MEET THE BAND
About
As the brainchild of two brothers seeking connection and purpose between their creativity and the greater world, the members of Critter Ruwart are down-to-earth, playing original music and popular covers, easily evoking an emotional connection with listeners. They level up when it comes to the stories their music tells, the harmonies they blend, and the instrumentation borrowed from many well-established genres that gives them their distinctive sound. Not trying to reduce songwriting to a formula that constrains them in a commercially viable box, their uniqueness is profound. They take the traditional storytelling prevalent in country, Americana, and folk music and bring in instrumentation reminiscent of genres as different at bluegrass, punk, country, and southern rock.
Connecting with live audiences from intimate gigs to larger venues is as natural as the brothers’ sweet and chilling harmonies. The standards the band founders set for themselves, their purpose, takes root in every aspect of their musical journey. From genre to gigs, the importance of their values of hard work, family, inclusivity, kindness, and human decency plays an intricate role in who they are and strive to be. With lyrics to which people can relate and the instrumentation to create the appropriate vibe, the emotional connections they make are magic.
Poetry in motion
Born from two brothers’ search for meaning, Critter Ruwart makes music that feels like a conversation—raw, warm, and genre‑bending. Their harmonies carry the weight of family and the spark of rebellion, weaving country‑folk narratives with unexpected instrumentation. Onstage, they turn values into atmosphere, inviting audiences into something real.
BIOS
As a singer-songwriter, Chris Ruwart brings the stories. His lyrics elicit feelings and have something for everyone that makes you know he gets you. The nostalgia of growing up, appreciation for the simple things in life, noticing the little things, reveling in the natural world … love, life, disappointment, and celebration all have a clear position or honor.
Chris was born and raised in rural Wyoming, the fourth of five children in a large Catholic family. Music has always been a part of his life, from listening to his dad sing in the church choir to joining church and school choirs himself. It wasn’t until college, where he traded the football field for choir, that he was bitten by the music bug. He had always listened to people and appreciated their stories. From there he began telling his own stories through songwriting and learned to play guitar, inspired by the folk revival.
Graduating from college and entering the workforce he met Emily, the woman who became his wife, and he followed her across country while she finished grad school and eventually settled in Michigan, her home state, picking up more of his own stories along the way.
Now, dedicated to songwriting, recording, and live gigs, Chris is deliberately making his dream a reality and able to do it with the big brother he always looked up to, Brendan, who followed him to Michigan to pursue their art. The band they created is family, rounded out by Chris’ brother-in-law Jack who plays bass, and Igor who plays fiddle.
Chris Ruwart
A classically trained musician, Brendan Ruwart brings discipline, knowledge, and craft to the mix. His journey began as a child—at five-years-old he knew music would be his life and he’s stuck to that basic tenet through ups and downs.
Born and raised in a large family in rural Wyoming, Brendan remembers music always being part of his family life. His parents pushed him into band, getting his first drum set at age twelve, then adding guitar. He played heavy rock and metal with his older brother and kept working at it, constantly striving to get better. Hard work, persistence, and staying humble were values instilled early on.
When it was time for college, Brendan went for music and majored in percussion. While classically trained, he first learned to play by ear, especially when it came to picking up the rhythms. So, while he can read music, he’s also proficient at playing by ear, which is immensely helpful when playing live and spontaneously building on what the other band members are doing.
During the pandemic, both Brendan and his younger brother Chris were back home in rural Wyoming and began working together, creating music unique to them, finding their rhythm, and capitalizing on each of their individual strengths.
Later, when Chris settled in Michigan, Brendan followed, with an eye to putting their music to work, forming a band, recording, and playing in front of live audiences. Brendan has been on this journey his entire life and has no intention of stopping, excited to continue to take his art to new levels.
Brendan Ruwart
Self-taught, with years of listening, learning, and practice, Jack Michalak (Bassist) delivers a raw musical experience that comes from something deep inside—something real. Jack grew up in Northern Michigan in a family of five siblings. While always a music fan, he didn’t pick up an instrument until he was seventeen.
The journey began with a ukulele. He then ventured to guitar. That’s when it began to come together. He hit his stride. Playing with his college band, Jack got his hands on a bass and knew he’d found his musical home. Soon after, he stepped on stage with his newfound skill and joined his brother-in-law, Chris Ruwart, and Chris’ brother Brendan, expanding on their unique sound.
Jack studied at the University of Michigan, where he met Igor Trifunovic and introduced Igor to the rest of the band. Through his time as a musician, Jack has fallen in love with the art of live music and has no plans to stop—it speaks to that something he feels deep down and is able to give to the audience.
Jack Michalak
Igor Trifunovic (Violinist) hails from southeastern Michigan and is the first member of his family born in the United States. Trained in classical violin by his childhood neighbor, Igor started his musical journey at the age of six. He pursued music throughout his youth, playing for ensembles such as the Detroit Symphony Youth Orchestra and Michigan All-State Orchestra.
Igor continued playing violin as an undergraduate at the University of Michigan, where he met Jack Michalak. After an impromptu addition to a Critter Ruwart set, he joined the band as its fourth member. A true musician at heart, Igor has happily built from his foundation in formal training and classical performance to adapt his formidable skillset to the new-to-him musical styles of folk and fiddle music, delighting audiences and adding to the enjoyment of his bandmates.
