Backstage Pass Radio

S4: E3: Stephanie Ryann - Dreams Come True With A Bluebird Debut

February 01, 2023 Backstage Pass Radio Season 4 Episode 3
Backstage Pass Radio
S4: E3: Stephanie Ryann - Dreams Come True With A Bluebird Debut
Show Notes Transcript

Date: February 1, 2023
Name of podcast: Backstage Pass Radio
Episode title and number:  S4: E3: Stephanie Ryann - Dreams Come True With A Bluebird Debut


Artist Bio -

STEPHANIE RYANN is a woman who's got something to say, whether you want to listen or not. Embracing country music's forward progression, Ryann's "storyteller" lyrics and unique vocal stylings showcase her influences from country, pop, and rock music. Recently compared to the likes of Ashley McBryde and Sara Evans, her sound is what sets her apart from other country artists on the scene.

The New England native is no stranger to the music industry, spending most of her late teens and early 20’s auditioning for TV shows such as American Idol, Nashville Star, and The Voice to assist in jump-starting her career. When that proved to be more of a dead end than an open road, the former firefighter turned fashion model turned musician looked to friends and fellow musicians Eliot Lewis (of the legendary pop duo Hall & Oates) and Kevin Totoian to help forge her own path into the music industry. In late 2018, Ryann released her debut, self-titled, EP and has been releasing singles ever since. 

According to Music and Tour News, “Stephanie Ryann is set to become one of the genre's most revered artists,” and with a catalog boasting over 400,000 streams across platforms, it's not hard to understand why. Ryann has had the privilege of sharing a stage with several fellow artists, including Cole Swindell, Tenille Arts, Jackson Dean, Morgan Myles, Eliot Lewis, Carolyn Miller, Jamie McLean, The Felice Brothers, and Midnight North.  Stephanie Ryann has been featured on an impressive list of media outlets including CMT, Celeb Secrets, Digital Journal, NY"s 94.7, and BCMA and has been named "Artist of the Year" by The Wood Music and awarded "2020 Song of the Year"  by Rt 66 Country Music. Ryann has also been named “One to Watch” by NSAI (Nashville Songwriter’s Association).

While COVID-19 shut down most of the music industry, Ryann took the opportunity to hone her songwriting skills and teach herself guitar. With a new skill under her belt, a new side of Ryann began to shine with the release of songs like her COVID-inspired single, “Nights Like These”, and her fierce female anthem, "I Should". "Learning guitar completely changed my approach to songwriting. It opened my eyes (and ears) to a whole new side of myself and I'm leaning into that with everything I've got," says Ryann. Delivering over 100 live streams concerts with various media outlets including radio stations, music venues, and online festivals, Ryann shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

Stay tuned for new music!


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Your Host,
Randy Hulsey 

 

Stephanie Ryann Mixdown Master

Thu, Jan 26, 2023 8:41PM • 1:32:12

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

guitar, people, song, stephanie, play, music, nashville, listeners, maine, listening, write, calluses, songwriter, hear, pandemic, started, regulars, artists, backstage pass, feel, Stephanie Ryann, Stephanie Ryann Music, Randy Hulsey, Backstage Pass Radio, Podcast, Best Podcast, Music Interview, Spotify, Apple Podcast, iHeart Radio, Cypress Texas, Randy Hulsey Music, Randy Hulsey Podcast

SPEAKERS

Randy Hulsey, Stephanie Ryann, Adam Gordon

 

Randy Hulsey  00:00

She is a New York born singer songwriter and calls New England home. Happy New Year to all of you guys tuning in. It's Randy Hulsey here with backstage pass radio. This evening I will visit with a talented singer songwriter that was a firefighter turned fashion model turned musician. She has released a handful of singles recently, and I will chat with my friend Stephanie Ryann, right after this.

 

Adam Gordon  00:24

This is backstage pass radio, the podcast that's designed for the music junkie with a thirst for musical knowledge. Hi, this is Adam Gordon. And I want to thank you all for joining us today. Make sure you like subscribe and turn the alerts on for this and all upcoming podcasts. And now here's your host of backstage pass radio, Randy Hulsey.

 

Randy Hulsey  00:53

I am joined by the lovely and talented Stephanie Ryann, welcome, friend.

 

Stephanie Ryann  00:58

Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. How are you?

 

Randy Hulsey  01:01

I am doing well. How about yourself?

 

Stephanie Ryann  01:04

I am good. I'm very good.

 

Randy Hulsey  01:07

Oh, I guess we're you are up in the Northeast right now. I guess it's that time of year where the temperatures are starting to drop a little What's the weather like up and up in the main area these days? Oh, the weather

 

Stephanie Ryann  01:19

has dropped. The weather outside is frightful.

 

Randy Hulsey  01:24

Wasn't there a song about that or some?

 

Stephanie Ryann  01:28

Yeah, it's gotten it's definitely gotten a cold here inland. It's a it's a bit snowy by the coast where I am. It's not snowing, it's just cold. But we were very, very lucky this season. It was super mild until about recently where the temperatures dropped. And, you know, now we're here. We're here in

 

Randy Hulsey  01:48

winter. Yeah, and it's kind of interesting, because Houston is not known as like, the cold portion of the nation. But the weather was really bad today, a lot of rain. But I think Thursday, I was kind of comparing it to Maine. And Thursday, I think we're down to like 17 to crease at night, which is kind of what you guys have going on there right now, which is rare. And when that happens in Texas, that's not a good thing. Because people freak out. Like we don't have the infrastructure to support those kinds of temperatures. And the last time that we got down to that cold it was like it was it was a nightmare. Because pipes were busting you know, a lot of the pipes here exposed and whatnot, whereas up north are kind of, they're kind of ready for those things. And we're just not, we're not set up for that. That kind of rigmarole, so to speak.

 

Stephanie Ryann  02:41

Now, up here, we are very well supported. On that side of things I know down south in a lot of different areas. It's just not something that is likely so there's not as much preparation. So yeah, definitely a challenge for you guys down there. real cold.

 

Randy Hulsey  02:58

I will say the nice thing about it, though, this time of year to look at the to look at the forecast and see that starting tomorrow the the rain goes away, and it's going to be really cold during the week. And we're going to get to Sunday, which will be Christmas day and it's actually going to be colder than 80 degrees outside. So that's gonna be really nice for the for the Texas people. And I know that doesn't mean a whole lot to people that live up north because, you know, you associate Christmas time in the holidays with cold weather and snow. We're never that lucky here in Texas because it's always hot. So this will be a nice year. A nice change for us where we actually have a cold day on Christmas Day. Looking forward to that. Yeah. As long as the rain stays away, right, the cold is fine, as long as the rain stays away.

 

Stephanie Ryann  03:47

Yeah, no, I agree with that. I actually was just looking at the the temperature here it says 30 Feels like nighttime.

 

Randy Hulsey  03:54

Yeah. Wow. I was telling somebody not too long ago. I was up two years ago in January and might not North Dakota and it was negative 41 When I was there and not a place that one

 

Stephanie Ryann  04:08

cold. I've not been in that cold of temperature. Thank God, I would need some serious hearing happening.

 

Adam Gordon  04:15

Yeah, I

 

Stephanie Ryann  04:16

think that enjoyable. Exactly.

 

Randy Hulsey  04:18

I think the polar bears were even layered up in those temperatures. Right? It's just it's like beyond cold. But what area of Maine you know, when we look at the at the map in our mind's eye what area of Maine Do you reside in these days?

 

Stephanie Ryann  04:34

So I am in what they consider to be quote unquote, the mid Coast area and about two hours north ish of Portland and about the same south of Bar Harbor on the coastline so we don't get a lot of snow here. To be honest, we probably get as much as they're lower New England folk. It's just a little bit colder longer. Really, it'd be nice to have a little bit More snow, cuz who doesn't love a good? Lovely snowfall here and there?

