It's Tricky Business

Rockabilly Royalty Ruby Dee Turns to Publishing Fiction with a Three Book Series.

“Bag of Tricks” arrived in March 2025 and “Tricky Business” is out on 27th May!

Ruby Dee has been a stand-out her whole life, from her activism in the Bay Area to her successful restaurants in Seattle, to her critically acclaimed rockabilly band, Ruby Dee & the Snakehandlers. After suffering a traumatic brain injury, Ruby self-taught herself to communicate again by writing a wonderful cookbook, “Ruby’s Juke Joint - Americana Cookbook”.

In 2023, driven by her memories, Ruby wrote a trilogy of autobiographical novels. “Bag of Tricks” was published by Earth Island Books. “Tricky Business” arrives on May 27th and a third book named “Old Tricks, New Treats”  is on the way. In 2023, Ruby wrote “Bag of Tricks” after reconnecting with old punk friends and reminiscing about those lost years. Most of what she wrote came from events that really occurred, though Ruby took liberties and changed some details because she could. “Bag Of Tricks” is a compilation of short stories about San Francisco punks in the early 80’s.

“Whenever I got together with old cohorts from my punk rock years, we would share war stories about back in the day, and ask whatever happened to so and so, or did you know so and so is a soccer mom/dead/in prison/etc? Friends over-hearing us insisted we write the stories down, but you know, life got in the way and it just never happened. Then, a few years ago, there were those SAG/WGA strikes, and since I work in the movies, I suddenly had ALL this time on my hands. To stop myself from going bonkers, I started writing. I treated it like a job - I’d sit down at my desk and write every day for four to five hours- and by the end of the strikes, what started out as a bunch of individual short stories morphed into a larger story arc, and I had three books,” Ruby explained.

These vignettes stand alone yet bleed into one another. Meet the band The Shits, their groupies The Clits, and an array of colourful characters who populate these streets, squats and punk shows. With them, we cop drugs, shoot up, dumpster dive, trip around The City, go to punk shows and slip between the cracks of society.

Most of the stories are true, although some of the details may or may not have happened…

Ruby grew up in the foothills of Northern CA and the West Texas flatlands, riding horses in the backwoods near Folsom Prison, and singing with family on the back porch. She attended SDSU at fifteen, studying electrical engineering and drama, then stumbled into life on the streets of San Francisco, enchanted by all the grime and glitz, the drugs and wild nights, even the discordance and insanity of life as a punk in those early days.

Moving on, Ruby co-founded the North Coast California Earth First! In Arcata, CA while attending Humboldt State, and fished across Alaskan waters. Eventually, she moved to Seattle, WA where she opened a series of restaurants, then transitioned from restaurateur to singer/songwriter when she started the roots-rockabilly band Ruby Dee and the Snakehandlers in 2002. Thrice Grammy-considered, they tour the world and produce award-winning records.

And now, Ruby would like to share the music of her punk rock years with fans, old and new, through the Bag of Tricks trilogy.

Pick up a copy of 'Bag of Tricks' to see what started it all, and grab the pre-order of 'Tricky Business' now to see where it goes next.