cat sank trio

About : Terry Ruud

The following biography of Terry Ruud is excerpted from STM (Small Town Musician) Magazine, November 2004.

STM: OK, let’s get the details out of the way: Name, rank, and serial number.
TR: Terry Ruud, Gatzke Minnesota, 7354 dash, dash, dash, dash. Sorry, that’s an inside joke from the Barn Boy days.

STM: Barn Boys?
TR: My 15 minutes of fame. The Back Behind the Barn Boys were a band I started with a bunch of friends in high school. We were moderately successful, traveled the country, made some fun recordings and had a ton of good times.

STM: Any other old bands you want to mention?
TR: Only one - Steppin’ Out. Great chick singer. Ask Fanks.

STM: Fanks?
TR: He’s the Cat Sank percussionist. Great guy. We’ve shared a lot of time together going down various roads.

STM: Tell us about you’re new project, the Cat Sank Trio.
TR: We’re hard to describe. Some say it’s folk music - and some of it is - but that’s not all it is. It’s acoustic music, with songs ranging from Peter, Paul, and Mary to the Talking Heads. It’s a fun little group where we can do anything we want.

STM: Tell us about the members.
TR: I met Crystal and Steve in college, and I already mentioned Fanks. Everybody brings something unique to the band, and every performance is different. It’s always fun to work with these “cats”. We’re much stronger as a group than we are as individuals, and that’s what makes it fun.

STM: Let’s get personal for a minute.
TR: OK.

STM: Who are your biggest influences?
TR: My parents.

STM: Musically?
TR: I have thousands of CD’s in my collection; it would be hard to narrow that down.

STM: What’s in your CD changer right now?
TR: I have a 200 disc changer and it’s full, but a couple of my favorites are Hank Sasaki, Mrs. Miller, The Yuck Album, Nathan, and the Very Best of Jim Nabors.

STM: Goals for the future?
TR: I want to be a rock star.

STM: Anything else you’d like to add before we go?
TR: Thanks to our webmaster, Ross, for putting all of this together. Thanks to everybody in the band for being you. As for everybody else, come to a Cat Sank Trio show. It’ll make you a happier person. I love you all.