Thirty years ago, German blues enthusiast Thomas Ruf founded the label that shares his name. More recently, the label celebrated its 30th anniversary at the Warner Theatre with a lineup of one-woman band Ghalia Volt, classic blues rockers Canned Heat, and Samantha Fish, who launched her career on the label as part of Girls With Guitars.

At Warner Theatre on Nov. 20, Volt opened the show, getting things started with “Six Feet Feet In The Ground,” followed by “It Ain’t Bad.” She told the audience about how, after the pandemic, she left her adopted home in New Orleans — Volt is originally from Belgium — to go on a one-month train trip across the United States, which sounds like an incredible experience. That trip inspired her one-woman band project, Shout Sister Shout and the song “Don’t Need Nobody Else.” Volt kept it going with “No Happy Home” and “Meet You Down the Road,” finishing with a cover of Elmore James’s “Talk to Me Baby.”

Watch the official music video for “Meet You Down the Road” by Ghalia Volt on YouTube:

Dedicated to preserving the traditions of the blues, Ruf Records’ roster has included a number of artists and bands with a long history in that genre. One of those is Canned Heat, who have been playing and recording since the ’60s — they even appeared at Woodstock — and were a key influence on ZZ Top, Derek Trucks, Phish, and Little Feat.

Canned Heat got started with their signature tune, “On The Road Again,” followed by “I’m Her Man,” “One Last Boogie, “Going Up The Country,” and the instrumental “East West Boogie.” Introducing “Going to Heaven (In A Pontiac),” they said, “If you want to get to heaven, drive a Pontiac. If you’re driving a Cadillac, you’re probably doing something wrong.” After “Pontiac,” second-generation bluesman Bernard Allison, the son of Luther Allison joined them on the stage, and they backed him up on a few songs: “Change Your Way of Living,” his father’s “Bad Love,” and “We’re Going to Boogie.”

Watch Canned Heat perform “Going Up the Country” live in 1970 via YouTube:

The main event of the evening was the headlining set by Kansas City native Samantha Fish, who got it going with an unexpected cover of the MC5’s “Kick Out The Jams.” Fish signed with Ruf Records when she was barely out of her teens, debuting on 2011’s Girls With Guitars, and going on to make six solo records on the label. Samantha noted that many people were perplexed when she told them she had signed with a label in Germany. 

Fish continued her set with a couple of her originals, “Wild Heart” and “Better Be Lonely,” then covered Johnny Love’s “Chills & Fever”  and the RL Burnside classic “Poor Black Mattie.” After that one, she brought out her special guest, Mitch Ryder, who is currently on Ruf Records and has a new album coming out soon. A native of Detroit, where he said “mother is only a half a word,” he’s been making music since the ’60s, when he got his start fronting the Detroit Wheels, a band that would influence Bring Springsteen. “I don’t get out much anymore,” Mitch said, poking fun at his advanced age. But he sounded great on the couple of songs he did: his own “Tough Kid” and Bob Dylan’s “From A Buick Six.”

Mitch left the stage, and Samantha kept it going with Ted Thornton’s “Either Way I Lose,” followed by her own “Bulletproof.” After Ted Taylor’s “Somebody’s Always Trying,” she wrapped up the evening with “Dream Girl” and “Black Wind Howling.”

Watch the official music video for “Dream Girl” by Samantha Fish on YouTube:

For a lover of the blues like me, this was a terrific show, an opportunity to see both current and legacy artists. Fish has a captivating stage presence, shaking, strutting, and playing to the audience, putting on a show with a capital S.

Here are some photos of Ghalia Volt, Canned Heat, and Samantha Fish performing at Warner Theatre on Nov. 20, 2024. All pictures copyright and courtesy of James Todd Miller.