Ruby Grove

New England Music Award-nominated Boston-based band Ruby Grove (2023- now) is a six-piece indie alternative musical project rooted in an indie rock feel and inspired by a wide variety of indie and alternative rock, psychedelic rock, trip-hop, soul, indietronica, and jazz-fusion influences. Focused on creating an alternately funky, soulful, and mystical atmosphere, the band delights in playing with combining genre in each of their songs. Ken Sears of Boston music magazine If It’s Too Loud said of Ruby Grove, “Nothing else in the city [of Boston] sounds anything like Ruby Grove… almost impossibly infectious.” Lead singer, keyboardist, and trumpet player Melissa Nilles brings a wide-ranging background to Ruby Grove from years of fronting indie bands in New York, California, Japan, and Massachusetts (including Boston’s art/alternative rock project Miele), as well as performing with middle eastern music/dance troupes. Co-founder, bassist, and backup vocalist Cedric Lamour brings a masterful rhythm bass to the band, along with drummer Travis Rowland Jr., flutist Meredith Blankenship, and saxophonist Gabe Stillman. Blending indie rock with touches of psychedelic soul, jazz-fusion, pop, and trip-hop, Ruby Grove's 2025 EP Ripple Effect was described by Nilles in an interview with RAGMAG as a “soul-searching journey… to heal my traumas and my burnout and to potentially help others do the same through sharing that journey through music... breaking those cycles one day at a time”.