Little Ruru album to be released next month

Songwriter, singer and player Richard Littlejohn from Brunswick, near Whanganui.

Little Ruru the album will be released on December 6 across digital platforms by the band Little Ruru, with 12 original songs.

Richard Littlejohn - songwriter, singer, and player - is mostly an acoustic musician, a Whanganui local, and has been an osteopath for 30 years.

He recorded and mixed the debut album in his Brunswick studio near Whanganui.

Littlejohn spent time in London between 1988-90 doing a recording course. He was playing music, all original, in London for a time.

“It was a good opportunity to play original music,” he said.

“We’ve got a lot of artists here and good musicians. We’ve got really talented people in the city.

The album cover and Sigil were designed by Charlotte Ross-Harris.

Album

“Little Ruru is the name of the band and the album. I’ve recorded this album with a local band we put together for it.

”I’m a self-taught musician, they’re all classically trained - there are five of us altogether. We’re all friends and it’s been a great project.

“The album has taken at least three years to put together, with some being written during the pandemic.

" It is bringing together my influences of folk, alternative rock, and indie.

“Entirely self-produced, recorded, and mixed over the last three years at Quartermoon Studio, and mastered by Matt Eller at Evoke Audio in Auckland. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I loved creating it.

“As a band, we did Mountain Rock in the early 90s at the Gorge near Woodville with Dave Dobbin there,” said Littlejohn.

Michael Franklin-Browne is a well-known drummer and session musician. He is the drummer for Pluto and Head Like a Hole.

“He’s brought great rhythm to the album,” said Littlejohn. “All the musicians have brought their various talents.

“Fred Loveridge, the well-known musician in Whanganui, has done some of the guitar work with some signature electric work. On the song Two Sides, he plays classical guitar for a Spanish sound.

“Brent Holt is on keyboards and piano - he’s come up with some of the melodies in the songs. Daniel Fearn is on bass.”

Littlejohn has played many times in Whanganui in the days of the Fosters Tavern back when there was music everywhere in the late 80s-90s.

“The last time I played was a concert at our house, we’ve been having an event there for a few years now, we have other bands in and we have it on our lawn with about 400 people attending,” said Littlejohn. “It’s a public event.

“We’re playing next at the Brunswick Hall on Saturday, February 8. We released two songs, the last on November 22, and the album will be released on December 6.

Artwork

“My daughter’s partner Charlotte Ross-Harris designed the album with a Sigil [symbol.] In the background is a view of an aurora we had recently photographed early in the morning,” he said.