“Ryan McMahon. The complete package.
Singer. Songwriter.Performer. Troublemaker. Passionate human being.
For me..priceless!!”
- Terry David Mulligan
”Ryan McMahon is one of the finest new artists to land on our desk in a long time.”
- Rick Everett - 100.3 the Q! (Victoria)
“Remember the days when ‘alternative’ meant aspiring to more than being a flaccid clone of sad sacks like Limp Bizkit? Ryan McMahon does - alternately eruptive and discordantly droopy; he could be the best thing to come out of Ladysmith B.C. since… ever.”
”Jagged guitar rock w/ great lyrics that takes you back to a time when Dinosaur Jr. roamed the earth.”
- The Georgia Straight’s Mike Usinger
“McMahon’s solo work is very radio-ready. His blues-tinged rock has surging melodies and hooks, and carries threads from the Doors, Stone Temple Pilots and a bit of early Radiohead, with lyrics about love, sex, or other crazy aspects of relationships.”
- the Navigator’s Matt O’Halloran
Apr/08 UBC Radio Magazine “Discorder”: Feature Article on CD Release
Rocker Plays Acoustic Show
By Alexandria Stuart for the Nanaimo Daily News
Leaving Ladysmith for Vancouver a few years ago opened singer/songwriter Ryan McMahon’s eyes.
There’s no shortage of writing material, he says, finding inspiration by simply people watching and wandering around the city.
Passing by the infamous # 5 Orange one day he says, “There was this gal stumbling out in little more than a napkin.” Reflecting on her fictional would-be life, he wrote “She’s sweet by she’s not the norm,” in a song named for the downtown Eastside strip bar. It isn’t meant to be heavy; it’s tongue-in-cheek he says, an audience grabber that injects life into a live crowd.
McMahon plays an acoustic show at the Queens on Sunday with the help of long-time friends and band-mates Dustin Young and Mike Rogerson.
Equally captivating as a full-blown rock act or an acoustic trio, McMahon works from basically the same set list: “We just pare ‘em down a little and try not to shoe-gaze in the process,” he says of the songs that stand up equally well under both treatments.
I asked if there was a conscious effort to write songs to work for both arrangements but McMahon says they just work out that way. This, by my definition, is the mark of a truly gifted songwriter: The ability to craft a song that will stand up under any campfire treatment or the high amplification and everything in between.
McMahon has a hard time pinning a label on the sound.
“It’s Canadian roots, rock n’roll music that’s honest,” he said. “Always changing, always picking pieces from all genres, while trying like hell to stay inside one format at the same time.”
Vancouver’s Media Club was packed last Saturday night for the album release party and the four shows in four nights on Vancouver Island prove to go the same way.
Ladysmith talents shine at Ray of Light benefit
February 19, 2008
Ladysmith-raised singer Stephanie Lang performed at Ray of Light last Friday, a benefit concert she organized to raise money for nine-year-old leukemia patient Lourdess Sumners.
Those who rail about today’s youth just not getting it should have been out at the Cowichan Theatre in Duncan last Friday night.
Talent and leadership went hand-in-hand in a youthful package at the Ray of Light show, a benefit concert for nine-year-old Cowichan leukemia patient Lourdess Sumners.
The Sumners family now has a trust fund of about $20,000 to draw on, thanks to the efforts of friends and family and 19-year-old Ladysmith-raised singer Stephanie Lang.
Lang brought together a group of 20-something musical friends in Duncan for a concert and silent auction that raised about $8,000 toward that total.
It followed a similar fundraiser Lang staged a few days earlier in her new home of Vancouver. Lang’s commitment to help a little girl she didn’t even know a few months ago was impressive.
But if Friday’s event was about Sumners first and foremost, that didn’t mean the arts and entertainment had to take a back seat.
Carlson’s School of Dance showed its reputation is intact with a lively performance.
The musical acts, meanwhile, were all young, all up-and-coming and all rooted in Ladysmith.
They were all talented as well.
