When this rock-solid Americana outfit won "Favorite local band or artist" last year, we wrote: "Ruby Dee & The Snakehandlers make a sweet honky-tonk country racket that's perfect for long road trips, lazy afternoons and jumpin' and jivin' at the corner bar." Today, we believe may have underestimated the band a bit. Judging from the fervent anticipation that the band's Conrad Uno-produced debut album "North of Bakersfield" is generating, Ruby Dee and the Snakehandlers may soon leap from the corner bar to the national stage.