 

Randy Hulsey  05:05

Yeah, I think everything's good in moderation, right? Everything's good in moderation.

 

Stephanie Ryann  05:11

You know, sometimes I would be happy to switch with you, Randy, and be in Texas where it's nice and warm.

 

Randy Hulsey  05:17

Well, you again, again, always be careful what you wish for. Because there's an old adage, like you always want what you can't have, right? So you say that until you get down here in the summertime. And you're like, holy cow, I've got to get back up north. This is way too hot down here. But, you know, I guess

 

Stephanie Ryann  05:36

I probably would not want to switch with you in the summer. No, no, even when I go down to Nashville, I'm like, oh, no, no. Like, June, July? August because of the humidity. Yeah. Just you know, it just wreaks havoc on the hair.

 

Randy Hulsey  05:54

Yeah, does well, I don't have that problem. But I don't worry about the hair probably quite like you do. But nevertheless, it does do funny things. The the women here certainly talk about the humidity. And why did I fix my hair this morning, It's so humid outside, like soon as they walk from the house to the car. The hairs fall and nothing can be done with it with all the time you spent. But so I was wondering, also, you know, being up in that part of the world, is there ever any time spent across the border in Canada, you know, Quebec, or any of the areas outside of the US for you, it's probably not all that far of a drive for you to get to those areas? Correct. Um,

 

Stephanie Ryann  06:38

we're probably looking at seven ish, probably a little bit more than that to get into Canada. I've actually never been to Canada. And I say that, you know, maybe not. So truthfully, because I've flown into Canada to fly somewhere else. But I have not actually visited Canada. That's interesting. It's on the list and a docket of places to go. And I've met a lot of really amazing people, especially in the country, music world that live up there. So hoping at some point, we can do like a like a trade, like, come there and visit and play some shows and hang out and then they can come here and visit. We're working on getting a place in Nashville too. So to be able to have a home in Maine, and then a place in Nashville, and then friends everywhere that you

 

Randy Hulsey  07:25

visit. Absolutely. Well, that's the way to do it. For sure. Yeah,

 

Stephanie Ryann  07:29

it opens up the pool for a lot of different things. Yeah. And there's gonna be a lot of travel in my future anyways, because I want to be out and about sounds good.

 

Randy Hulsey  07:37

Well, and in your, in your line of work, you need to be out and about, because if you're not, there's something not going very well with the career right, if you're just sitting. Well, you're you're not a native of New England. I'm not. And I think New York was where you were kind of born and raised. Is that correct?

 

Stephanie Ryann  08:00

That is true, actually. So I was technically born in New England, because I was born in Connecticut. Okay. But I grew up in New York, not Manhattan, because every time you say New York, everybody thinks New York City, which is like, you know, that tiny little sliver of whole state? Absolutely everybody forgets about. So I grew up in New York State, and lived there for almost my whole life until I moved to Connecticut. And I lived there for six years. And then I moved to Maine. After that, when the pandemic hit, I moved up here to Maine. That's a long story that I can keep a little short.

 

Randy Hulsey  08:38

Keep it short, like because I think that when you think about all the places and in the United States that that we could go like, I would think most people would say I could see people maybe going from Connecticut to New York, because New York is known as the the big city kind of thing, right? But to go from New York to maybe a smaller area in a smaller state kind of thing. What took you to further further east on the east coast there are

 

Stephanie Ryann  09:11

so the short answer is I grew up in New York, I was a firefighter and I went to college. And then I was modeling in Manhattan that I moved to Connecticut with my then boyfriend now husband, and he and I both worked in Manhattan. So we were back and forth. We were right over the border from New York into Connecticut. So we took the train every day. And we were doing our careers down in Manhattan and then the pandemic hit and we both decided he started working from home and my modeling career was essentially dead because nobody was doing anything. And at that time, I had already started to pursue music full time. So I said Sian Ara to that whole life and went full steam ahead with music. And because he was able to work entirely A from home, we had the option of buying a house in Maine or buying a place in Nashville. At the time, it made sense to buy a place in Maine because his family always vacation to Maine and the house of vacation that was for sale, and we got an amazing deal on it. So we said, Let's go to Maine, and we'll buy the house, we'll have the vacation house forever. And then we will find a place in Nashville so that we can be doing that as well and have the best of both worlds in the scenario. So that is the short version.

 

Randy Hulsey  10:30

Cool story.

 

Stephanie Ryann  10:32

And then I'm here, right?

 

Randy Hulsey  10:34

In Maine, and I was gonna say, Isn't it nice to have a significant other that can kind of afford you to be able to pursue your music in the downturn, I mean, because, you know, if you were a single person or a singer, if you were a single mom, or whatever the case may be, that makes it more of a challenge, like you just can't quit your job and just work on music all the time, you have to go get a legitimate job to pay the mortgage, right. But when you have a significant other or boyfriend or husband or or vice versa, that, that takes a little stress off to allow you to work on that career. So that that sounds like it was kind of a, all the stars aligned for you, so to speak, during that time. So

 

Stephanie Ryann  11:20

lately, I'm very lucky and blessed to have such an amazing support system, and my husband and his backing to be able to afford the opportunity to follow this career path that I've always wanted to do for my whole life. You know, early on, we were able to flow everything because I was working full time modeling while also doing music. So we didn't have any struggle with that. But when the pandemic hit and changed everything, you know, I had my stockpile the way savings and doing all this stuff with music that I could and, and supporting myself by doing live streams on Instagram, and Facebook and all those things. And people were very lovely and generous in those in those platforms to help support artists like myself, who would be putting on these shows, and then they'd tip a little something here and there to kind of help you float by so there was a lot of support from a lot of people, you know, including my husband, but you know, from, from everybody around the globe really?

 

Randy Hulsey  12:20

Yeah. What a cool way to try to supplement a little income during such a weird time of our lives. You know, 20 years ago, 30 years ago, I mean, who would have ever thought that you could sit in a room and be seen all over the world typically, or basically right? By just playing some guitar live in your, you know, in your home studio. And it's really cool that you could subsidize a little bit of the income. But I did some of the live streaming, too. And how weird is it to sit in front of a camera and play the guitar? When there's like no vibe, it's like playing to a brick wall. But it's cool in the fact that people that wouldn't normally get to see you actually get to see you perform. So it's more cool for them than it is for the artists that's playing the Facebook Live, right?

 

Stephanie Ryann  13:15

Yes, and no, I feel like for me, it was a whole different scenario. Prior to the pandemic, I didn't play guitar. I sang, I wrote music. And I had a guitarist that I worked with and in a band and we all worked really hard together to get my music off of the ground. And when the pandemic hit, and I was not in a space where I could perform with anyone else. I had to learn how to play guitar. So it was actually fantastic for me to be able to perform online because I didn't have to worry about if I needed notes in front of me or if people were looking at me and making me nervous when I was super comfortable playing guitar yet. You know now it's coming up on three years that I've been playing. And pretty consistently, I really challenged myself over the pandemic, I started a whole show that I did every Sunday it was called pajama session. And it would be me and like a coffee or a mimosa and I would play three or four songs every week. And I would always try to make them different songs. I play like a couple of covers and my own. So I could strive to continue to learn, learn, learn learn. So that really helped me a lot and then like I said not having people looking directly at me really helped that thrive. So I feel like it was a pretty big benefit to me learning guitar and getting more comfortable playing and performing. And then when it got to a point where I actually went to Nashville for the first time after things started to live. I played live for the first time and I was like oh my god this is so like old hat to me, which was Those familiar even though people are here, and they're looking at me, like you can you chat about that, and you're like, This is just such an amazing space to be here with people that I haven't played in front of before. But I also love live streaming, because like you said before, it was an amazing opportunity to perform for people that have never seen your farm before. And may not because people can tune in from all over the world. Absolutely. I still love that idea now, and I hope people don't ever go away from it. Because live streaming does allow that opportunity for so many people who maybe wouldn't get a chance to see you, especially overseas to see you perform live. Yep.

