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Ruby Jane on the CBS Evening News
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By:
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rubyjanesmith
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Mood:
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elated
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Date:
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05/11/2007 10:08:20
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Music:
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None
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CBS - April 13, 2006
Visit http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/04/
13/eveningnews/main1498224.shtml to watch the video!
Little Girl, Big Musical Talent
Meet Ruby Jane Smith, An 11-Year-Old Country Music Prodigy
Columbus, Miss., April 13, 2006
(CBS) The next big thing in country music barely fills out her cowboy
boots. Meet Ruby Jane Smith, an 11-year-old prodigy from Mississippi.
How old was she when she started fiddling?
"I was 2 years old," Smith says.
Ruby Jane demanded to listen to her mother's bluegrass CDs as a baby,
CBS News correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi reports.
"I said, 'Mama, that's the kind of music I want to play,'" Smith says.
And she played … and played … and played.
"Fiddle, guitar, mandolin, banjo, just started the Dobro (a
mechanically amplified wooden guitar), drums, piano, spoons, harmonica
— and I sing," Smith says.
"I just couldn't believe what I was seeing and hearing for a 7-year-old
kid at that time," says Jim Brock, Smith's music teacher.
Brock — a Grand Ole Opry great — took Ruby under his wing as soon as he
saw her perform. Today, she leads him on stage. The two are so in tune,
he calls her the granddaughter he never had.
If it surprises you to hear an 11-year-old play this kind of music,
listen to Ruby Jane. She seems to have a soul seasoned well beyond her
years.
"I love writing songs. My mama thinks one I wrote is kind of a Hank
Williams sorta love song thing," Smith says.
A love song by an 11-year-old?
"It's not a love song," Smith says.
Her song is called "Smoke In My Eyes." And the lyrics startled her
biggest fan — her mother.
"I called up your house and your girlfriend said she's gonna be your
spouse," Smith sings.
"I'm like, 'you're 11!'" her mother, Jobelle Smith, says.
Watching her, that's easy to forget.
"You'd think that I birthed her on stage. She's meant to be there; she
loves it so much," Jobelle Smith says.
And while Ruby Jane is happy to just hang out, what this kid really
wants to do is play.
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