Whale of a tale: Singer-songwriter Ruby Rose Fox expected to make waves in Worcester

Everybody should know the name Ruby Rose Fox. Unfortunately, everybody doesn’t. And, if they did, the world, or, at least, the state of today’s contemporary music, would be a whole lot better.

A singular talent with a killer voice and uncanny stage presence, Fox’s creative vision is contagious and her talents cannot be contained.

With her unique blend of rock ‘n’ rock intensity and barebones emotions, this deservingly so multi-winner of Boston Music and New England Music awards and five-times solicited “America Got Talent” would-be contestant (who keeps telling NBC to take a hike) is an uncompromising artist and dynamite, thought-provoking and socially conscious songwriter worth her weight in gold.

As part of the occasional whirlwind variety show/artists showcase called “The Mystery Cabaret,” hosted by Telegram & Gazette features editor Victor D. Infante. Fox is expected to deliver a triumphant, spellbinding solo performance this Sunday night, Oct. 22, at the White Room, 138 Green St.

Other scheduled performers include Rich “Amazing Dick” Leufstedt; D.O.S. and Raff Theruler, representing the hip-hop community, Bruja the Villain, representing Poet's Cauldron; Nark Lizard, representing the Dirty Gerund; Harley Queen, representing Harley's Funhouse; Liz Dufresne, representing Wootenany.

When “The Mystery Cabaret” winds down in Worcester and reveals its last mystery, Fox will hit a personal milestone when the clock strikes midnight, hitting the big 4-0.

“I feel like If I knew how I was going to feel now, I wouldn’t have worried about getting older,” Fox muses about turning 40. “I still feel really young. And I feel smarter and better than ever. I feel like I let go a lot of concepts and limitations about what I can and cannot do as an older woman … I feel good about it.”

When asked if her soon-to-be 40 year-old self could go back 20 years and talk to her 20-year-old former-self what words of wisdom and life lessons would she instill into herself, Fox said, “Take it devastatingly seriously but, also, don’t take anything personally … And, I would also say, it’s OK to take care of yourself more. Art is not everything. Life is everything. Art is a part of life but that it’s equally as important to staying healthy and connected.”

Born in Ithica, New York, Fox — who graduated from Emerson College in ’07 with an acting degree — moved to Boston when she was 14 and ended up living there until her mid-30s. For the last several years, Fox and Sipos have lived together in Nashville.

“We’re in Nashville now and I have a feeling that we’re going to stay there for a longtime. Despite the song, we do really love it,” Fox insisted. “It’s Disneyland for music. There’s a home studio every four houses (including her house). And the whole city is setup for musicians, for songwriters. It’s really a paradise if you’re looking to make music. We love it.”

'A Carpetbagger’s Ode to Rocky'

Shaping up to be a big weekend for this earthbound rock goddess, Oct. 20 marks the release of Fox’s provocative new single, “A Carpetbagger’s Ode to Rocky,” from her eagerly anticipated third album, “Carpetbaggers.”

The “Rocky” is a sly reference to the Osbourne Brothers’ 1968 song, “Rocky Top,” not a Sly Stallone reference to Rocky Balboa from the endless series of “Rocky” movies.

On “A Carpetbagger’s Ode To Rocky,” Fox envisions herself as a modern-day Jonah, as in Jonah and the Whale fame NOT Jonah Hill of “The Wolf of Wall Street” fame.

Unlike the tale in the Old Testament, in which Jonah was swallowed by the whale because he disobeyed God and was released three days later after he prayed for God’s forgiveness, Fox entices Rocky (aka the State of Tennessee, in the guise of the whale) to swallow her whole, in hopes to instill her worldly and womanly wisdom to Rocky, which she envisions as the home of Confederate flag-waving yokels who cheer on the fact that women have lost their inherent rights and control of their own bodies with the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade.

In other words, Taylor Swift this ain’t.

“We began this song as a cover of “Rocky Top,” which is one of Tennessee’s State Anthem, and we really wanted to make a dark, almost Netflix version of it,” Fox said. “It turns out the rights holders (of the song) are extremely vicious and even sued a town for calling themselves ‘Rocky Top.’ We were advised by lawyers to not touch the song with a 10-foot pole. So, I made sure that there were no two notes or two words in order that could be a copyright violation.”

In addition to the anti-Swiftie friendly nature of the ditty, “A Carpetbagger’s Ode To Rocky” is not much of a love-letter to Nashville either. But, initially, it could have been, Fox said.

“I think there was a love-letter to Nashville there but that quickly got taken away as Roe v. Wade was overturned,” Fox said. “I’m at the edge of child-bearing years and being in a place where I don’t control my body feels very, very strange. And, growing up in the Northeast, where you just don’t think about those things because the culture is so liberal, my feeling of Nashville changed. And the song goes deeper than that. It really is not about Nashville. It’s really about the Deep South and their Bible put on your body principles.”

'Jonah and the Whale'

As for the song’s Jonah and the Whale reference, Fox said that came a little bit later.

“I grew up Fundamental Baptist and so I can speak that language … And I wanted to use the oppressors’ language so that they would understand it when I sang the song, because I know that they normally won’t be able to hear me unless I speak in Bible,” Fox explained. “By saying (in the song), ‘I will play Jonah/You play the whale for me/So swallow me, Rocky/Rocky, won’t you swallow me,” I’m saying, I know you think I’m a sinner but I dare you to swallow me because we both know how the story ends.”

Almost gospel in nature, Fox masterfully juxtaposes a soulful condemnation of the short-sightedness and ignorance of narrow-minded people, which, she said she has found out, is more commonplace in the country than one would hope and might think.

Fox said she wrote “A Carpetbagger’s Ode To Rocky,” around the time of the March 27 mass shooting at The Covenant School, a Presbyterian Church in America parochial elementary school in the Green Hills neighborhood of Nashville, which is the stone throw away from her pad that she shares with her producer boyfriend Colin Sipos.

“We watched all these seven, eight-year-olds, 10-year-old march downtown to fight back and reclaim their little bodies,” Fox said. “It’s (The song is) really an offering, an anthem to march to. To me, I see it as an utilitarian product to fuel your voting, fuel your marching, fuel your feelings towards remembering and continuing the fight for protection of ownership of one’s own body.”

Muscle Music

If her music and performing career wasn’t enough, Fox — who took the stage name from her poet and actress grandmother who was kept in a state-run institution her whole life — has founded Muscle Music, a mental health app which is bringing “practical, trauma-informed tools” to performers, artists and creative types that need it.

“Muscle Music is a huge part of my life right now. It’s a new field, actually. It’s neurobiology and mental health needs performing and it’s a community of 200 other artists that I lead and we do workshops and we have a nervous system gym,” Fox explained. “I look at it as another art project. It’s just very different. I’m really excited about a new paradigm, in which artists are not looked at as being inherently mental ill but looked at people as those who need a lot of support to maintain their mental health while taking on something as hard as a music or an acting career.”

The Mystery Cabaret, featuring Ruby Rose Fox

When: 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 22

Where: The White Room, 138 Green St., Worcester.

How much: Voluntary recommended donation of $15-$20 at the door.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Singer-songwriter Ruby Rose Fox set to perform at the Mystery Cabaret