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Ash Ruder relishes return to Turlock with fair concert
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Ash Ruder performs in front of hundreds of family, friends and fans (CHRISTOPHER CORREA/The Journal).

Saturday night at the Stanislaus County Fair certainly didn’t feel like it was Ash Ruder’s first-ever headlining performance. And it certainly didn’t seem like there were any added nerves considering the fact that it came in her hometown of Turlock in front of family and friends.

As one of her videographers described it following her hour-and-a-half set on the Modelo Variety Free Stage, “it was magic.”

Ruder only has a handful of music out, but she still drew a larger crowd than opening night performer and CMT star Drake Milligan. And the songs themselves, as well as her impressive vocal range, kept the crowd hooked — and growing — as the night went on.

“It’s just so surreal,” Ruder said. “It’s amazing to see so many people come out. Like everybody is here, my family, friends… ex-boyfriends’ moms. It’s crazy.”

Her set of almost entirely unreleased music had heads bobbing, and eventually tears falling, particularly from her parents, Bryan and Julie Christenson, who sat front and center.

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Ash Ruder’s parents, Julie and Bryan Christenson, pose eagerly in front of the Modelo Variety Free Stage at the Stanislaus County Fair on Saturday evening ahead of their daughter’s homecoming performance (CHRISTOPHER CORREA/The Journal).
“We’revery excited,” Bryan said ahead of the show. “We love to have our daughter come back to Turlock and get to do this for all the Turlock people. It’s fun to be able to share this experience with everybody.”

“We love to have her back,” added Julie. “We booked the tickets right away for her to come home, so we’ve been waiting for this.”

Ruder opened the show with her top single, “The Valley,” before tapping into her unreleased tracks, many which were more odes to Turlock and the Central Valley. Those included “Country Side,” which she wrote for her husband, Dylan. It’s about taking him around her hometown for the first time, which may have been a wildly different experience than the Colorado native would’ve expected from maybe Beverly Hills or the Southern California coastlines.

Dylan stood beside the stage for many of the songs, looking on proudly as he recorded with his phone.

“That was amazing,” he said afterwards. “She’s always amazing up there.”

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Dylan Ruder looks on and records as his wife, Turlock native and country singer Ash Ruder, performs at the Stanislaus County Fair in her hometown of Turlock on Saturday night (CHRISTOPHER CORREA/The Journal).
Laughs and smiles also came as she debuted a song about the one and only… Walmart. She prefaced the performance with stories of her and friends causing chaos at the Fulkerth Road location as a way to pass the time in the sometimes quiet town.

Before long, emotions started riling up when she grabbed an acoustic guitar and sang “Blue Genes,” a song she had dedicated to her mother, who persevered through the addiction issues that followed Bryan during Ruder’s childhood. It’s a story that went viral when she first shared it to Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan, in 2021 on Season 19 of “American Idol.”

Other live performances of Blue Genes are available on YouTube.

The theme of childhood memories continued through the end of the show, with the performance of “Miss California,” a song about Ruder always being true to her home state despite transplanting to Nashville to pursue and advance her music career. She announced that the song, along with a handful of others, are slated to be released in the coming months.

“After leaving home, even though I knew I wanted to chase down a dream somewhere else, I still miss where I came from,” she said. “I come back every time, and I'm like, ‘Man, I wish I could live here.’ But I'll come visit as much as I can.”

Ruder exited left as she thanked fans, new and old. There were several fairgoers who were drawn to the music and ended up staying to watch the up-and-coming country star. She ended her night catching up with family and friends and taking photos with fans near her merchandise stand after the show.

“I’m so grateful for everyone here tonight,” she said.

Also taking to the Modelo Variety Free Stage this week was Mexican band Los Nuevos Ilegales on Sunday, Vallejo-based funk group Con Funk Shun on Monday, and Grammy-nominated country singer and former Taylor Swift opening act Hunter Hayes.

Con Funk Shun had fans moving and grooving with performances of “Ffun,” “Slide” and “Love’s Train.” Hayes and his band, meanwhile, rocked the crowd with hits like “Wanted” and “I Want Crazy.”

Those concerts will be followed by Jefferson Starship on Wednesday, Taking Back Sunday on Thursday, Ozomatli on Friday, LOCASH on Saturday, and Banda Renovacion on the fair’s final run on Sunday.

In other fair entertainment over the weekend, tractor pulls continued at the FoodMaxx Arena on Saturday, and the TPA Portuguese Bloodless Bullfights took place on Sunday. The always-popular Destruction Derby, organized by the Turlock Lions Club, caused a ruckus on Monday and Tuesday.

On weekdays, the fairgrounds will open to the general public at 4 p.m. On weekends, the gates open at noon. Grounds close each day at midnight. The ticket office will also be open every day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For more information, head to www.stancofair.com

Turlock-based life coach to release first book
Darla Nelson book
Darla Nelson of Turlock poses with one of the first physical copies of her upcoming book, “I’m Fine, Really?” which comes out nationwide on Aug. 5 (Photo contributed).
When the Covid-19 pandemic shook up the world in 2020, people managed the situation in different ways. At that point, Darla Nelson of Turlock had been a certified life coach for about three years, and while she had offered advice to a wide variety of clients, she did something new – she began writing down her thoughts on a Google Document.
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