Gary Rue: A Brief Biography
A performer and composer, Gary has been playing music for audiences throughout the western hemisphere since the mid-sixties, beginning with various town halls in the upper Midwest and graduating to East Coast ‘tent’ tours that included the Big Apple (Carnegie Hall as music director and duet partner for Gene Pitney) and on to far flung points in Canada and the Caribbean. Early along the way, Mr. Rue began writing music of his own, and was rewarded with some of his songs being recorded by (among others) Nick Lowe and Helen Reddy, as well as many prominent regional artists. He is the author of nearly 90 scores for music theater (including The Stinky Cheese Man, which toured the US and China with Dallas Children’s Theater), is a 2010 Minnesota Music Hall of Fame Inductee and an active touring musician and educator.
Composer (and vocalist/arranger/producer) for:
Mall of America’s “There’s a Place For Fun In Your Life”
Paul Wellstone’s 1996 campaign theme “We Can Do Better”
Isaac Misrahi’s Target campaign “Cross Country"
Hormel Co. “Pam, Don’t Take My SPAM”
Awards
1985 Minnesota Music Award, Multi-Media
2010 Inductee Mid-America Music Hall of Fame
2010 Inductee Minnesota Music Hall of Fame
2012 IVEY Award, Music Direction, “Buddy! The Buddy Holly Story”
PRESS
“…graceful, plaintive melodies. Gary’s music is…very melodic, very beautiful.”
Minneapolis Star Tribune
“…songs carry the craft and know-how of someone who has listened to and learned from some of pop’s best lyricists and melody makers.”
(Twin Cities) City Pages
…vibrant, catchy, exciting melodies.”
(San Francisco) Bay Area Express
“…these songs are a clear cut above the usual…each one features at least one major-league moment, phrase or hook…”
Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Super songs…coarse, energetic poetry and unexpected vulnerability.”
San Jose Mercury News
"Some of the best music I’ve heard in eons.”
Golden Gate (San Francisco)