 

Randy Hulsey  15:37

And it's a great way like you said, at best, I mean, that's basically how you cut your teeth, right? You cut your teeth playing the guitar on Facebook Live. And you know, I don't know how you felt about it. But I remember, I've been a musician for a really long time. And I won't even discuss how many years I've been a musician. But I remember, you know, I went on a 2030 year hiatus of playing anything live, you know, I did the bands and stuff back in the 80s and 90s. And then I just walked away from it lived a life, probably back in 2015, I started playing out solo again. And I meant to do Oh, now but the interesting thing, when I went back to the solo shows, I was really nervous about getting back out. And it wasn't because I was afraid of the singing and the playing part it was more of the equipment, the technical difficulties with equipment, whether it was feedback, or you know, you had to troubleshoot something or a string broke. Not that I don't know how to tune my guitar and restring my guitar because I do but as a solo artist, as you probably well know, you don't really have a sound guy there working aboard for you. You are the sound guy, right? So if you get feedback in the middle of a song, you either try to work, you know through it by moving your mouth or your route or doing doing some crazy Sleight of hands, because there's nobody turning dials. So I think that made me more nervous than the playing part. And I don't know, if you how you felt about that when you first went out, you started playing the live shows? Was there any of that fear for you? Or did you always have people working the sound for you, and you didn't have to worry about that kind of thing?

 

Stephanie Ryann  17:24

Pre pandemic, I didn't have to worry about sound, because somebody else was managing that post pandemic. You know, when you're playing out live, and you're down in Nashville, and you're doing the writers rounds and all that stuff, you have somebody else managing it. So you don't worry about that. Being up here. And being in Maine, I've been very lucky to have my husband run sound good. Actually, the first time ever that I had to run sound was three days ago, because my husband couldn't come and I had to run sound for myself and two other artists. So I had to figure out how to use the equipment, and make sure that nobody had feedback. And everybody sounded good. And all that stuff. And then when I went when it was my turn, one of the other artists just kind of gave me feedback of like, Hey, turn down this and turn off that so that I could do it from the stage because I have like an app on my phone that links up to my Bose system. And then I could just kind of manage everything from there. Yes. But when you're working to like, get everything together, it's definitely nerve wracking because you have to own everything.

 

Randy Hulsey  18:27

You have to be the performer. Yeah, the performer, the technician, the sound person that everything right.

 

Stephanie Ryann  18:34

Absolutely. I'm kind of used to being everything anyways, because like, as you know, being an independent artist, you are everything. You're the marketer, you're the manager, you're the songwriter, you're the singer, performing, you're the mixing engineer, you're doing all of the things, so I'm wearing a lot of the hats. Yeah,

 

Randy Hulsey  18:51

I get it. So of course you're in Maine right now, but you traveled back and forth to Nashville. When do you think that that whole Nashville thing would happen for you guys? Is there is there some kind of plan you know, you'd like to have a place in Nashville by this date? And is there any, you know, solid plans for you guys at this time?

 

Stephanie Ryann  19:13

You know, I've given up the having it by this date. Okay scenario, because we have been looking for probably six months and as you're probably well aware, and I'm sure the listeners are aware, the real estate market, it has been out of control for quite some time. So I've been very fortunate to have a lot of friends down there that have let me stay at their places, whether they're there or not, or rent their spaces. There's also hotels and everything. So I've been fortunate enough to do that. I'd love to get a place there sooner than later. However, it just has to be the right fit. Yeah.

 

Randy Hulsey  19:51

I have an interview with a gal out of Willis, Texas. Her name is Peyton Howie and she plays a lot of fun shows up in in Nashville. And I know that she had a place in Nashville and she traveled from north. Basically Willis is North Houston had a place in Nashville. And I think it just kind of became, okay, I'm there a lot, but I don't think it's enough to really pay for a place. So I think she does kind of that, where she just goes up and either does the hotel thing or just she's gotten to know a lot of people since her time in Nashville, probably much like you have, you know, you go there and do the the writers rounds and stuff like that you get to know people and become friends with people. And a lot of times they'll have an extra bedroom in their house or whatever, that can help save you a little money on the travel. Right?

 

Stephanie Ryann  20:42

Oh, absolutely. Which, you know, has been a godsend. Absolutely. I'm looking forward to being able to have my own space down there just because then I could leave something. Yes, I was very fortunate. Last time I had trouble down, I was able to leave my guitar at my friend's place, because it was only going to be like two weeks between me leaving and coming back, which was really nice to not have to travel on a plane with a guitar. So much stuff that I'm like, Oh my gosh, I can carry on a coffee and my bag. And that's it.

 

Randy Hulsey  21:16

Isn't that nice? Well, well, a firefighter, let's see a firefighter turned fashion model. So this is like very opposite ends of the spectrum, right? And I have to say for maybe for the listeners where they're not going to see a video and I'm sure if they go out and we'll talk about your social media and stuff at the end. If they go out and look you up, they'll see that it's apparent why you are a fashion model, right. But how did the firefighter How did the firefighting part of it come about for you?

 

Stephanie Ryann  21:55

So I grew up in a family lineage of firefighters, my grandfather was a firefighter. I've had multiple cousins who have been firefighters, my father has been the chief for a number of years. And my brother was also in the department. And when we were growing up, and my brother joined the junior volunteers, my dad was always in the department. Gosh, I think he's been in the department for like, 40 years. But I was like, why are there no women? And what like, can there be? And it was kind of like, yeah, like, there can be and I'm like, well, then I want to do that. Trailblazer I've always grown up as like maybe not the tomboy of the group. But I definitely was always like a view, saying that I can't do something or that a woman's not able to do something, I'm going to do it. So I joined the junior volunteers back in middle school. And then I was able to join the regular department when I turned 18. So I guess it was like middle school eighth grade or ninth grade that I joined the the junior volunteers worked through that I became like lieutenant and then captain of the junior volunteers then moved up to the regular department and you know, took firefighter one and I did all the classes and had all the everything that you needed to be able to perform the duties of a firefighter. Volunteer for about 10 years. Yeah.

 

Randy Hulsey  23:18

You've been compared to a few artists like, I think Sara Evans was one and then Ashley McBride. And I wanted to ask you why, why the reference to these two artists? Particularly Do you think what what about Stephanie Ryan? translates to those two artists? And your eyes?

 

Stephanie Ryann  23:42

No, I have been compared to both of those artists and a few others over the years, which is an absolute honor. I am very happy because they're fabulous artists in their own right. I think the tone of my voice a lot of people have compared to Sara Evans. You know, how you hear your voice differently than other people do and, and I definitely can hear similarities, but vocally, they've gone that way. And then as far as like lyrics, and an attitude perspective, I guess they've compared me to Ashley McBride, with her, you know, ability to be a great storyteller and to just be like, This is me and take it or leave it kind of attitude. Like

 

Randy Hulsey  24:27

I was gonna say, there might be a little you know, and I don't know her personally, of course, and I've seen a few videos and I would have to detect a little bit of rebel Enos in her but when when I look at you on on the cover, I don't I don't see. Oh, I don't associate with you with like, oh, I betcha, Stephanie I betcha that is a rebel say it like it is kind of chick right. So I don't, I don't know that correlation. So it's cool that you're telling

 

Stephanie Ryann  24:57

me to hear other people's perspectives too because you're saying that you don't see that, and I'm sure there's probably people that agree with you. And then people that agree on the other side, you never know, like, what? Or who other people are going to, like, describe you as anytime that anybody says anything, I'm like, that's amazing. I'm glad that you, you know, can look at me and think a certain something as long as it's good, obviously. Sure. Well, it's interesting to hear people's perspectives on you know, who they think that you are just based on a look or, or your sound and, and then, you know, making their preconceived notions and then, you know, digging a little deeper and finding out more of the things and seeing if that sways it?