Ryan McMahon was the most tested, road-hardened and polished of the bunch.
His roots-rock singer/songwriter persona was flavoured with a humble attitude; “I got a new CD coming out,” he said. “They’re even going to sell it in stores.”
Lena Birtwistle was sweet and quirky, Kendall Patrick raw and honest.
Lang, the headliner, is already two steps ahead in the music business thanks to her exotic look and powerful voice.
Throw in the drive and focus she shows — both on-stage and in the way she pulled off this event — and we likely will be hearing more from her in the future.
The Sumners family will certainly be in her fan club.
Ah yes, a nice, low-key night at the Media Club. Typical to Vancouver, the room was pretty sparse at the outset (I was there just before 9:30pm), and Ryan McMahon was already partway through a set that consisted of himself on an acoustic guitar, and his two guitarists, Mike Rogerson and Dustin Young. McMahon is a versatile performer undoubtedly, with a voice that is at once touching and powerful. He doesn’t really look like he should be able to let loose with quite that much punch, but he does. The voice has a stranglehold on the room. He played a few tumultuous songs from his repertoire, which were amazing, and then left the stage to make way for Toronto’s Meligrove Band. –Andy Scheffler – www.CordMag.com
RYAN McMAHON’s latest infectious rock offering, the full-length CD “Better Days Gone By,” builds on a career that’s already seen the talented singer/songwriter share the stage with the likes of Wide Mouth Mason, Holly McNarland, Bif Naked and Nickelback. Noted for his stellar work with previous buzz bands Citizen Strange and the Dirty Five, Ryan’s dynamic, genuine personality and flair combined with his unique emotional style have gathered him an enviable group of peers and contemporaries, several of whom are featured on his newest record. Fans of honest Canadian rock n’ roots music will definitely find themselves a kindred spirit. –I.M.U. Productions – www.imuproductions.com
Ryan McMahon Plays Music For Weeks, Months, Years
Thursday February 07, 2008 @ 07:00 PM
By: ChartAttack.com Staff
Ryan McMahon
People will have to wait a few more weeks and months for Ryan McMahon’s new Weeks, Months, Years album, which he’ll release independently on April 15.
The Vancouver-based rock ‘n’ roots artist enlisted best friends Mike Rogerson and Dustin Young to play guitar on his Better Days Gone By debut LP, and they’ve stuck with him ever since, with Rogerson remaining as his producer. Jesse Smith, Thomas Dowding, Hamish Thomson and Jon Frederikson of The Hermit and former Odds Doug Elliott, Pat Steward and Craig Northey all contributed to the 2003 album. McMahon has also recorded two EPs.
Five songs from Weeks, Months, Years can be previewed on McMahon’s MySpace page.
—Jessica Lewis
Ryan McMahon
Weeks Months Years
Independent
BRYAN SAUNDERS / bryansaunders@vueweekly.com
Anyone who’s sick of the same old, same old should definitely check out Weeks Months Years, by genre blending, Vancouver-based artist Ryan McMahon. Songs like “Girl on Top,” “What Are We Waiting For?” and the title tune make for a great listen, along with nearly all the other tracks on this album. That said, don’t wait around for weeks, months or years to hear these songs on the local radio stations, because they’re unlikely to see any play on that inflexible medium. McMahon’s gravely country voice, his story-based lyrics and the occasional twang of a guitar make an ill fit for rock radio. Conversely, guitars, drums and vocals that have all clearly been influenced by ‘80s rock would fit tensely at best into the country genre. Despite the lack of potential for airplay, though, the decades to come look bright for this gifted fence sitter.
Ladysmith singer’s comeback starts here
June 11, 2008
“Thank you Duncan. You’re the first place to put my new song on the radio,” Ryan McMahon announces jubilantly, by way of introducing Comeback, the irresistibly catchy roots rocker from his latest indie release Weeks Months Years, currently getting major airplay on local rocker 89.7 SUN-FM.
How can I put this? Some performers rent a stage. With intense, soulful vocals, fresh and compelling originals and confidence and charisma to burn, McMahon owns it.
