11.09.2005
Too soon to tell
I was all set to write something profound about the relative recent quiet of singer-songwriter Matthew Ryan, but I was sidetracked after some Internet link jumping led me to news about him. It seems Ryan, who hasn't done much under his own name since 2003's Regret Over the Wires disc, has formed a new band with fellow singer Neilson Hubbard. The group, Strays Don't Sleep, has been gigging around Nashville, has toured with Lucinda Williams and has a disc out in the UK. The two musicians seem to have bonded over a love of the band the Blue Nile and started making music, eventually forming a five-piece band. You can hear two intriguing samples of their work at the band's MySpace site, songs that sound a lot like what you would expect from these two, occasionally besting the sum of their parts. Ryan has largely left behind the more muscular guitar rock of his first two discs and his more recent music, which is long on moody atmospherics, fits well with Hubbard's beautifully fractured chamber pop (best captured on 2001's low-key gem, Why Men Fail). The new disc, expected stateside sometime in early 2006, features a DVD that includes a short film (not a video, they stress) for each of the nine tracks. Sounds interesting, and because the music is certainly cinematic, seems like a good fit.
It was an odd thing to learn about an artist who had seemed to fall off the face of the earth. This started because I was shocked to learn that Ryan will open for Anders Parker at a club show here next week. That sent me on a tour through his four studio discs. I guess you could say I'm among his bigger fans, though it's clear I haven't kept tabs on him of late. Having listened to all four records in the past few days, however, I can declare with confidence that he's certainly among the first rank of U.S. male singer-songwriters. I'd include him in the same breath with fellas like Michael Penn, Josh Rouse and Parker, for that matter, who create sophisticated songs that transcend the genre bounds of folk, rock and pop.
Having found in these discs what caused me to take pains to track them down in the first place, I'm glad to learn that he is still making music. Ryan always seemed like someone who either couldn't catch a break or didn't know how to create his own. Part of the blame goes to the marketplace. Without a pop hit or a cute face, the industry just can't break an artist like this any more. His first two discs came out on A&M and had some great music, but even that leg up didn't help. At the time of the release of his second disc, East Autumn Grin, you could find plentiful used copies cheap at big city CD shops. That means too many promos were sent out indiscriminately and the recipients probably unloaded them without giving them a spin. So, no one with any savvy bought it new, and Ryan was released to indie-dom. Ryan's seemingly self-imposed low profile since and the high price of his merch ($22 for single disc live set? I'll pass) haven't exactly made him a household name.
That's why news of this opening slot of a tour of Midwestern college towns seems like such a positive step forward. That and his work with Strays Don't Sleep would seem to indicate a new push on his part. Let's hope so. Ryan is deserving of a wider audience. Hopefully, budding fans will be willing to meet him halfway.
It was an odd thing to learn about an artist who had seemed to fall off the face of the earth. This started because I was shocked to learn that Ryan will open for Anders Parker at a club show here next week. That sent me on a tour through his four studio discs. I guess you could say I'm among his bigger fans, though it's clear I haven't kept tabs on him of late. Having listened to all four records in the past few days, however, I can declare with confidence that he's certainly among the first rank of U.S. male singer-songwriters. I'd include him in the same breath with fellas like Michael Penn, Josh Rouse and Parker, for that matter, who create sophisticated songs that transcend the genre bounds of folk, rock and pop.
Having found in these discs what caused me to take pains to track them down in the first place, I'm glad to learn that he is still making music. Ryan always seemed like someone who either couldn't catch a break or didn't know how to create his own. Part of the blame goes to the marketplace. Without a pop hit or a cute face, the industry just can't break an artist like this any more. His first two discs came out on A&M and had some great music, but even that leg up didn't help. At the time of the release of his second disc, East Autumn Grin, you could find plentiful used copies cheap at big city CD shops. That means too many promos were sent out indiscriminately and the recipients probably unloaded them without giving them a spin. So, no one with any savvy bought it new, and Ryan was released to indie-dom. Ryan's seemingly self-imposed low profile since and the high price of his merch ($22 for single disc live set? I'll pass) haven't exactly made him a household name.
That's why news of this opening slot of a tour of Midwestern college towns seems like such a positive step forward. That and his work with Strays Don't Sleep would seem to indicate a new push on his part. Let's hope so. Ryan is deserving of a wider audience. Hopefully, budding fans will be willing to meet him halfway.
