September 6, 2018

Andrew Ryan Announces September Tour with Bobby Stevens

music venue

You often hear of musicians switching into the producer role after years of touring, but for Andrew Ryan, it’s the exact opposite. After 13 years in the production industry, Andrew’s made the full transition from producer to touring artist, bringing his degree from CRAS with him.

Last September, Ryan released his freshman album “Across Currents.” A 12 song LP, mixing indie rock elements with alt-country. Across Currents was written and mixed by Andrew who was kind enough to speak about his upcoming tour with Bobby Stevens.

You can find Tour info here:

music gigs

Check out the interview below!

Q) Hey Andrew! So for those who haven’t heard of you yet, how do you describe Andrew Ryan?

A) The music falls in between singer-songwriter and middle of the road indie rock.

Q) Tours coming up quick! How did you and your tour mate, Bobby Stevens get connected?

A) Bobby is a local musician based out of St. Louis, he works at a local venue in town. One night after my band played a show, he approached me afterward with a lot of nice things to say. I made it a point to catch one of his shows last winter and was blown away by his talent.

Q) Are you performing in any new cities on this tour?

A) Yeah on this tour the new cities we’re playing in for me is Chicago, Minneapolis, Lincoln, and Denver.

andrew ryan

Q) You often hear about musicians switching to the producer role after years of touring, but for you, it’s the opposite. What’s it like having that profession in your tool belt?

A) Well, I’ve always been a musician and playing in bands for years, playing gigs, cutting my teeth mostly as a drummer since the age of 14. I think understanding the process and having experiences making records for other bands and artists helps me visualize how a song or section will come together later on. I’ve always been able to step away mentally and visualize it or hear it farther along than it may be at that moment. Being a drummer originally, I can hear the rhythm section and know where the fills would be at or how they would sync with the rest of the music.

I recorded and mixed the record I put out last September. I pushed every button and turned every knob and played a handful of instruments on the record. As much of a task that was, just finishing it felt like a big enough accomplishment for me, but I’m also really happy and humbled that people have been enjoying it.

Q) Was your experience interning in Chicago at Electrical Audio a lot different than your time at CRAS? Working with indie rock recording legend Steve Albini must have been insightful!

A) Working for Steve was a really great experience. He is a very intelligent and humble guy, that being said he has a lot of knowledge when it comes to making records, he’s probably forgotten more than I’ll ever know. It was also great meeting bands from around the country and Europe that were flying in to make records at Steve’s studio.

Q) Last September you released your LP “Across Currents,” so what does the future look like for Andrew Ryan?

A) This past May I reconnected with an old friend and classmate I met at CRAS years ago and I went to Nashville for the weekend to visit with him and showed him some demos I had recorded for album 2 (that I recorded around the same time as Across Currents.) Anyways, he was really excited about it and convinced me to re-record it with him and to let him co-produce it. Which has turned out to be a really smart choice. So since May, I’ve made a few trips down to Nashville and we’re almost done with recording eleven new songs for the next record which should be done by the end of the year.

Watch the Music Video for Take Aim:

Q) How did the situation with Six-time Grammy award-winning producer Jeff Powell, get set up? It must be a cool feeling to hold the vinyl Jeff cut for Across Currents!

A) Actually, Jeff Powell is working out of Sam Phillips Recording in Memphis. I was looking for a place that was close enough to St. Louis that was cutting lacquer for vinyl. I contacted Jeff and he was more than happy to do it for me and to let me come down and hang out while he was doing the process. Jeff is definitely a heavy hitter and a pro by all means. Come to find out we have a few mutual friends in the audio world and Jeff is a really great guy and a great talent. I’m happy to know someone like Jeff.

Q) We ask all the artists we interview, what’s the best piece of advice that someone has ever given to you?

A) Last January we opened up for Rayland Baxter at the Art of Live Festival in St. Louis. I had a good conversation with his keyboard player Jimmy Rowland outside about hows there’s really never any end to all of it. You just need to keep moving forward and keep performing and that’s really all that there is.