Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Ross.
Hi Ryan, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Growing up in the Houston, TX area (Katy), I was surrounded by music. My father, Darren Ross, was a piano player and singer who toured around with his own group. There were always instruments in our home and music on the radio. I remember my mom used to try and call my dad on his cell phone and knew when he didn’t pick up, it was because he couldn’t hear the phone over the music blaring in his Chevy Astro Van.
My first serious introduction to playing with other musicians began when I met one of my best friends, Bobby, who lived just down the street from me. We would spend hours upon hours writing our own riffs while also learning our favorite Red Hot Chili Pepper songs. We did this nearly every day of the summer, recording to two-track recorders and playing our originals for friends, parents, grandparents, and anyone else who would listen.
Eventually, we moved from Katy down to Galveston. My passion for music carried on throughout high school where I started playing local coffeehouses and pizza shops in a few different garage band-style projects. These were some of the first times I had ever gotten paid to play music somewhere ($25 and free pizza) and I realized at that moment this was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
Fast-forwarding a few years, I moved to San Marcos and enrolled at Texas State University. I had joined the Water Ski Team (yes, it’s a real thing) and ended up meeting the future founding members of my first professional project, Dry River Religion. Then one Wednesday night in San Marcos, I stumbled across Kent Finley’s Songwriter Night at Cheatham Street Warehouse. Kent gave our band a regular slot on Tuesday nights where we could come perform our original music and really learn how to become a band. I’m forever grateful for Kent and his belief in me and our music. Cheatham Street Warehouse to this day is my favorite venue to perform. The history that it holds for both me personally and so many other incredible musicians is truly amazing.
In 2016, I started the Ryan Ross Band. This project has been a dream come true. Since the formation of the Ryan Ross Band, we’ve played some of the biggest festivals and venues across the state of Texas, toured across the U.S., released two radio singles, and are now gearing up to release our first full length (12 Track) album “11 Mile Road” in September 2021. I have to give a shout out to Bjorn Johnson (saxophone) and Eddie DeLarosa (Bass/Vocals) who have been involved from the very start. The Ryan Ross Band has accomplished a great amount up to this point and we’re really looking forward to what lies ahead in the future for us as a group!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It’s not always been a “smooth road” but we’ve made sure to have fun doing this thing every step of the way. Most recently, the Pandemic has been a struggle that not only us but all artists out there have had to find a way to deal with. We’ve got band members who rely on this income to pay the bills, and how do you pay these awesome guys when there are no shows to play? We along with other artists have had to find ways to get our music to the public via Facebook live streams, YouTube videos, and other social media strategies. It’s been so much fun connecting with new fans not just locally but around the world. The other hard thing recently has been sitting on this new record we’re getting ready to release. We were planning on going into the studio back in 2020 when the world was turned upside down. We’re an independent band. That means there are no record deals or labels and no financial investors or backers. We’ve historically had to find ways to do things on our own. We waited out the shutdown until it was safe to return to shows and put the record on hold despite wanting to record and get music out so badly. We feel the wait will be worth the reward in the end. The downtime gave us opportunities to refine our songs and even throw in a couple of new tracks we weren’t originally planning on. Life will throw you curveballs, we always do our best to find some positive in otherwise negative situations.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Since I was a kid, there has not been an instrument I wasn’t interested in. Piano, guitar, drums, bass, concert percussion….you get the point. This versatility was important to me when finding other members of the band. All of our band members are capable of playing multiple instruments and you’ll even see us get up and swap instruments occasionally at a show. The talent of the guys in the band always blows me away. I’ve surrounded myself with people who are much better musicians than I am. We all strive to learn from each other, be constantly challenged, and make the next song better than the one we wrote or played before it.
Sure we’re musicians who like to rock n’ roll, but we’re never satisfied with the performance. We review concert recordings like a football team watches film after a game. Constantly trying to find what we could do better to give our fans the best show possible. I’m so proud of the hard work all the musicians on stage put in and for the support of all of our loved ones who let us get on stage every weekend to follow this crazy dream.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
My favorite thing about the city? So many things to choose from…Music would be the obvious choice here, but it’s pretty hard to pick against the food in this town. I won’t name specific restaurants because I don’t want to leave anyone out, but you can find world-class food at any time of day at almost any part of this city.
As far as my least favorite thing, it’s got to be the traffic. No surprise there. It can take us two hours to get from our home base to a show on the other side of town sometimes. It’s alright though, more time to take in the awesome scenery and views Austin has to offer!
Contact Info:
- Email: Booking@ryanrossband.com
- Website: www.ryanrossband.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanrossband/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RyanRossBand/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/RyanRossBand
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxK777AqhQTGLZdW9gRKJXA/featured
Image Credits
Opal & Onyx Photography, Bailey Elizabeth RB Photography, Ramon Barrera
