I grew up on an island off the coast of Maine called Mount Dessert Island. My home was very musical one and my dad played guitar and my mom sang and played piano and the organ at the church. My dad was into the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and John Fahey, but the songs he played were more of a country-western nature and I remember him singing “hey good lookin’ whatcha got cookin’” in our kitchen as my mom made dinner. Mom would play ragtime Scott Joplin tunes and sing ballads like “Blue Bayou” by Roy Orbison. Reluctantly at first, I learned to play guitar starting around age ten and through middle and high school learned a lot of folk tunes to the likes of the Indigo Girls, Joni Mitchell, and Dylan. In college I discovered jazz and became immersed in Miles Davis, Coltrane, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock and all those greats. My main college gig was playing fiddle in bluegrass bands and trying to be like Stephen Grapelli in jazz ensemble (never got quite that good). I managed to also spend a few years living and traveling abroad in Africa, Asia, and Australia. All the while I was writing songs and building up to a point where I might play them with other people in front of other people. When I graduated college I started a band and I’ve been performing and touring ever since.

I mostly perform solo shows as a “one-man-band” multi instrumentalist using an electric guitar, accordion, ukulele, banjo, vibraphone, glockenspeil, drums, and a loop station. Basically I loop parts and play the drums and sing over them. Somewhat hard to explain, easy to understand if you see it live.

My debut record, “Passing Thru”, was released in 2004 and received lots of positive press. I put out a few EPs in 2005 and 2006. In 2007 I put out “Dishes & Pills” which was released by Folkwit Records in the UK. In 2009 I put out “I Know, I Know” which is a collection of one-man-band loop songs. I’m currently working on a new record entitled “Thick Skin” to be released in March 2011. When I’m not on the road playing shows I’m usually in either Boston or Maine. Check my tour schedule out on “shows” for more info.

View Audrey Ryan Band’s Electronic Press Kit (EPK)