Throw some money in the Hat and enjoy the party at the Shack

For almost a decade they have been rockin' the thongs off their fans in two countries, now Ruth's Hat are giving back to the Fanshawe community.

On Friday October 28 Ruth's Hat, along with Staylefish and Flatlined, will be performing a benefit concert with proceeds going towards the 2005 Fanshawe Marketing Team. The team will be competing against 15 to 20 other colleges from around the province at the Ontario Colleges Marketing Competition in Toronto.

Ruth's Hat“The students and I agreed that too many fundraisers charge a cover to only offer patrons another typical night at the bar,” said Ruth's Hat lead singer, Mike Sloan, who is also a Business Studies teacher at Fanshawe.

“So, while you get three great bands for $5, you also get the satisfaction of knowing that your money went to a great cause and not right into the pockets of some greedy rich musicians.”

Ruth's Hat is a cross border collaboration of the Sloan brothers from Detroit - Mike on lead vocals and PJ on guitar and vocals - Canadians Jack McCallum on bass and drummer Dereyk Goodwin. Although that specific combination has only been together for a year and a half, Ruth's Hat originally began around a beach fire in Grand Bend in 1996.

The band took the beach with them when they began developing their own sound, which has been inspired by the Beach Boys, the Who, the Ramones and Green Day, just to name a few. By the time Ruth's Hat make it on stage their sound is can be described as punk pop n'roll.

“By playing songs that are reminiscent of 50s rock n' roll in a modern pop format we jump from 1955 to 2005 in the blink of an eye,” described Sloan. “We have the rough and tough rock n' roll assaults mixed in with those sugary pop gems to create a rock show that everyone can dig.”

Ruth's Hat sings about the highs of love and the broken hearts of chaotic relationships, but they do it in a way that's fun and up beat.

“PJ is the main song writer because he's the one who's always getting dumped.  Wait...or he's doing the dumping.  Either way, he writes some great songs,” his brother said.

Besides putting out two CD's, Hitchhikers Guide to Rock and Roll (2003) and Bye Bye Love (2000), one of Ruth's Hat's biggest accomplishments to date was recording at the original Sun Studio's in Memphis, Tennessee. The exact place where Johnny Cash cut his first single.

You can buy all of their music at the upcoming show, at Speed City Records, or for online for free at http://myspace.com/ruthshat.


“I love Fanshawe and I love the students here,” Mike said. “My Fanshawe students are heckling me every time we play in town. It's great.”

Check out Ruth's Hat, Stalyefish and Flatlined on Friday, October 28 at the Outback Shack. The bands go on at 9 and all proceeds go towards your fellow students.

If you're not into the music scene but still want to support the OCMC team, benefit bracelets for $3 until mid-November.

But why would you want to miss the show? On top of the music, there will be raffles and door prizes, and some great food will be served.

And there's more: this Ruth's Hat show will be unlike any other, due to a sports injury that Mike suffered.

“I'll be doing our set with one leg.  I broke my foot in a kiteboarding accident and just didn't feel right about dropping out on my students, so I'm gonna do the show with a cast on. It could be an interesting night.“