His only desire, as it has always been, is to communicate through music; a talent, he has proven to all that have seen his performance, to be very good at. The speaking of his experiences through story telling by blending all of his influences; Warren Zevon, Pearl Jam, Tom Waits, and Bruce Springsteen all make cameos in Ryan’s unique blend of roots rock.
Every song pulls from the edges of folk, blues, roots and country flavours. Always sitting on the fence of a multitude of different genres, refusing to pigeonhole his sound to fit any one particular marketplace, Ryan’s music visits themes ranging from love and human relationships to the politics within the music industry itself and throughout the world.
The title track of his last record, “Weeks, Months, Years,” was awarded honourable mention by the West Coast International Songwriting Competition 2008 and his last solo performance at the Folk Guild on Vancouver Island earned him a main stage performance opening night of the Vancouver Island Folk Festival.
Nationally released on CBC, Ryan’s popularity on the airwaves is growing and seeping onto college programs across Canada.
Touring incessantly (solo or with band mates Mike Rogerson on guitar and Dustin Young on bass and backing vocals) from Vancouver to Eastern Canada, Ryan has begun to build an audience that is steadily growing as word spreads about his passionate, honest and raw performance. Ryan has been showcased at Canadian Music Week in Toronto and has also done a solo showcase at the Western Canadian Music Awards in Edmonton.
2010 will see more touring of his native Canada, as well as the initial stages of three different recordings: A live, acoustic record, which was recorded at the Duncan Garage Showroom in Duncan, B.C., as well as an EP and full-length studio album to follow.
Ryan has opened with ease for artists ranging from Nickelback to Daniel Powter to Lisa Loeb, due to his ability to adjust his stage performance intensity to match his audience. With some of his goals being reached and more seemingly in his sights, chances are you’ll be hearing much more from Ryan very soon.
Contact Cathleen Lundgren @ Mission Management Group for more information.
Ryan
Ryan McMahon was born on October 19, 1979 in Chemainus, BC to parents Barry & Diane.
While growing up in Ladysmith, music was always prevalent in the McMahon household, be it Barry’s Everly Brothers and Buddy Holly records, or Diane’s spins of Janis Joplin and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Ryan immediately took to the melodies and rhythm of these records and the sounds stayed with him forever.
High school saw Ryan beginning to get his feet wet by singing in several rock bands in high school (Chorduroy, the Toxins, Citizen Strange). Soon, Ryan finally succumbed to the guitar, and began writing several songs on his own, which would take him to the Queens Hotel, in Nanaimo, BC. There, he befriended the ownership, which allowed him to garner choice opening spots for a wide variety of touring bands such as Wide Mouth Mason, Nickelback, the Smalls, Grapes of Wrath, Holly McNarland and Bif Naked.
After moving to Vancouver, Ryan re-teamed with his former high school idols, Mike Rogerson and Dustin Young, who were two years his senior (they still are). With Rogerson and Young now on board, Ryan was able to focus on more writing and finding a sound that he could call his own.
With a thirst for perfecting his craft, and a lust for performing, Ryan has toured Canada several times, and looks forward to seeing much more of the world by way of MUSIC.
Mike
Dad, Mike Sr., listened to the Outlaws like Johnny Cash, Tom T. Hall and Merle Haggard and played guitar in a band that covered early Stones songs. Mom, Lori, listened to a little bit of everything.
Her father, Bert, was a Russian who played banjo and her mom’s family sang in the choir in England. Mike inherited Berts 1965 fender amp and his dads 30 year old fender guitar and at fourteen, started learning to play guitar by jamming along with records by The Doors, Pearl Jam and Led Zeppelin.
Lessons with Murray Atkinson, Scott Roberston and Robbie Steininger introduced Mike to new techniques and exposure to great guitarists like Django Reinhart, Wes Montgomery, Chet Atkins and Lenny Breau. Since then Mike has played live at most venues across Canada including the Commodore, Vogue theatre and the Horseshoe.
In addition to performing, Mike moved to Vancouver at age 17 to attend school for audio engineering and music production and and also landed a job at Bakerstreet Studios where he started as a 2nd engineer and quickly moved into engineering and producing.
Mike has been a part of over 300 albums as either a musician, engineer, producer or editor in the past 10 years in styles ranging from Indie Rock to Pop Country, GrindCore Death Metal to the VSO. In addition to ‘albums’ Mike has spent time recording live music for movies and TV for shows like the Chris Isaak Show, Winn Dixie, and Double Jeopardy.
Through these shows Mike has been able to record songs with many diverse, “big name” acts like Green Day, Kiss, Goo Goo Dolls, Everclear, Joe Walsh and Gloria Estefan.
These experiences give mike a wide variety of stlyes to draw from when playing or producing music.
Dustin
Dustin Young was born and raised on Vancouver Island, B.C. As early as age 8 he was playing ukulele and singing in the school choir, eventually picking up a bass in a very small band class in a very small elementary school.
At home there was always a guitar in the corner so it seemed natural to tackle another two strings while studying the bass.
Having an extensive record collection at home thanks to his folks, he had lots of ground breaking music to listen to and learn, the Beatles being the favorite.
Fast forward to today you will find Dustin on stage singing harmonies and playing four or six strings, depending on the mood, as that is what he was born to do.