 

Randy Hulsey  25:40

Well, I think part of it too, is, and the whole tattoo thing has changed over the years. For sure, right? And I think when you see people, historically, when you see people with tattoos, you your mind automatically goes to a few places, right? Either, okay, you just got out of prison, or you're a bad person, or you're a drug addict. I mean, there's a lot of preconceived notions as my point right now, that's changed from, you know, 1970 to today, it's very mainstream, I have a very respectable job that I make a very good living at. And I have a lot of tattoos, right. So it's hard to judge that book by the cover, I see a tattoo on your arm. So I'm not saying that you don't have tattoos, but you have a little bit more wholesome look like you're not all tatted up is my point, right? So when you when we go out, and we judge the book by the cover, rebel is not the first thing that comes to mind right for you, which is not a bad thing at all. So you said as long as it's not a bad thing. Now, the preconceived notion for you is totally not a bad thing. But I could detect a little bit of that. And Ashley McBride, and the few videos that I've seen, like she's a, she's a chick that kinda says it like it is. And that comes out in her music. And there's probably a lot of that, of course that, you know, your message comes out in your music as well, I'm sure.

 

Stephanie Ryann  27:11

I think the best part there, the best compliment that I could ever get is maybe walking that line between that good and wholesome and the rebel.

 

Randy Hulsey  27:26

Well, you know what, in the business too, I think you've probably learned this, there has to be a little rebel in you. You can't be a doormat to people, especially as an independent artist. I mean, you have to stand your ground, right? So there has to be a little bit of that. You don't want to be too wholesome. You want to be wholesome, but you don't want to be so wholesome, that people take advantage of you, especially if you're a woman too, right. I mean, I think that it's, you know, it's common for people to try to take advantage of a woman because for whatever reasons, right, so it's probably, to put up a little bit of that rebel side. And I think it keeps people in check, for sure. And I and I tell Terry, my wife that all the time, I'm like, I know I know you're a do gooder. And you want to please everybody, but sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind you really do. And until you learn to do that you're gonna get walked on. So hopefully, that's not the not you. I'm sure you have it all figured out, though. I don't think you

 

Stephanie Ryann  28:25

were figuring things out day to day. I feel like when, of course, like back when we're all younger, you are a doormat. Yeah, a lot of the time because you're trying to figure it out. And then as you get older, you're like, Okay, now I know, how I want to be treated and how I want to be perceived, and then you you act accordingly. So I just think age helps in figuring out the Who am I and how do I want people to see me? And what am I willing to put up with it or not put up with to you know, really pave the way for an understanding of like who you are as a person?

 

Randy Hulsey  29:05

Yeah. Well, it's interesting. While you were just saying that I was sitting here thinking, we were talking about how people perceive you. And I was looking, I was watching you say what you were saying? And I'm like, Why didn't she looks like somebody I know. She looks like somebody I know. And I'm just saying this over and over and in my head. And I'll share with you that later. But I wanted you to think as we go through this interview, have you ever been compared to a celebrity or look alike of a celebrity? So just kind of keep that thought in mind? And then I'll tell you who I who I think it is later on. I think you know, we they always say you have a Doppel you know you have a twin somewhere and I don't think it's so much at Twin but there's features that remind me of her so anyway, just I'm very interested to hear Yeah, just remind me because my old self will forget right or whatever. But it said Interesting, we talked a little bit about Ashley McBride and I don't know a lot of her stuff, but I stumbled across her a few years back maybe. And it was a video of her song girl going nowhere that she performed at the Opry in the circle. I don't know if you've seen it, but it's probably one of the most. It's probably one of the most touching and powerful videos that I've seen. Because it's, it's a girl that comes out of nowhere. And they said you'd never be you'd never make it into anything. And look, we're kind of look where I am now. So that the listener of that performance

 

Stephanie Ryann  30:39

Yeah. And I cried when I watched she, she's singing the lyrics for all of us out there that are that feel that way sometimes. And you know, being independent and pushing your way through, through everything. And through the noise. Sometimes it feels like that. You just feel like you're, you're trying so hard, and you're not really getting anywhere and people want to dog you for it. And you're just like, No, I'm going to keep going. And I'm going to I'm going to show you. Yes. And so when I heard her say I heard that song many times prior and always felt connected to it. But then when I saw her perform that in the opry circle, yeah, you know, it's very powerful. Another level?

 

Randy Hulsey  31:21

Absolutely. I agree. Well, let's talk about your music for just a minute. First of all, congrats on I think what five or so singles that you've released over the years. Is my math right there. Has there been about that?

 

Stephanie Ryann  31:35

I can't even tell you how many singles it's been. Because I had the EP in 2018. And then from there, I put out singles. So maybe I think this year, I've released the word.

 

Randy Hulsey  31:48

Okay. I was going by Spotify to Stephanie, just so you know, where I get where I get my information. It's not like I have an inside track on what you've released. But, you know, we're kind of limited here to go when we're doing our research, you know, we go out to the Pandora's and the Spotify is and it looked like it was probably about five ish, four or five ish, something like that, that you've done in 2022. Right. Yeah.

 

Stephanie Ryann  32:13

2022 There's definitely four or five that have come out this year and planning for next year to probably hit that number, if not more.

 

Randy Hulsey  32:22

Yeah, and I want to talk more about that. But I wanted to share a quick clip of a single call about me. And I'll share this with the listeners and then we'll come back and chat about the song a little bit Fair enough. Yeah, all right standby

 

32:44

can be

 

Stephanie Ryann  32:50

drawn into trouble.

 

Randy Hulsey  33:17

Nice hook in that song. I love the song. I've listened to it. Probably. I don't know how many times I've listened to it. I'll go on record to say probably at least 20 times. So 2020 of those 20 of those. Spotify spins are from this guy right here. So just Yeah, right. So I'm assuming I mean, I don't I don't want to put words in your mouth or assume. Was this one of the songs that you recorded in Nashville?

 

Stephanie Ryann  33:47

Yes. Okay. Yeah, all my music is recorded in Nashville, everything. Okay, everything post. Post 2020 has been recorded in Nashville, recorded and essentially written in Nashville. I wrote about me with Andrew King and Joey Cirilo, down in Nashville, we were in the studio and said, Yeah, what do you want to write about? And I said, I have this idea for for a song, you know about bullying, because, as a kid, I was bullied. And as an adult, we still unfortunately get bullied from time to time. You're always you know, dealing with that kind of thing. And I wanted to kind of write an anthem knee saw about that and just saying, like, you know, what, you can say what you want. But that's gonna say a lot more about you than it does about me, because the people who know me are gonna know that that's not accurate.

 

Randy Hulsey  34:38

Well, and I think that's great. That's a great topic, right? I mean, a lot of people. I'm not saying that any other topic is a bad topic, right? But I mean, you hear you hear the songs about whiskey nights and drink in and you know, the typical stuff that a lot of people write about, but to write about a true issue. Who and our nation? The whole bullying thing like that's, that's a great topic to talk about. And if it helps one person in some form or fashion, you're way ahead of the curve as far as I'm concerned. And I'm assuming the thought in mind for you what you said, you mentioned anthem, right? So did you write it with that the bully in mind? Like you're trying to speak to people that get bullied? Is that kind of how the song formed?

