August 30, 2026

Ruby Dice Delivers Her Love Letter to Austin

It was only a few years ago when it felt like writing a love letter to the Austin music scene would be almost an impossibility.

Instead, one might might be inclined to pen a eulogy, or an obituary, or a reminder to the last musician or venue owner leaving town to turn the lights out behind them. But it feels a bit different now. Post pandemic and with a renewed interest on the creative arts scene, shoots of life and vitality seem to be springing up all over town, and a new generation of musicians are looking to return the Live Music Capital of the World to its previous glory, and leave their personal stamp on it.

This is what the Austin Chronicle‘s reigning “Best Bassist” Ruby Dice is looking to do with her latest album called Take Me Back released on August 28th. A robustly collaborative album, it sees dice singing, writing, and playing with acclaimed Austin artists like Kevin Russell of Shinyribs, Suzanna Choffel, Nakia, Jordan Matthew Young, Grey Horse, Sean McHargue of The Ransom Brothers, Garret Jay Brown, Bri Bagwell, and Sophia Johnson among others.

Though Take Me Back has its country and roots moments, it’s more an amalgam of musical sounds, just like like Austin is. The cohesiveness of the experience comes from its Austin roots, including much of the writing that refers directly to the town, from naming off many of its landmarks, famous stars and institutions, to ribbing some of the town’s more … well, inauthentic aspects, like on the song “Cosplay Cowboy.” Originally from Gunnison, Colorado herself, Ruby Dice has made Austin her home, and Austin has made Ruby part of its house band.

Ruby Dice and her collaborators envisioned Take Me Back to be much more than “just” an album though. They also filmed a 20-minute documentary about the making of the album, directed by Austin musician and filmmaker on the upcoming multi-part They Called Us Outlaws documentary, Boone Carter. On Saturday, August 29th, Ruby Dice, her band, and many of the albums collaborators all joined forces at The 04 Center—a part-time Methodist church, part time music venue (only in Austin)—to present this love letter to Austin music they composed.

Austin native Suzanna Choffel opened the show with half a dozen songs, “She’s not from here, but she got here as quickly as she could,” Choffel said of Dice. “And I love how she just quickly caught on to what Austin is and what it means to us and our music community. And she really just hit it perfectly.”

Choffel was followed by the presentation of the documentary of the album. Then Ruby Dice and her band consisting of Calloway Ritch on guitar, Jeff Sanders on drums and percussion, and David Thacker on keys backed a host of the album’s collaborators as they took turns on stage performing the album’s ten tracks. It truly was a cross section of Austin talent, from Grey Horse who quite literally rode a horse to the gig (see below), to Sean McHargue and Garrett Jay Brown playing guitar, to Suzanna Choffel and Nakia singing harmonies.

The show ended with everyone coming back up on stage to sing the album’s title track, “Take Me Back.” And due to the recent news, they finished off the night with a rendition of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.”

Austin music still has plenty of challenges to face, struggles to endure, over-development to worry about, and adversities to overcome. But artists like Ruby Dice are leading not following, using their music to uplift and highlight others, and are utilizing projects like Take Me Back to help push Austin music forward.

– – – – – – – – –