Loading details…
Artist
Matthew Ryan
12+ albums
singer-songwriterindieacousticAlt-countryrock
about
Matthew Ryan (born November 7, 1971) is an American singer-songwriter hailing from Newark, Delaware whose music can be roughly characterized as alternative country. 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." Perhaps the most underrated singer/songwriter of the past 12 years, Matthew Ryan arrived on the music scene in 1997 with Mayday. A combination of influences from Tom Waits, Waterboys and Bruce Springsteen can all be heard here, but the sound and songwriting are Matthew Ryan's alone. 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 re