 

Stephanie Ryann  35:28

Absolutely, yeah. With all my music, i The intention is always to to help someone in some way how I listen to music growing up was always, you know, if I was in a certain mood, I had certain songs really listened to that would just help me get through whatever the situation I was in. And just ones that touched me in a way that others didn't, I, I as an artist want to be that for someone else. Because that's how I've listened to music. So being right and kind of more of an anthemic song, where people can can listen to it, especially like young women. Understand that, like, there are going to be those people that are going to be haters in your life, and you just need to not worry about what other people say or what other people think about you, you need to just focus on yourself and being a good person. And that's good enough. Well,

 

Randy Hulsey  36:19

I think it would be more fulfilling to you as an artist to to know that you're the voice of positivity for somebody, right? Even whether it's one person or a million people hear that song, or hopefully millions hear that song at some point in time. But just to say that, I think I helped somebody, right, I think that's great to be the voice for somebody that, that a lot of times the person getting bullied don't feel like they have a voice for themselves, right. And it kind of goes back to the conversation we were having earlier about being a doormat for people, right? At some point in time, you have to stand up for yourself. And if if your words and your song help them to stand up and to develop that backbone, so to speak, then more power and kudos to you. For sure. Is there a preference for you to write alone, or CO write talk to me a little bit about how you prefer to

 

Stephanie Ryann  37:16

write. I love writing alone. But there's just something about CO writing that brings whatever you have to say to another level, I've only released one song of all the songs that I've released, that I solely wrote on my own, everything else is a co write. Oftentimes, I bring an idea to the table and or I have half of it written or a melody idea or something like that, and go into a room and we write a song. And if it's something that I feel really connected to that is something that I will, you know, consider putting out for the world. But I love writing alone, just in a sense to get like a solid idea formed. And then be able to bring it to a group of writers, whether it's one, two or three, to enhance it and just make it better. There's just a finesse that some people have with words that you necessarily don't think of on your own. And that is help in and of itself to make a song even stronger. Sure, for a listener.

 

Randy Hulsey  38:20

Well, there's always as a writer, I'm sure there's many times when you said, you've given it to somebody else. And you they said something and you said why didn't I think of that like that? That's so easy, right? But they give that that little idea to the song that just it creates a whole new life of the song and sometimes that's a great thing. Right? But absolutely, I wanted to ask you which one of the songs did you write alone that that may be recorded, like that the listeners can hear on Spotify? Is that out there right now?

 

Stephanie Ryann  38:53

Yeah, it's out there. I released it in 21. And it's called Broken Heart.

 

Randy Hulsey  38:57

Broken Heart. Okay, good to know. And I think it's important to point out for you that you've won several accolades, Artists of the Year, Song of the Year accolades. First of all, congrats on those things, but I wanted to ask you, what, what do the accolades mean to Stephanie Ryan? Are they a big deal to you? Because some artists can live with them some, some don't care, some love them, some thrive on them? What are the accolades mean for you, as an artist or to you as an artist?

 

Stephanie Ryann  39:33

To me, they're always a big deal, because it means that somebody's listening intently enough to want to give you that positive feedback of what you're doing matters to other people. So whether it's an award or it's just somebody coming up to you after a show saying, hey, that song that you wrote that you sang up there, really touched me and go into through x y&z and and that really made a difference in my life. So thank you, there is no too big or too small accolade that can be ever given. Because it's all just, it all just makes me feel amazing could be able to touch somebody else's life enough where they they feel it appropriate to come

 

Randy Hulsey  40:19

up to me and let me know that. I agree. And there's I've said it many times that at the end of the night and I preface this by saying that money is always an, you know, an important part of a musician's well being right, we need money to pay our bills and the mortgage and that type of thing. But sometimes it's that after show person coming up that says, that song took me back to a point in time that I was going through a hard time, it means so much to me. That is more gratifying than a $5 bill in my tip jar sometimes. And I don't know how you feel about that as an artist, but sometimes that's invaluable. And you can't put a monetary price tag on feedback and comments like that about the music because that solidifies the reason why you're doing it. Right. Your musicians like you and I don't do it. Because we just like strumming strings. We do it because we want to touch people with the with the lyrics or the music, right? Would you agree with that?

 

Stephanie Ryann  41:22

Oh, absolutely. I would much prefer a compliment. I mean, I've had I've had situations happen where somebody would come up to me and give a compliment and want to buy a CD and maybe didn't have enough for it. And I was like, You know what, just take it. Yeah. Because it means more to me that you enjoy the music that much that you would even want to have it. And you should be able to have that even if you can't afford it. So take it and enjoy it.

 

Randy Hulsey  41:47

Good. Good. Good for you.

 

Stephanie Ryann  41:49

I wanted to Edward Yeah, really all I absolutely.

 

Randy Hulsey  41:53

Absolutely. Absolutely. I wanted to share another clip of a single that was released 2022 as well. This is a single called regulars and Trump in so let's take a quick listen to that. And then we'll come back and chat cool sounds good.

 

Stephanie Ryann  42:13

company I keep stay when they leave my key is not person offend Me or him and unfriend me? Friends

 

42:43

son will change

 

Stephanie Ryann  42:50

we're gonna call it weekends with HS code.

 

Randy Hulsey  43:01

Great song Stephanie. I, you're welcome. And I always tell everybody, I think one of the I started the podcast back in February of 2021. And a lot of people have asked Why did you do it? Like it's not that you don't have enough things to do already? Why did you add one more thing to the list? And I said, I started it for two reasons. To to expose peers in our field was one reason and two because I love the meanings behind the songs. I'm a behind the songs kind of person or in the song kind of person. I want to know what the lyrics were. I want to know where they were recorded. Like I'm in the liner notes geek, right? I love that kind of stuff. And it's when I listened to your music, it constantly reminds me of why I started the show because I get exposed to great music that I would have never heard of heard of you. I mean, I shouldn't say that. Like I'm not saying it in a negative way. But like what are the chances of me ever knowing who you were? Had I not started the show and I was out proactively looking for things that appealed to me music that appealed to me, right? So so I think that's awesome. Like I've gotten hooked on your music just because of the podcast. So great job on the tunes. They're great. I love them. And I love being able to share your story as well as links to all your sites and expose your music to people that may have been like me and never have heard of Stephanie Ryan up in Maine right so but I wanted to ask you if you remembered for for regulars and drop bands do you remember where you were when this idea of the song hit you? Do you remember that? Do you remember the details? With all of your songs, where you are what you're doing? Can you relate them back to a time and place

 

Stephanie Ryann  45:00

Not always the time and place for that song. Yes, I do remember a time and place where that I, that idea came up. But like, I also just want to say thank you for what you said before, because I really appreciate that. And I appreciate you sharing, for sharing my music, and I'm so happy that you enjoy it. Thank you very much regulars and drop ins, I was sitting in my studio, where I am right now. And the idea came to my head of I used to be you don't know this, because I'm sure nobody does. But I used to be a bartender for a very short period of time. And you would always have your regulars and then the people who would, you know, bounce in and out that you'd never see. And originally it was called Dropins and regulars and I wrote down some ideas for the song and kind of what I was feeling around that of, you know, just the explanation of like, you have regulars and drop ins and relating that to friendships, where you have people that are in your life that stick around forever, and there's people that come in and out, or just kind of stopped by and you never see him again. So I brought that idea from my studio to Nashville, and with two of my really good friends, Josh Beal and Kate Hasting. And we sat down and wrote that song, like in one sitting had a great write and just bouncing ideas off each other. And this song came to life. And I told them in that session, I was like, I'm cutting this, this is gonna be my next single, you need to know this now because it's happening. And they were super pumped about it. And then once it was all said than done, I sent it to both of them before it went live so they could hear where where it came from, because we only had the work tape, which is just my vocal and a guitar to the actual fully produced version of it. Yeah. Which are different in you know, in and of itself, but both very cool. So I'm super pumped about that song. I love it. Like even when he played it, me listening in, I'm just jamming out over here. I enjoy my music good, great.

