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Ruth Ungar Merenda was born February 19, 1976, in
Mount Kisco, New York Mount Kisco is a village and town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The town of Mount Kisco is coterminous with the village. The population was 10,959 at the 2020 United States census over 10,877 at the 2010 census. It serves as a ...
. She is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who plays fiddle,
ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...
and guitar. She is the daughter of fiddler/composer
Jay Ungar Jay Ungar (born November 14, 1946) is an American folk musician and composer. Life and career Ungar was born in the Bronx, New York City. He frequented Greenwich Village music venues during his formative period in the 1960s. In the late 1960s, ...
and singer Lyn Hardy and a graduate of
Bard College Bard College is a private liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains, and is within the Hudson River Historic District—a National Historic Landmark. Founded in 18 ...
in
Annandale-on-Hudson, New York Annandale-on-Hudson is a hamlet in Dutchess County, New York, United States, located in the Hudson Valley town of Red Hook, across the Hudson River from Kingston. The hamlet consists mainly of the Bard College campus. Municipal services Emergen ...
. Her song ''Four Blue Walls'', inspired by the play ''Danny and the Deep Blue Sea'' by
John Patrick Shanley John Patrick Shanley (born October 13, 1950) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and director. He won the 1988 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the film '' Moonstruck''. His play, '' Doubt: A Parable'', won the 2005 Pulitzer ...
was recorded by Canadian band
The Duhks The Duhks are a Canadian folk fusion band, formed in 2002 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Featuring banjo, fiddle, guitar, percussion, and vocals, The Duhks blend folk music together with various Canadian and American traditional styles, includ ...
, on their eponymous 2005 album produced by
Béla Fleck Béla Anton Leoš Fleck (born July 10, 1958) is an American banjo player. An acclaimed virtuoso, he is an innovative and technically proficient pioneer and ambassador of the banjo, bringing the instrument from its bluegrass roots to jazz, classi ...
and
Gary Paczosa Gary Paczosa is an audio engineer, producer and A&R rep for Sugar Hill Records. He has been nominated 11 times for the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. He is best known for working with Alison Krauss and Dolly Parton nume ...
. Her song ''Simple and Sober'' was recorded by Lindsay Lou on her 2018 album Southland. /sup> Ungar resides in the Hudson Valley of NY State with her husband Michael J. Merenda, Jr and their two children, Willy and Opal Merenda. The couple produce a bi-annual music festival at the
Ashokan Center The Ashokan Center (formerly the Ashokan Field Campus, listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) as the Ashokan Field Campus Historic District is an outdoor education, conference, and retreat center located in the Catskill Mountai ...
called The Hoot which they launched in 2013.


Bands

Ungar and
Merenda Merienda is a light meal in southern Europe, particularly Spain (merenda in Galician, berenar in Catalan), Portugal (lanche or merenda) and Italy (merenda), as well as Hispanic America, Philippines (meryenda/merienda), North Africa (Morocco), ...
perform as the duo Mike + Ruthy and as founding members of the folk-rock band
The Mammals The Mammals are a contemporary folk rock band based in the Hudson Valley area of New York, in the United States. The band tours internationally and consists of founding members and principal songwriters Mike Merenda (guitar, banjo) and Ruth U ...
. They also both appear with the
Jay Ungar Jay Ungar (born November 14, 1946) is an American folk musician and composer. Life and career Ungar was born in the Bronx, New York City. He frequented Greenwich Village music venues during his formative period in the 1960s. In the late 1960s, ...
and
Molly Mason Molly Mason is an American musician and composer and performs as a duo Jay & Molly with her husband Jay Ungar. Jay's composition, Ashokan Farewell, became the title theme of Ken Burns' The Civil War on PBS. The soundtrack won a Grammy and Ashoka ...
Family Band. From 2005 to 2009 Ungar also recorded and performed in the trio
Sometymes Why Sometymes Why is an American Folk Noir group, formed in 2005 by Kristin Andreassen, Aoife O'Donovan, and Ruth Ungar. Its members all live in New York City, though the band tours frequently, at festivals such as Bonnaroo. The band has released t ...
(2005–2009) with
Kristin Andreassen Kristin Andreassen is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, dancer, old time musician and educator. Currently based in Nashville, Tennessee, she started her music career as a professional clogger with Footworks Percussive Dance E ...
of
Uncle Earl Uncle Earl is an American old-time music group, formed in 2000 by KC Groves and Jo Serrapere. Currently the lineup consists of four women, all of whom share vocal duties: KC Groves, Kristin Andreassen, Abigail Washburn, and Rayna Gellert. They ...
and
Aoife O'Donovan Aoife O'Donovan ( , ; born November 18, 1982) is an American singer and Grammy award-winning songwriter. She is best known as the lead singer for the string band Crooked Still and she also co-founded the Grammy Award-winning female folk trio I'm ...
of
Crooked Still Crooked Still is an American band consisting of vocalist Aoife O'Donovan, banjo player Gregory Liszt, bassist Corey DiMario, cellist Tristan Clarridge and fiddler Brittany Haas. They are known for their high energy, technical skill, unusual in ...
.


Discography


Solo

*''Jukebox'' (2002)


The Mammals

*''Born Live'' (2001) *''Evolver'' (2002) *''Migration'' (EP) (2004) *''Rock That Babe'' (2004) *''Departure'' (2006) *''Sunshiner'' (2018)


Sometymes Why

*''Sometymes Why'' (2005) *''Your Heart is a Glorious Machine'' (2009)


Mike + Ruthy

* ''The Honeymoon Agenda ''(2008) * ''Waltz of the Chickadee ''(2009) * ''Million to One ''(2010) * ''The NYC EP ''(2012)


The Mike + Ruthy Band

* ''Bright as You Can'' (2015)


Dances

At the age of twelve, she wrote the
Contra dance Contra dance (also contradance, contra-dance and other variant spellings) is a form of folk dancing made up of long lines of couples. It has mixed origins from English country dance, Scottish country dance, and French dance styles in the 17th ...
''The Wizard's Walk.'' It is set to music by the same name composed by her father
Jay Ungar Jay Ungar (born November 14, 1946) is an American folk musician and composer. Life and career Ungar was born in the Bronx, New York City. He frequented Greenwich Village music venues during his formative period in the 1960s. In the late 1960s, ...
.


References


External links

*
Mike + Ruthy

The Mammals

Sometymes Why
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ungar, Ruth 1976 births Living people American folk musicians American multi-instrumentalists American fiddlers American folk singers American harmonica players Jewish American musicians Singers from New York City Jewish folk singers 21st-century American singers 21st-century American violinists Sometymes Why members 21st-century American Jews Singer-songwriters from New York (state)