, it can be hard to hold back the overflow.

Ruiz recalls proudly, "I sang in one of the clubs, 'Yo quiero toda mi gente, free. Yo quiero mi cuba, free.' I think that maybe I could have gotten in trouble. But I was willing to risk that."



Luckily, she wasn't thrown into a secret prison and she's returned to Miami to record her first suite of music since 2009's Outlander. And like many musicians trying to hack out a living in the contemporary entertainment industry, this Cuban blues muse has launched an online Kickstarter campaign to help fund the release.

While lyrically fusing the activist-artist model of feminist folk rockers like Ani Difranco with the cuter, hornier ramblings of indie-folks like Kimya Dawson, Ruiz's upbeat, sunny music and sassy classic jazz vocals ultimately recall another coy South Florida strummer: Rachel Goodrich. Just Cuban and pissed, downer and dirtier.

The question becomes, how do you balance yours politics and your partying? "I think everything is political," Ruiz says. "Being a woman and playing music is saying something in and of itself. "But," she continues, clarifying, "music doesn't always have to be heady or serious. Most of my next album is comedy."

Looks like the answer is: with a sense of humor.

Sol Ruiz's Album Fundraiser. Friday, February 10. PAX, 337 SW Eighth St., Miami. The show starts at 9 p.m. and tickets cost $10. Call 305-640-5847 or visit paxmiami.com.

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