 

Randy Hulsey  47:00

Well, I was gonna, I was gonna say, if you don't enjoy your music, there's something certainly wrong with you. Right? Why do you have to love it? Before anybody else loves that, I think because that will show in the music. And I love the story behind the song because as we get older in life, a lot of those thoughts enter our mind, we think of things that we would have never spent any time pondering when we're 20, right? We don't, we could care less. But I often think about the people that have come into my life and have gone out of my life. For example, you have a neighbor that you you become really close with, right. And I've always said it's the tie that binds, that that keeps you know, there's a tie that binds you together, right. And if you're if you're living next to a person that you become good friends with, that's the tie. It's the close proximity of the two people, right? If you're if you're a soccer mom, or a soccer dad or whatever, you become chummy with other parents on the team, because the tie that binds is the soccer game that you're at every Saturday, right? And it's always funny, I always think about that, like, so many people are here today and gone tomorrow. And do you ever just throw up your hands and say, You know what, I'm never gonna get close to anybody again, you know, that thought that thought goes through your head, like, Why do I want to put myself in the position of building a relationship only for that tie to bind, or the tie that binds to to leave or, or go away? And then you're right back to that lonely? Well, gee, there's another one that just walked out of my life again. So it's interesting that you write a song about that, which is cool. It's

 

Stephanie Ryann  48:56

more of the positive perspective of like, there are people that come into your life. So the people that stay and like they all have a place and a purpose. And you just kind of take it for what it's worth. And then just keep on keepin on,

 

Randy Hulsey  49:08

well, you're certainly a glass half full kind of chick, maybe I'm just the glass is half empty. I don't know. I don't know what

 

Stephanie Ryann  49:17

I try to be.

 

Randy Hulsey  49:21

I'm a realist. I see it both sides, right, I get it. You know, there's always a positive side. There's a lot of times a negative side. I've never been a rose colored glasses kind of guy. I just kind of see things at face value. So those are all the things that I think about when I hear the song, there's positives, and they're certainly there. There could be negatives, too, if you see that side of it. It's interesting because I learned that you had taught yourself and you mentioned it earlier that you taught yourself guitar during COVID What a great time to teach yourself anything right when you can't. When you can't go out you can't do you I can't do anything. But share with the listeners a little about the guitar learning process for you. Was it hard? Was it fun? Was it brutal? Like, share, share your thoughts there.

 

Stephanie Ryann  50:12

I was kind of all over the spectrum. I had bought myself a guitar for my birthday. So that was in January of 2020. And I was like, You know what, I'm tired of making excuses. I'm going to teach myself how to play guitar, I'll get a teacher and like, we'll, we'll get to a place where like, I can actually play on my own, because I would love to do that. It's just one of my goals. And then I toyed with it a little bit, but didn't do too much pandemic hit. And I was like, alright, well, everybody's going live on Instagram and Facebook. And I physically can't because I can't play guitar, I can only sing acapella. So we're going to figure out how to do this. I called up my guitarist, and I was like, Hey, can you send me a video of you acoustically playing these couple of songs, so I can watch it and try to learn. And I also was looking at YouTube videos and downloaded like ultimate guitar app and a few other applications to like the fender app and all the things that are like learning guitar. So I literally just used everything at my fingertips that I could possibly use to figure out what was the best course of learning for myself. I personally chose songs that I knew really well vocally that I could, you know, saying, repeat with my eyes closed, no issue. So that was one thing I never had to worry about was how does the song go? What are the lyrics? The melody already knew it. So I can really focus my attention on playing guitar or figuring out the chords, I would choose songs that weren't, you know, tons of chords, were talking about like three or four and getting to a place where I felt comfortable with that, and then trying to learn how to weave singing into the playing of the guitar. And it was all you know, with its challenges, there were days when I wanted to throw the wall and set it on fire. And then there were other days, where I was like, okay, like, I really feel like I'm getting this and it's taking a while but then you get to a point where it's kind of like riding a bike of it just clicks at one point and you're like, oh my god, okay, I get this. And, you know, my, my guitar playing is nowhere near where I want it to be. But I also tried to give myself some grace because it has only been just under three years that I've been really pursuing this hardcore. And there's just there's always a way to go up. And like you're saying kind of glass half full. I'm trying, I'm trying to be glass half full.

 

Adam Gordon  52:46

Good. Yeah, that's good. But if you're, if you're

 

Stephanie Ryann  52:49

already at the bottom, there's only

 

Randy Hulsey  52:51

can only go up or to go.

 

Stephanie Ryann  52:54

Everywhere I go is like alright, I've gone up but I'm still in a you know, quote unquote, bottom spot, and there's always room to improve. So let's just continue on, I feel the same way about music in general. With my songwriting and singing and playing guitar. I am at a level of which I love and appreciate and there's always room to grow and get better. So I'm always striving to to reach those next levels.

 

Randy Hulsey  53:21

That's awesome. Always stay humble. And you sound like a very humble musician. And I think that I think we're where a lot of people lose their grasp on reality is that they think they're too big for their britches, and that they've, that they're, I guess, King dangling for, for lack of a better term, right? But they're not there's always somebody better. And you have to always just say, you know, I can always get better I can always play that song a little bit better. I can always make my chord changes, a little bit cleaner, right? There's there's so much improvement that we can always do to grow as artists. And I was also going to say that to get frustrated with a guitar and want to burn it and all that kind of stuff. I've seen a few of your guitar Stephanie and I know how much your guitars cost because I have some really expensive guitars too. So I know that that was a figure of speech that you are using for the listeners out there that don't know. You know much about the guitars Stephanie plays Martin's and Gibson's that they don't give away at the stores. Okay, so

 

Stephanie Ryann  54:33

be guitars that I have but you know, starting from from the original when I bought my first guitar, it was a Martin and it is His name is Johnny and I use him all the time, but that I only had the one guitar at that point. So I've been fortunate over the years to collect a few others that are absolutely fantastic. And I play play them very gently. Well, I guess my workhorse to severe anything else?

 

Randy Hulsey  55:00

I'm like you, I'm fortunate to I have I'm a Taylor player and I have other guitars, but the tailors are the working guitars that I play on stage. And while I predominantly play Taylor guitars live, I've been I and the Gibson, SJ 200. Lately, and I don't know why. But there's something that's drawn me to it. And I see, I saw your guitar. And that's what kind of made me make the comment that, yeah, I know how much these guitars are. So for the listeners out there, if you ever want to learn to play guitar, and you buy a Gibson like, like I'm eyeing and like Stephanie plays, please don't throw it against the wall or anything like that, when you get frustrated,

 

Stephanie Ryann  55:48

or any of the things and you get frustrated, just walk away. I think the best thing that I ever did, you know, when it came to learning guitar was that I went to a store specifically, to try out every single guitar that I could possibly try and find the one that I felt fit me the best. And the one that I settled on, it's a marten, triple o 13. E road series, guitar that just felt right. And even at the store, they were like, you could buy this guitar, the same exact guitar from somewhere else. But it's not going to feel the same. Because although it is the same guitar, it's different. It's come from a different tree, even though it's the same one. And it's just configured differently. So if it's something that you really connect with and feel like fits you, then you should probably go with that. And of course, you're like, Oh, you're just blowing smoke, whatever. But I thought about that guitar for two days. And on the second day, it was like, I have to go back and get it. And that is the reason why I stuck with it for so long. Because I I got to pick it out. It felt comfortable. I felt like I could really learn on it. And I also paid for it. So yes, I felt the need of like, you know, I put myself out there to do this. So I need to give this everything I have, plus the fact that if I wasn't going to do it, no one else was going to do it for me. So I needed to just get over it. Go for it. No,

 

Randy Hulsey  57:20

I mean, I think there's a calling you hear a guitar. And I think if you and I are sitting in a room together and somebody strumming a chord, on a certain guitar, you hear it differently than I do what you know, it might be appealing to you, but not appealing to me. And that's how you kind of you figure out what kind of guitar you on and not to get into too much tech talk about the guitars, it's, you know, these, these different woods have different sounds. And what a lot of people don't know about a great tonewood guitar, like you and I are privileged enough to play is that you pay a lot of money for the guitars. But these are guitars that open up and become more porous over the years so that Gibson and that Martin and these tailors will sound 10 times better 30 years from now than they did the first day you bought it. And I think the mindset is, you know, like when you think about a car, a car gets older, so it's not going to run as great, you know, 20 years from now it's going to start breaking down and have a lot of problems. That's when a guitar becomes good. A good tone would guitar now I'm not talking about the laminate guitars that you go, you know, you go to Walmart and spend $49 on like those are not going to open up okay, that's not tonewood So, there's a reason that you pay high dollar for those types of guitars because they come from trees that are they're extinct trees, you know, coleg and you know, if you listen to the ebony, the whole Evany project, but Taylor guitars, every tree they cut down, they they basically replant another tree. So they're that concerned about the environment. And that it's a crazy story. I mean, the whole acoustic thing. I mean, I could go on for days about acoustic talk, but beautiful guitars, longer than me, I love that. But I was I was gonna ask you Wasn't it fun trying to develop the calluses? Like, was that just a blast?