In addition to his music, Igor is pursuing his medical degree at the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine.
Igor Trifunovic
Q & A with the Founders
What inspires you?
CHRIS: I’m inspired by finding new songwriters. You know, the people who do it because they love to do it. They keep me grounded in the art and the purpose of what I do. Whether I’m financially successful or not, I want to still love doing it. Of course I want to be financially successful and doing this fulltime, but it’s important to be able to do it our way and keep the integrity of the stories, of our music, and the reason we began.
BRENDAN: What the music is doing, not necessarily the message, is what inspires me. Places in nature are really beautiful and it’s that place or thing that brings inspiration and centers with the environment. I feel the importance of the small things in life and seek to express emotional capacity through the music. For me, with the instrumentals you have to really listen in order to associate that particular music to what’s happening in life and provide an avenue for people to really feel and connect to it.
What do you hope people think and feel when they hear your music?
CHRIS: I want to deliver a sensational product. A high standard of art. I hope to make people feel introspective. A good, lyric-driven song makes people relate to their own experiences. Connects with them. I hope they’ll then want to delve in more and explore our full playlist.
BRENDAN: I want people to think the music is good, like it, and appreciate the time and effort we put into the process, yet at the same time, feel the rawness and pure energy of what we deliver. I want them to feel a connection to Chris and what he’s emotionally conveying through the lyrics and draw their own interpretations and conclusions based on their own experiences.
How would you describe your live performances?
CHRIS: We have fun. We make a solid effort to connect with the audience and draw out the emotional resonance. I’m always amazed and proud of the musicianship of the band and how it all blends together. No performance is ever exactly the same. I think we give and get energy from the people.
BRENDAN: We keep it real, raw. It’s close, how we record and play live. Though live we’re able to be a little freer and experiment a bit, take it in new directions and new level. We have a lot of fun.
How do you describe your band?
CHRIS: The band is a lot of fun. The hang is as good as making music. Because we’re close, it allows an emotional looseness that creates a tighter sound. We play as we feel. I’ve surrounded myself with musicians who are better than me and it brings my songs to life.
BRENDAN: Family. We’re a tight-knit family. Down-to-earth. We get along and allow one another to shine in all ways. We try to leave ego at the door. We’re passionate and very collaborative. We’re focused on getting the best product we can.
How do you describe your Music?
CHRIS: Story-driven folk/Americana music that is for the people not the corporations. We’re carrying on that tradition of folk storytelling that you also get in country music. We create what we want to create and are able to give each song the sound it needs to connect with real people.
BRENDAN: Singer-songwriter folk and country music with instrumentation infused from other genres. We want tight harmonies like, for example, Crosby, Stills & Nash, but also borrow from the punk/emo style, country, and bluegrass—because we do have a fiddle in the band—and then there’s the rock background in there.
What resonates with you more, the music or the words?
CHRIS: More and more the music resonates with me because we have such great musicians in the band. Every once in a while, a songwriter will bring me back to the poetry. I’ve made a conscious effort to improve my guitar playing and now I’m writing music and then coming up with the lyrics, which is backwards to my usual process.
BRENDAN: What resonates first for me are the individual parts in the instrumental and how they come together to create the total sound. But a lot of Chris’ lyrical content applies to me and is close to home since we grew up together, so the words elicit a strong emotional response.
Which do you like more: live performances or studio recording?
CHRIS: I don’t think I can pick a favorite. Some of the best days of my life have been in the studio. Yet the instant feedback from live performances is intoxicating.
BRENDAN: I like both. In the studio we can test run as we’re going and create something new out of thin air and our collaboration. We can expand on something small and make it bigger and better. Live I enjoy playing because we’ve practiced a lot and the subtle nuances of playing and improvisation that comes from playing live and it becomes expressive. Singing with Chris is special and real raw, from kids in choir to now we’ve come a long way.
What does success in this business look like for you?
CHRIS: Success for me looks like we’re still doing this in ten years. But with more maturity, more perspective, and more songs. I can see five albums, a bunch of Eps, and still getting that well of creativity inside me continually filling. Success, on one level, is the joy that comes from that.
BRENDAN: What we’re doing is success. We’re putting ourselves out there. We’re playing our music. Absolutely I want to be making music fulltime and making a living doing it. But what’s true success for me is absolutely having people connecting with our music. Enjoying what we’re doing each step along the journey and living in the moment is success. Expectation can kill the joy that we do this for, so I’m about enjoying the ride; I know it doesn’t last forever for anyone.
What are you truly about at your core—what will your legacy be?
CHRIS: I was honest in my writing. Loving, caring, empathetic. That I took care of my people. My wife Emily means the world to me and without her and her family this would be a much different road. I want to do right by my brother—he’s on this road with me. And it’s important to me that I take care of ALL people through writing, performing, creating, connecting. We come in contact with lots of people and I want to give them my best foot forward.
BRENDAN: I hope I will be seen as someone who is very passionate and is always in the process of getting better as a person, always on self-improvement, and willing to work hard at it. I’m about always being inclusive and want people to feel safe and comfortable around me. I’m all about the love. That I’ve worked hard and helped bring other people up along the way. We’re only here for a short time, so have to make the most of it.
