Risa Rubin

Thirteen years ago, Risa Rubin was in the first grade, living with her Jewish-Republican parents, a comedy writer and a clothing designer, in their Laurel Canyon home. It was here, just blocks away from Joni Mitchell’s ‘Ladies of the Canyon’ house, that Rubin began singing and writing her own music, following in the footsteps of her idols Patsy Cline and Martina McBride. She began taking singing lessons, but her twin brother’s rage disorder halted her musical development. Fast forward ten years and she’d been accepted to UCLA as a photography major, had moved out of her parents’ house, and was taking vocal lessons, singing only soul and jazz standards. She was enamored with Nico. She spent class time writing songs, singing them in her head until she had the chance jot them down and take them to the studio where she’d been recording for six months. At this studio, she completed three soul songs, but ended up hating them so much that she swore off both soul music and UCLA, deciding to dedicate both her time and energy to finding her true sound.