 

Stephanie Ryann  59:26

I mean, I, I was so gung ho about it. When I first started that I would play until my fingers were screaming, yes. And then, you know, and which is like 45 minutes when you've not played the guitar before. And then I would just, it was like torture essentially. But I was just like, I need to learn this and I need to learn it now. And I you know, I've been wanting to learn this my whole life and I finally have the opportunity to like give it all this effort. So like, I am just going to go for it and we're going to deal with the pain later on. I agree. And I went after it and you know, the calluses they come and go, because though I do play every day, you know, there are the days that you play for five hours. And there's those days that you play 45 minutes and correct, yeah, they come and go, especially wash your hands. And, you know, women with lotions. And

 

Randy Hulsey  1:00:18

that's right. And I think that you would concur with what I'm going to say to people that are listening that have ever thought about picking up the guitar and playing I think, first of all, you have to have a love for music, right? If you don't love music, then you're never going to learn the guitar. The second part of that is, if you think that you want to play you really have to continue past the callus stage. Because so many people walk up to that line of the fingers bleeding or the blisters on the fingertips, and they're done. They check out and they don't ever go back to it. Because it's not a fun thing. It's really not. And I don't say that to discourage a up and coming guitar player. But there's an old adage you got to go through hell before you get to heaven sometimes, right? And every guitar player that actually plays the guitar has gone through that blistering stage, or there would not be calluses on the fingers. And I'll tell you, I'm a part of a lot of groups on Facebook for like, you know, tailor players and just acoustic or guitar players in general. And there's nothing that a guitarist is prouder of than the calluses on his fingers. Right. And these guys will post pictures of their fingertips and, you know, it's like, it's like a, I don't know, it's like a trophy that we have. And I remember one time my dad was like, man, look at those calluses. You should take like an emery board and file those things down. I'm like, No, you know, it took me 37 years to get these things the way they are. You don't want to do that. So I'm sure you

 

Stephanie Ryann  1:01:59

saw my my pinky. And I was like, yes.

 

Randy Hulsey  1:02:04

Exactly. Well, a lot of people don't know, like, after a show, like the calluses look really bad after a show, because you've been you've been fretting the strings for three hours or whatever. But you go home, you take a shower, you wake up the next morning, and you look at your fingertips, and you can hardly see them until you really start playing again. And then they become more defined. So I know that's not attractive to women to walk around with, you know, for women to walk around with calluses all over their tips of their fingers, but they really don't look mad. Unless it's just right after you. You've been playing so

 

Stephanie Ryann  1:02:38

yeah, and you know, honestly, that's why that's why we get manicures.

 

Randy Hulsey  1:02:42

That's right. That's exactly would you say that learning? Learning the guitar changed the way you either thought about music or changed the way that you would write music? Did it have any bearing

 

Stephanie Ryann  1:03:00

on that for you? Oh, yeah, changed everything?

 

Randy Hulsey  1:03:03

In what ways did it change it?

 

Stephanie Ryann  1:03:06

I starting it just I was able to put music to my words, where I would only sing a melody, and then send it in on a work tape to a friend to put a guitar part to, I could come to a right with a basic guitar line with my melody, and be able to share that with a group perfect. You know, now I'm at the point where like, I can write cool songs. And yeah, they're only you know, four or five chords depending but I'm also not, you know, John Mayer this. Amazing. No, not many would say that. For the listeners out there that want to learn guitar, if you think you're gonna be John Mayer, you're not so just stick with it initially and get to a place like always have that as a goal. But like know, that you're going to put a lot of work in. But it changed my songwriting, where I could, I could really hear melodies a lot easier. Like it always kind of came to me naturally, which I'm very blessed to have had, but being able to hear the melody and then kind of know exactly where it is on the guitar. is such an amazing tool to have in your tool chest as a as a songwriter. Because not everybody plays guitar and not everybody can come up with melodies either. So it's just been a really great tool to bring forth to writing new songs and then listening to the radio and figuring out well, what chord progressions are they using why, why have they chosen those and why are these progressions the most popular and it just opens up a lot of thought process of like, why why are these things happening and what can I do and or change to bring into what I'm doing?

 

Randy Hulsey  1:04:58

Sure. And I think that affording yourself the opportunity to learn the guitar, it just, it opens up so many doors musically, for you, right, and I can see where it would kind of expand the whole thought process around writing. Because now you're not reliant, I mean, you basically have to have two things to have a song, music and words, right. And if you're only capable of doing one and not the other, you're already start with one hand tied behind your back, right. And I would tell the listeners that you don't have to be a great guitarist, to love to play the guitar, if you just learned the cowboy chords. And you can play any song that you've ever heard on the radio in those three or four chords literally, it's the same key that you're playing in. But you can have just as much fun just being a simple Strummer rhythm player than being a flashy, you don't have to be flashy to enjoy playing the guitar to satisfy your cool or sit in your living room and just, you know, bang some chords out and sing a song. And some people

 

Stephanie Ryann  1:06:08

like consider myself a rhythm guitarist, and I play those simple chords and, and I get by the way that I can until I get to a place where I'm better than I am now.

 

Randy Hulsey  1:06:20

Absolutely and free for you have a beautiful voice and sometimes voices can. You don't need a guitar to be effective. But I wanted to ask you, do you feel more comfortable? With a guitar in your hand? Let's say you're performing a show with your band? Do you prefer to have the guitar in your hand? Do you play guitar on all of the songs? Talk to me a little bit about that? Or do you just prefer to pick up the mic and sing? Are you just naturally a vocalist? The guitar? Of course the guitar comes second, there's no doubt you've already mentioned that multiple times. But how do you feel about the guitar? Now that you're several years into it? Do you feel like you need it onstage with you? Or can you live without it? I don't feel like they

 

Stephanie Ryann  1:07:08

need it. I love that I have the ability to play and I have not played with a band with a guitar yet. I used to play with the band prior to the pandemic. And then when I moved and traveling back and forth to Nashville and all that I have not had the opportunity to perform with a band. For my own set I have performed with a band for a couple of songs downtown Broadway in Nashville, which is really fun. Because it's been a long time that I've been on a stage in that capacity, it's a little different. And for those listening out there that that know the difference who get it but being on stage with just a mic and being able to walk back and forth. And just having this freedom is amazing. But at the same time, I also love that I have the ability to play guitar. And at some point when I am on a stage with a band, even if it's just a three piece, I would love to be able to be playing the rhythm and then have another guitarist who's filling in what I'm not doing and then the bassist and anything else that we need the drums all the all the extra instruments that make just that full EPS amazing sound of a band would be fantastic. But you know, I love I love both aspects. I love the freedom of just being able to run around a stage and and saying because vocally that is my strong suit. But being able out, it's a very big honor for me to have not spent a ton of time playing guitar. But getting to a point where I feel more comfortable and confident with my ability to be able to put on a show when not when I'm just playing myself and do it on my own. Where I'm playing guitar, I'm singing I am being the entertainment of the night with my personality and doing all the things so there's something to be said for all of it.