Judging from his June 7 Duncan Garage Showroom set it should be Today Cowichan, tomorrow the world for this brash, talented former Ladysmith resident.
McMahon usually plays with mates Dustin Young and Mike Rogerson as a three-piece but judging from his solo acoustic set last Thursday he’s good to go on his own.
Check out www.ryanmcmahon.com (which links to his myspace page) to hear samples from the CD. You can also download tracks from itunes. Beyond the Fence, Lights Out New Orleans, Road Signs — it’s all good.
And while we’re at it let’s give a shout out to Bex who opened the show for McMahon.
A one-time fixture on the local live music scene this was her first Duncan gig since moving back to the valley from Vancouver, where she recently graduated with a degree in entertainment and business management from Capilano College. The former Rebecca Apostoli seemed genuinely happy to be back on home turf as she unpacked a suitcase of shiny new originals for our inspection.
My favourites? A vivacious folk/pop ditty Joan Baez (with the playful hook: “If you’ll be my Bob Dylan/I’ll be your Joan Baez”) and, on the more serious side, Jack Squat, based on her experiences serving with an anti-poverty committee directly dealing with protests and activism relating to marginalized people on the Downtown Eastside.
You can hear these tunes and other cool new originals like Kimberly, This Love and What’s Your Sign? by logging onto www.myspace.com/newbex.
During intermission I had to chance to chat with SUN FM’s Amelia Breckinridge (that’s her sunny voice broadcasting from various Valley spots in the community cruiser ) who in return introduced me to Mike Feeney, the station’s new weekend DJ.
Mike tells me he loved listening to the radio as a youngster and dreamed of one day working in the medium.
“It took me a long time to figure out how to pull it off but I did and here I am. I went to Columbia Academy School of Broadcasting in Vancouver which is a ten-month program and I had to commute every day. It was the hardest thing I have ever done but it led me here so it was worth it.”
And, before you ask, Mike is “into British music like Coldplay, Snow Patrol, The Feeling, Arctic Monkeys, Amy Winehouse, anything late 60’s, early 70s … and I really love Ryan McMahon’s stuff.”
Despite him not looking the role at all, and I’m not sure, but I don’t think it’s really his point either, Ryan McMahon’s songs largely seem to come rolling out of the old west like a tumbleweed on a breeze. “Getting Different Done” opens the album with a clearcut outlaw song. TOuched by the devil and fuelled by whiskey, the crass tune introduces us to the second track, “Liar.” Okay this one isn’t out of the old west. Instead it sounds like something that fell off an old REM album. I love that. REM is wonderful. But back to the old west, saloon style this time, with “Ruby Won’t Die.” Think of old-tyme whores dancing about with their frilly skirts, can-canning to the delight of a bunch of drunk men with moustaches who keep getting into fights. The roaring, full chorus is packed with overjoyed harmonies and twanging guitars. Out like a lamb though - off into the sunset. Then comes that song that created so much controversy - “Girl On Top,” a selection that sounds a damn lot like Matt Mays’ “City Of Lakes.” I mean, it’s uncanny. But I can personally vouch for McMahon having this one first over (or at least independently of) Mays. So there. This has always been one of my favourites live for it’s easy catchiness and candid, honest theme (as if we haven’t all been there). ANd yep, true to the disc, he country-ified this one up the wazoo. Cacti and bonfires anyone? Get outta Dodge? Yeah old west. That casual cool Mcmahon projects as he rolls out lyrics effortlessly is…well…cool. He has a definite talent for putting words together in a fluid way - nothing sounds clumsy. It has the ease of alliteration, no matter what letter combinations come up.
Mellowly acoustic “Place Your Bets” splits the album in half. It’s like an intermission. Not for long. Charging headlong into the second half of the disc, “Song Says So” seems to imply you should lose your head and not give a crap.
Song of choice : Tough to choose, but I’ve always liked “Girl On Top” so I’ll pick that for nostalgia’s sake.
-Andy Scheffler
