Don’t Quit Your Day Job, Kenny Ruhle

Kenny Ruhle is a monster of a man in more ways than one. He’s an intimidating looking guy, he’s been in bands with names like Headrot and Gutbucket, and I’ve seen him dressed as Frankenstein at least once. All that being said, Kenny also works a full time job and is a happily married father of two and grandfather of one who still finds time to write and perform music and actively support the Providence scene he’s been part of for close to 30 years. Ladies and gentlemen allow me to introduce you to the star of Don’t Quit Your Day Job episode number four, Kenny Ruhle.

Josh Hurst: Age and location?

Kenny Ruhle: 44. Warwick.

JH: What band(s) are you in and what do you do in them?

KR: My current band is DNR (Do Not Resuscitate). I play bass and split lead vocals with Ryan Weedon who plays guitar. We play a mix of thrash, death metal, grind-core and punk. Melissa Ruhle (my wife) also plays bass and Jason Pelletier plays drums. My main influences in writing songs are Cryptic Slaughter, Autopsy, the Accused and the Misfits (with Glen), not newfits.

JH: How long have you been at this rock ‘n’ roll thing?

KR: I started singing in a punk/thrash band in 1988 with a few neighborhood friends, but we never had a name. In 1989 Mike Brown asked me to try out for his thrash band, Self Destruct. We recorded two four-song cassette demos and played for about two years then broke up. Mike and I joined Headrot and recorded a demo in 1991. I sang for them for about two years then quit and joined a death metal/black metal band called Nybras. We recorded one demo in 1993, but I don’t think I was in that band for even a year. Then I tried out punk for the first time and joined Gringo. We recorded a cassette demo and two split 7″ records. I always sang in bands but around 1994 I started teaching myself to play bass and then starting writing songs for a side project called the Doosh Bags. I recorded with the Doosh Bags while still in gringo, then quit gringo in 1998 and kept the Doosh Bags going until 2008. In 2005 I missed playing metal so I started an all bass, drums and vocals band called Gut Bucket and kept that going until 2012. Then in 2013 I started a band with a mix of the two bands called Doosh Bucket. That lasted for almost two years, but we broke up late 2014 and that’s when I put together DNR.

JH: What do you do to pay the rent?

KR: I’m a full time manager of a screen printing shop.

JH: How did you end up with your current day job?

KR: I actually stumbled into it unintentionally. I was hired for temporary help just catching shirts. About a month later they asked me if I wanted to try printing. I tried it and was a printer from then until about a year ago. Now I run the shop.

JH: What drives you to keep at music if you need to have the day job to pay bills?

KR: I never got into playing music with the intention of making a lot of money from it. I just love doing it. I guess it’s kind of an addiction.

JH: Does anything in your day job correlate to your musical endeavors?

KR: The best part about my job is access to printing shirts for my band for a good price.

JH: Where can anyone interested find you during your day work and/or night work?

KR: The best way to contact the band is through Facebook at www.facebook.com/DoNotResuscitateRI or through my email kennyruhle@yahoo.com