Matthew Ryan (musician)

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Matthew Ryan

Background information
Birth name Ryan Webb
Born November 7, 1971 (1971-11-07) (age 36)
Origin Chester, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genre(s) Alternative country
Occupation(s) Singer, songwriter, musician
Instrument(s) Vocals, guitar
Years active 1997–present
Label(s) A&M Records, WaxySilver, Hybrid, One Little Indian Records
Associated acts Strays Don't Sleep
Website www.matthewryanonline.com

Matthew Ryan (born Ryan Christopher Webb) is an American singer-songwriter whose music can be roughly characterized as alternative country. He changed his name to avoid being mistaken as a relative of Jimmy Webb and to honor his older brother, who is now serving a 30 year prison term. Ryan also collaborated with Neilson Hubbard to form the band Strays Don't Sleep. Ryan's voice has been described as a "hushed rasp, with words catching like vows destined to be broken - one of modern music's most potent whispers." [1]

Contents

[edit] May Day

Born and raised in Chester, Pennsylvania, Ryan moved to Newark, Delaware during his high school years. He lived in the Newark area until 1993, when he moved to Nashville, Tennessee. Ryan formed his first major band, The Caustics in 1994. This generated some major label interest, but a record deal emerged. Ryan formed a new band called The Fisher Kings and landed a publishing deal. Some of the material intended for his first album was written during this period. Ryan played a show at the Exit/In in 1996, and eventually agreed to sign with A&M Records because he’d seen their logo on the cassette of A Walk Across the Rooftops by The Blue Nile.

Ryan’s debut album May Day was released in October of 1997, which drew comparisons to Tom Waits and Bruce Springsteen. May Day was produced by David Ricketts and features musicians from both The Fisher Kings and The Caustics. The support for May Day included tour in America and Europe, as well as appearances on the Late Show with David Letterman and Conan O'Brien.

In 1999 A&M Records was merged into Interscope Records, and Ryan started to write East Autumn Grin. It was self-produced with Trina Shoemaker. Ryan left Interscope Records a month after the album was released. Ryan toured with Steve Earle, Badly Drawn Boy, Turin Brakes and Nanci Griffith to promote the album. Neither album met with much in the way of sales success, due mostly to the label's attempts to market Ryan's smart and emotionally gritty music towards fans of more accessible alt-pop.

[edit] Concussion

After being dropped by Interscope Records Ryan started working on demo material with David Henry. The material was stark and bare, Concussion was recorded and mixed in 8 days with Richard McLaurin. It was released in 2001 on Nashville, Tennessee label WaxySilver and features a duet with Lucinda Williams. Ryan was asked by actor/director Edward Burns to contribute a song to his film Ash Wednesday. "Be Thou My Vision" was used on the closing credits of Edward Burns’ film. Ryan opened tours for Kasey Chambers and Lucinda Williams for much of 2001, along with his own headlining shows.

2002 was a quiet period for Ryan, eventually releasing two collections of Stereo-Pak demo recordings, Dissent from the Living Room and Hopeless to Hopeful. These were made available on CDR through Ryan’s website.

Ryan started recording again on February 2003, Regret Over the Wires was released in late 2003 by Hybrid Recordings. In April, Concussion was released in the UK and Europe through One Little Indian Records. This included a UK tour with label mate Jeff Klein. On September 9, 2003, One Little Indian Records also released Happiness in the UK and Europe only, a collection of songs taken from Ryan’s self-distributed collections Dissent from the Living Room and Hopeless to Hopeful. Ryan made another self-distributed release in December entitled These Are Field Recordings, a two-disc collection of live recordings and early tracks.

[edit] Strays Don't Sleep

Main article: Strays Don't Sleep

Matthew Ryan approached Neilson Hubbard in 2004 about a collaboration, which could result in an interesting self-distributed release for fans. The collaboration was much more successful than expected and Strays Don't Sleep was formed with Neilson Hubbard, Brian Bequette, Billy Mercer and Steve Latanation.

In the Autumn 2005 Strays Don't Sleep's debut self-titled album was released in the UK on One Little Indian Records. The release includes a DVD of short films that were directed and shot by professional filmmakers and friends, including Gorman Bechard, The Barnes Brothers, Martin Glenn, Matt Boyd and Jared Johnson. Matthew Ryan and Neilson Hubbard also directed three of the short films with the help of Nashville film student, Matt Riddlehoover. A 5.1 surround sound mix of the entire record and films, by Pdub of Björk and Sneaker Pimps fame, is available on the DVD.

Strays Don't Sleep was released to great reviews from Time Out, Uncut, The Sunday Express and The Times. The success helped secure a US release, which was helped further by a placement in the hit CW (former WB) drama One Tree Hill. "For Blue Skies", a song concerning the sentencing of Matthew Ryan’s brother to 30 years in prison, was made available on the One Tree Hill Soundtracks. Strays Don't Sleep toured the UK with Josh Rouse to support the album. Strays Don't Sleep was officially disbanded mid-2006.

[edit] From a Late Night High-Rise

In 2006 Ryan completed recording for another solo album called From a Late Night Highrise. It's a collection of songs inspired by the death of a friend and the sentencing of Ryan’s brother to 30 years in prison. The album feature band members from Strays Don’t Sleep and was self-produced with Neilson Hubbard. From a Late Night High-Rise was released on December 5, 2006 through 2minutes59 and iTunes, and Ryan embarked on a US tour with Tim Easton in February 2007.

From a Late Night High Rise was met with the strongest wave of critical support Ryan has received to date. It was praised as "A must-hear, have-to-own epic of an album that should be required listening for every songwriter—and music lover—in the world." [2]

[edit] Discography

[edit] Film and television placements

[edit] Tours of note

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

  1. ^ No Depression Magazine Jan/Feb 2007 Issue
  2. ^ Pulse of the Twin Cities - Locally Grown Alternative Newspaper

[edit] External links