Ruby Throat

Ruby Throat formed in 2007 during the time in which KatieJane Garside's band Queenadreena was in stages of dissolution. Garside met Whittingham, an American from Hawaii{{cite web|url=http://wickedspinsradio.org/wsr2012/ruby-throat-interview/|work=Wicked Spin Radio|title=Ruby Throat Interview|date=16 September 2013|accessdate=1 October 2015}} while he was busking at a train platform in the London Underground, and asked him to collaborate with her on a musical project.{{cite web|url=http://blogcritics.org/music-review-ruby-throat-the-ventriloquist/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151005044802/http://blogcritics.org/music-review-ruby-throat-the-ventriloquist/|archivedate=5 October 2015|work=Blog Critics|title=Music Review: Ruby Throat – The Ventriloquist|date=9 September 2009|author=Perkins, Jeff|accessdate=1 October 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://www.adequacy.net/2010/06/interview-with-ruby-throat/|work=Delusions of Adequacy|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822015501/http://www.adequacy.net/2010/06/interview-with-ruby-throat/|archivedate=22 August 2017|date=9 June 2009|accessdate=1 October 2015|title=Interview with Ruby Throat|url-status=usurped|author=Dan, Jen}}

Known for the hard-edged musical aesthetic of Garside's former bands Daisy Chainsaw and Queenadreena, Garside sought a stripped down, folk-oriented sound when forming Ruby Throat, with many of the duo's songs being based around acoustic guitar, and evoking a folk noir sound.{{cite web|url=http://ayearinthecountry.co.uk/day-44365-katie-jane-garside-ruby-throat-delicate-artifacts/|work=A Year in the Country|title=Day #44/365: Katie Jane Garside, Ruby Throat, and Delicate Artifacts|accessdate=1 October 2015|date=13 February 2014}}

The duo's first release was The Ventriloquist (2007). The album was well-received, and critics drew comparisons to the work of PJ Harvey and others.{{cite web|url=http://www.popmatters.com/review/94281-ruby-throat-the-ventriloquist/|work=PopMatters|title=Ruby Throat: The Ventriloquist|date=18 June 2008|author=Martin, Erin Lyndal|accessdate=2 October 2015}} PopMatters said of the album: "Garside’s breathy, nearly childlike voice is the dominant element of The Ventriloquist, gentle acoustic guitars and lap steels setting the stage for her voice. Despite the somber lyrical themes, this is a clear heir to the lineage of ethereal makeout albums like those from Mazzy Star and the Cocteau Twins."

This was followed by a Tour EP and Out of a Black Cloud Came a Bird (2009), their second studio album, which featured a cover of "Nothing" by Townes Van Zandt. To promote the record, the duo embarked on their first tour of the United States, performing shows in New York City, Oregon, California, and Washington.

In 2012, they released their third studio album, O' Doubt O' Stars, which was written and recorded while the duo were sailing on the Lea River and North London waterways.{{cite web|url=http://www.popmatters.com/review/160573-ruby-throat-odoubt-ostars/|work=PopMatters|title=Ruby Throat: O'Doubt O'Stars|author=Spoerl, Stephen|date=14 August 2012|accessdate=1 October 2015}} PopMatters said of the album: "Beginning with the quietly devastating epic "Stone Dress", it's clear that O' Doubt O' Stars is aiming for something uncompromising and original. The fact that it succeeds in accomplishing this as much as it does is no small feat and makes it worthy of any accolades it will (and should) receive." Each of the group's releases have receive hand-crafted packaging, artwork, and sometimes personal handwritten lyrics and other accompaniments from Garside.

Garside and partner Whittingham spent 2012 living on their yacht, Iona.{{cite web|url=http://www.westbriton.co.uk/Yacht-survives-storm/story-16364260-detail/story.html|work=West Briton|title=Yacht survives after storm|date=14 June 2012|accessdate=1 October 2015|author=West Briton Staff}} In 2014 they released a new song, a cover of "Secret Fires" by The Gun Club, which appeared on the third Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions compilation Axels & Sockets.{{cite web|title=VARIOUS ARTISTS – AXELS & SOCKETS: THE JEFFREY LEE PIERCE SESSIONS PROJECT|url=http://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/axels-sockets-the-jeffrey-lee-pierce-sessions-project|website=recordcollectormag.com|accessdate=30 July 2014}} It was announced on 1 August 2014 that Ruby Throat's fourth album would be called Baby Darling Toporo,{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/groups/153214141395073/?fref=ts|author=Allen, Amy-Louise|title=??|via=Facebook|accessdate=30 April 2015|quote="...meanwhile RUBY THROAT pick up their broken shells; and ask the wind to quiet down, 4th album 'BABY DARLING TAPORO' soon come, we can hear a thread of music in our hair..."}} eventually released in 2017.

Ruby Throat released Stone Dress in 2018, a compilation of some of the band's favorite tracks from the last 4 albums along with a bonus CD titled Liar, Flower. The duo went on to release the 2020 album Geiger Counter under the new moniker Liar, Flower.{{Cite web|url=https://www.chaoscontrol.com/katiejane-garside-interview-liar-flower/|title=KatieJane Garside (Ex-Daisy Chainsaw ) re-embraces noise with liar, flower|date=13 May 2020}}

• KatieJane Garside – vocals
• Chris Whittingham – backing vocals, guitar, mandolin, lap steel guitar, sitar

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{{KatieJane Garside}}

Category:English alternative rock groups

Category:English folk musical groups

Category:English musical duos

Category:Freak folk

Category:Musical groups established in 2007

Category:Rock music groups from London

Category:Folk music duos