AR: The Orange [AD200B] is new.
I chose it for the City and Colour
Canadian arena tour. It pairs really
well with my Rickenbacker. Jack
Lawrence’s bass parts in a lot of
Dallas’s newer recordings are
lead-y and need to cut through all
the dark, washy guitars and that rig
was the one.
CM: Even in the last year or so,
you’ve shared the studio and
stage with a very diverse group
of artists from different styles,
eras, etc. Generally speaking,
how do you decide which proj-
ects to take on, and whether or
not it’s a good fit on all sides?
Anna Ruddick
An in-demand session and
touring bass player, Anna
Ruddick has performed on
dozens of recordings with
the likes of Randy Bachman,
Bry Webb, Wintersleep, Paul
Reddick, and Whitehorse
and taken the stage along-
side City and Colour, Serena
Ryder, Meghan Patrick, Ian
Blurton, and many others.
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Rickenbacker 1976 Model
4000
Fender Japanese ‘62 Re-
issue 1990s Jazz Bass
w/ Heavy Mods
Traynor YBA 300 Head
Traynor 4x10 Cabinet
Orange AD200B Head
(Black)
Orange 8x10 Cab (Black)
Nice Rack Canada Custom
Pedalboard w/ all
effects routed through
Eventide H9
MXR Phaser
MXR Bass Compressor
CM: What’s the most recent piece
you’ve added to your rig and
how did it earn the spot?
52 CANADIAN MUSICIAN
AR: I think at this stage of my ca-
reer, if a producer or artist asks me
to play on a record, they know what
they’re going to get ‘cause they did
their research and that’s why they
chose me. I can’t remember the last
time I turned down a record unless
it was when I was giving birth. Even
then I only took a few weeks off on
either end. I am very happy to be
in demand at a job I love. Making
records is the best part of this job
by a landslide. In terms of diversity,
you have to be diverse to do this
job if you want to make a living at
it, and then you have to sound like
you in every genre. I think I have
that nailed.
In terms of touring and playing
live, I’m a lot more strategic and
there are a lot more questions I will
ask before I take something on.
CM: I remember chatting with
producer/engineer Eric Ratz
(Billy Talent, Arkells) while you
were in-studio working on Mise
en Scene’s album. How does the
fact that you get to collaborate
with so many gifted and accom-
plished producers, engineers,
and fellow musicians on vari-
ous sessions contribute to your
growth as a musician?
AR: That is a good question with
a very long answer, so maybe I’ll
go back to the start. Being a ses-
sion player is kind of a rare thing
because to be really good at it,
you need a lot of hours doing it
and it’s tough to accomplish that
‘cause you won’t get hired unless
you know how to do the job well
enough. What you need in any art
form is for someone established to
believe in your skills and help you
hone them quickly and that’s how I
got here.
One of the first records I made
was with [producer] Colin Cripps.
He quickly sensed that I had a
talent for playing on record and
brought me in for a pile of records
he produced in the years following.
We always worked at The Bathouse
in Kingston and I met so many of
my best friends and favourite col-
leagues through that job and really
found my community. I worked
for almost nothing on those early
sessions to be able to learn how to
crush the job. That was invaluable
and it absolutely worked, and some
of those records are still impressive
to me. Since then, I have played on
about 40 records with many differ-
ent producers.
CM: I remember Randy Bachman
talking at length about the syn-
ergy of the rhythm section for
his album Heavy Blues, which
featured you and Dale Anne
Brendon behind the kit. In your
experience, what are the key
ingredients for a killer collabora-
tion between drums and bass?
AR: My favourite drummer to
play with at the moment is Glenn
Milchem. For the past three-plus
years, we have done quite a few
sessions but we have also been
recording and touring together
with two very different artists: Erin
Costelo and Ian Blurton. They are
the two most brilliant artists I have
ever played with on a consistent
basis. One is understated jazzy soul
music, the other is prog metal. The
fact that we have learned to go be-
tween these dramatically opposing
genres seamlessly has made us
very strong as a rhythm section.