About Mr. Rues
Hello, I’m
Mr. Rues and I thought you might like to know a little about my background. I
got a Bachelors in Mathematics at the University of North Texas
in 1999 (Yes, I’m a Cowboys fan). Immediately after I graduated, I moved with
my wife and 7 year old daughter to the Alaskan Bush to teach Eskimos. We were
located in a remote corner of the Alaskan tundra called the Yukon Kuskakwim
delta. Our village was called Chevak, and the Eskimos there were Chup’ik, an
offshoot of the Yup’ik nation. There were no roads in our village, and you had
to fly in by single-prop bush plane. Here’s
a Google Earth photo. There were about 700 people in our little village. The
temperature was at times lower than -60 degrees farenheit, and with wind
gusting at up to 100 miles per hour, there were times that to go outside for
any amount of time meant certain death. We feared a house fire more than
anything – after all, you couldn’t stay and you sure couldn’t leave. In the winter,
we had about 22 hours of darkness per day, with a sort of false dawn that
happened around 11:30 am and went back to dark around 12:30pm.
We left Alaska after 2 years and bought a motor home in Seattle. We then spent
the next year and a half traveling across the US, trying to find the perfect
place to live. We visited 46 states and had a great time learning about the
wonderful country we are so blessed to live in. Durring that time, I wrote a
horror/fantasy novel called “The Blackberry King.” I am currently trying to
find a publisher. My current project is recording the novel as an audio-book so
I can donate it to the blind. You have no idea how difficult it is to read
something completely perfectly – it can be quite frustrating. My next project
will be a memoir about my experiences in the Alaskan Bush.
When we
arrived in N.W. Arkansas, it was only a few months before I met someone who was
forming a bluegrass band. I mentioned that I had played many years before in Texas with an
accomplished banjo player, and I was in the band. Even though I was a guitar
player, they needed a bass player and so I became a bass player. We became the
band Wildwood. Over the course of our four
years as a band, we matured and became more proficient at our instruments. In
time we were regularly playing such Dickson
Street hotspots as Chester’s, The Gypsy, Dave’s on Dickson,
George’s Majestic Lounge, and The Powerhouse. Eventually, we did three Colorado tours, two Eastern tours, and we were regularly
playing in Kansas City, Tulsa,
Little Rock, Joplin,
Springfield, Ft.
Smith, as well as Fayetteville
and Springdale.
We were featured of Pulic Television’s AETN Presents, which aired state-wide,
but our high point
was on the radio. We had the honor of playing on Public Radio International’s
“Whad’ya Know” with Michael Feldman. There were over 1.5 million listeners
worldwide! We sold a few CDs after that one. As a band, we produced two albums.
Both were nominated “Album of the year,” but only one actually won. We also
garnered numerous other awards at the Ozark Music Awards and the Northwest
Arkansas Music Awards, including “Band of the Year,” “Song of the Year,”
“Vocalist of the Year” and so forth. We were inducted into the NAMA Hall of Fame
after winning “Best Americanna/Folk Band’ for the third year in a row. Click here
for some pictures. Click here
for some songs to download. Now that I’m teaching full time again, I am no
longer touring with the band, but I am currently at work on my first solo
album, which should be done before the end of this school year. If you have any
other questions or would like to know more, feel free to email me here.
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