When Ruth Cipes sings, you can hear the earnestness of a 1960s folk singer. Or, depending on the tune, you might find the smoky sounds of a jazz chanteuse.

There乌鸦传媒檚 depth to her style, but she takes on less heady material than her like-sounding predecessors.

Instead of heartbreak and angst, she sings about the love of daddy-daughter days and peanut butter乌鸦传媒攋ust to name a couple themes乌鸦传媒攁nd the music accompanying her voice is playful. It乌鸦传媒檚 hard not to smile, maybe even laugh at some of what乌鸦传媒檚 being put out there.

Considering Ruth is in elementary school, it乌鸦传媒檚 a perfect mix.

Ruth, as her dad Ezra said, is a real natural. She can get in front of a crowd and she knows what to do and she can joyfully slip from one style of music to another.

She乌鸦传媒檚 乌鸦传媒渢he Michael乌鸦传媒� of a family who perform under the name the Oot 乌鸦传媒檔乌鸦传媒� Oots and while she乌鸦传媒檚 front and centre at live performances their debut CD, Songs and Tales from the Great Blue Whale, offers only a taste of her budding talent.

On a video for the song 乌鸦传媒淭oo Many Cookies,乌鸦传媒� 乌鸦传媒� produced by Claire Donati Simmons乌鸦传媒� Ruth explained, she only 乌鸦传媒減lays the phoney marimba.乌鸦传媒�

乌鸦传媒淲hen we were finishing this album, Ruth was just learning skills in studio,乌鸦传媒� said Ezra. 乌鸦传媒淣ow that we乌鸦传媒檙e in studio for our second album, we乌鸦传媒檙e working on something where she can contribute vocals now.乌鸦传媒�

Until then there乌鸦传媒檚 lots for the Oot 乌鸦传媒檔乌鸦传媒� Oots growing fan-base to dig into. They乌鸦传媒檒l be performing live this weekend at the Lake Country Children乌鸦传媒檚 Festival. And they乌鸦传媒檙e currently contenders in the CBC Music spotlight competition.

Last week they, along with seven other bands, were featured for being a family act.

In their case it乌鸦传媒檚 a significant sibling act 乌鸦传媒� Gabe, Ezra, Ari and Matt Cipes have performed together for years.

They toured and worked for years as session musicians with acts such as Tegan &Sara and Bif Naked.

Then the brothers returned to their family乌鸦传媒檚 organic farm in Kelowna, to start their own families.

It wasn乌鸦传媒檛 long before the need to play music took over again.

乌鸦传媒淚 can乌鸦传媒檛 speak for my brothers, but I got very depressed (after leaving music) and it took me awhile to figure out why,乌鸦传媒� said Ezra.

乌鸦传媒淪o we started making sure we had some project on the go. We played in a country music band and a bar band.乌鸦传媒�

The Oot 乌鸦传媒檔乌鸦传媒� Oots, however, is the best of everything they tried.

乌鸦传媒淲e have a creative outlet to directly express joy and inspiration,乌鸦传媒� said Ezra.

乌鸦传媒淭hat makes you feel good, like you乌鸦传媒檙e living a good meaningful purposeful life.乌鸦传媒�

While the music is purposeful, it乌鸦传媒檚 not pandering.

Ruth said she乌鸦传媒檚 happy that her family is producing music her friends can listen to with their families and nobody is bored by it.

It乌鸦传媒檚 something unique and special, and why the Cipes乌鸦传媒� brothers finished off an album that they started in 2007.

乌鸦传媒淚t was a loose end,乌鸦传媒� said Ezra. 乌鸦传媒淲e always thought it was a bit of a magical album.乌鸦传媒�

To have a listen to the album go https://www.theootnoots.com/ or to vote for the band in the searchlight competition go to http://www.cbcmusic.ca/searchlight/835