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Last Edit 3/14/2008 10:03 AM
Inspiration Garth Brooks, Brad Paisley, Chris LeDoux, Clint Black, Tony Arata, Rory Lee Feek, Pat Alger
For Fans Of Garth Brooks, Brad Paisley, John Denver,
Any contemporary country music fans
Record Label Live and Breathe Music
biography
Ryan is a down-to-earth, straight forward kind of guy with straight forward heartfelt country music. As an artist paints uses a brush, Ryan paints with his words. His songs are honest and reflect life’s struggles and at times, reflect ideas to live by. His singing style is unique and is reminiscent of Clint Black and John Denver. “I want to write songs that make a difference in people’s life. Songs that make people feel good and get them inspired.”
Growing up on a few acres in Coal Valley, Illinois, (pop. 3800) Ryan always enjoyed all kinds of music. His dad and his aunts and uncles played and sang the tunes of John Denver and various artists around a camp fire in Baraboo, Wisconsin. Devils Lake, a paradise that the family visited every summer proved to be the biggest influence on Ryan’s music. “My dad is a great singer and he taught me how to play music by ear. It came pretty easily for me to put chords to anything I wanted to play along with on the radio. It wasn’t long before I was writing my own music.”
Ryan had his heart set on Nashville. His mom insisted that he finish his college degree as a Manufacturing Engineer before he moved so he would have something to fall back on. It was at Western Illinois University at a downtown dance hall called “The Stampede” where Ryan met his wife, Jennifer. Every weekend, they would go to dance. In college, Ryan also discovered that his love for music was growing as he put on shows throughout the Macomb, Illinois campus.
In July of 1999, Ryan married Jenn in Easton, Illinois. They both worked day jobs in the Moline, Illinois area and spent the evenings and weekends writing songs and performing. Ryan started singing regularly with a popular local country band whose popularity made landing gigs simple. Ryan placed second in the Jimmy Dean Country Showdown in the summer of 1998.
In October of 2002, Ryan’s grandma passed away and in February of 2003, his grandpa passed away. These were the first of a series of events that helped Ryan and Jenn decide that their future was in Nashville. “I loved my grandparents deeply and they taught me that life is short and you can’t put things off. You have to do what is important to you and do it now. They both had shared a lot of great stories about their life and times and I realized that I didn’t want to tell my kids and grandkids that I didn’t do what I really wanted to do with my life. So that’s why we are in Nashville, Jenn and I are going to give it our best shot and see what happens.”
In November of 2005, Ryan and Jennifer penned a song called "I Could Have Been Beautiful" which has proven to be a monumental song. It soon placed 4th in the Social Polical category of the International Unisong Songwriting Contest and was voted as the 2006 Unisong People's Choice Winner. In June of 2007, Ryan's song "He Rules The Roost" won 1st place in the Country category and was the Grand Prize winner in the 2007 International Unisong Songwriting Contest. Prizes included $1000 and a all expense paid trip to participate in Song Bridges, a highly regarded songwriting retreat.
Ryan has what it takes to be successful on his Nashville mission. With the right combination of talent, opportunity and luck, you will see Ryan at the top of the charts in the near future.
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