 

Randy Hulsey  1:08:57

I agree. I agree. Now you also work you know, you worked hard during the pandemic kind of, I guess, on the songwriting skills, and I wanted to ask you, you know, walk the listeners through what a songwriter might do to become a better songwriter. I

 

Stephanie Ryann  1:09:17

think that's probably very personal for a lot of different songwriters. However, just speaking from my own experience writing with a lot of different songwriters automatically makes you a better songwriter because sometimes you are the best songwriter in the room. And sometimes you are not any you get to learn a lot from what's happening in the room and what the ideas that people are throwing out in the melodies and you know, all of the information that you're getting in that setting of songwriting, there's also like tons of books that you can read and different like meetings and stuff that you can go to for for songwriting, different classes and all that kind of stuff. So it's really just like, how you want to go about songwriting where you are in your songwriting ability and how you want to move forward with that makes sure I've grown so much just from writing with other people. And getting an idea of like, oh, okay, that's how you that's how someone would phrase it outside of the wheelhouse of what I would have thought of, you know, on my own. So you kind of take that, and then you bring it into other songs that you're writing. And yes, yeah, when you get to meet with publishers at some point, and you get feedback from them on your songs, because if you're, if you're looking to song, right for the commercial market, they oftentimes will give you feedback to try and make you better in that realm. And that's a very different experience as well, which is all good things. It's all positive stuff. It's just taking what you've learned from the advice from other people and then putting it into your own songwriting and how it fits best for you.

 

Randy Hulsey  1:10:55

Yeah, and I think that that's the case with anything with whether you're a songwriter, whether you're a guitarist, you know, I was a baseball and hockey player, right. And I think everybody always said, if you want to get better, you have to play with people or do it with people that are better than you, that's when you really, you grow, you grow as a hockey player, or a songwriter or whatever. Whatever you're doing, I guess. So you want to associate yourself with much better people in the art in which you're performing. A lot of artists talk about being part of the Nashville rights. Okay. Describe to the listeners, what a Nashville right is. And why would anybody want to be

 

Stephanie Ryann  1:11:47

a part of one, I don't know what's outside of a Nashville, right? Because I don't often times go outside of that realm. When I first started songwriting, the, the idea of writing was kind of the same as a Nashville, right? When you go into a right, you are there with a couple of people, usually, it could be one other person 234, hopefully not more than that, because then it just gets too many cooks, cooks in the kitchen, it's just too hard. But you know, you hop into the room, you all are in the understanding that we all are going to own X percentage of this song, okay, no matter where it goes. And I love that understanding that there is in a national Bill writing song group, I don't know how that is outside of that. But you know, everybody has something to contribute, and there's no use of trying to be like, Well, John said, blah, blah, blah, and we're using that in the first, you know, first, so he's gonna get blocked percentage. Now, it just makes things complicated. So just being able to be in a room where people are under the same understanding that we're all getting a piece of this pie. And hopefully, it goes somewhere for all of us. And that's great. And then moving forward from that. It's just we're, everybody's putting forth the same amount of effort. And you know, sometimes you end up in a room with somebody who's maybe not. But that's not something you can control right away. Sure. And then you just don't write again with that person. But being in those those circles, you learn who's going to be part of your tribe, and who you write well with and who you don't, and you find the people that make you better, and those people who you make better continue to thrive in that way. So I personally love that aspect of the Nashville songwriter situation that we have down there. But like I said, I don't know how it is outside of outside of Nashville, really, on the balance

 

Randy Hulsey  1:13:51

scale of justice, when you you talked about the rights on the balance scale of justice, is getting together and collaborating with other writers. Is it more four? Let's all four and I'm just using four as the hypothetical scenario, right? Let's, we all four put in 25% to equal the song. That way, if it ever hits, then we all share 25% of the royalties, or on the other side of that balance, scale justice or the rights more for learning the art of writing and becoming better. Is it 7030 5050 9010? How does that

 

Stephanie Ryann  1:14:42

I'd say I mean, for me personally, it's 5050. Okay, I'm writing with people to get better, but I'm also writing to write for myself or to write for another artist that might want to cut a song and feel strongly about what we've written in the room that day. That will help bring us all out In, in the songwriting community, so I would say it's definitely more of a 5050 perspective.

 

Randy Hulsey  1:15:06

If you were to just, I guess I would ask your thoughts on do you think that that's the same mentality of most people or not so much? Or do you think they're really they're hoping to have Kenny Chesney cut one of their songs, they're there for the monetary

 

Stephanie Ryann  1:15:21

reasons. I mean, I hope everybody is there for kind of a mix of all the reasons like you never know what's going to hit for radio. So you're you're all just in there writing, writing your stories and making them better. And sometimes that's heard by a big artists and it gets cut, and you make a lot of money. And sometimes it's a really friggin great song that might not get heard by a lot of people on a smaller artists will put it out. Either way, if it gets cut, if a song that you write gets cut, it's a checkbox in, that's awesome. Somebody felt strongly enough of my writing and my, my team's writing that they wanted to cut a song and share it with the world. So

 

Randy Hulsey  1:16:09

I would think that that would be positive in my book. Yeah, that's a form of flattery. And you know, a huge pat on the back for you. If somebody thinks enough of your song to want to record it. It's impactful to them. For sure. Now, you and a past guest of mine, I believe, wrote together Sarah face it correct. Yeah. And what song was that that you and Sarah had written together?

 

Stephanie Ryann  1:16:35

So the song that I released that her and I wrote is called never enough. Okay. And that was put out in February. I think February of this year, February of last year, I can't remember. I know, it's February. Yeah, I

 

Randy Hulsey  1:16:49

think it was last year.

 

Stephanie Ryann  1:16:51

I might have been this year. And it was it's a wedding song. So we had written that the previous February because actually, I think so now I'm remembering February of 21. We wrote it. And on the same day, which was not planned. I chose a date in February to release the song and it just so happened to be the same day that we wrote that song a year later. So I, I took that as a good omen for the song. But hopefully, I think there might be a couple of people that are going to be using it for their weddings in the in the next few months. So fingers crossed,

 

Randy Hulsey  1:17:29

for that I hope some things will take off for for her she was a she was a delight to talk to she's a character and she is I love her. She's cool. Are there plans for maybe a new EP, or even an LP from Stephanie Ryan, I know there were a lot of singles released over the course of a year, what are the plans that you can talk about, for something full length, like an AP or NLP?

 

Stephanie Ryann  1:17:58

At this point, I'm still focusing more on singles because people aren't listening to music like they used to. They're not listening to albums like they used to. And I learned from putting out my EP, that the length of time that people are listening to the EP is the length of time that they're listening to a single, and then they're wanting the next thing. So in order to kind of keep up with this trajectory of like, that's great. What's next? That's great. What's next, and you're just constantly pumping out information. I'm sticking with the singles, so that I have more to give everyone when they're asking for it, as opposed to being like, here's a set of songs. And now you're not going to hear from me again. For another six months.

 

Randy Hulsey  1:18:42

Yes, I get it. It's funny how things have changed like that. I just started collecting vinyl. And we've been in this whole singles mindset for so long, you know, with the digital music and I think we live in an age where it's just an age of attention deficit, there's just so much distraction and so many things going on. And and I don't say that in in a condescending way at all. It's just I think that we're all busy. We're all doing 90 million things. And, you know, our brains are just all over the place. When I bought my first piece of vinyl a year ago, when I started my collection, it was like there was to open an album and pull the liner notes out and physically touch. A record was like very nostalgic. There was like the hair on the back of your neck stood up because this is something that I did as a kid, right. So it's definitely a different time. You know, the album, it was a concept album more, you know, there was a theme to the album and it was it was just it was like a an event to listen to an album now it's just like single single single, you know, it's just different times right?

 

Stephanie Ryann  1:19:56

Definitely. I mean, I miss the the idea of albums I grew up without Listen, I would have my little cassette tapes that I would pull the liner notes out with me, like, we're the span of my arm length and all the notes and everything. And you know, it was so much fun back then. But people just aren't consuming music like that at the current moment, and I'm, you know, hope, hopeful that it will go back at some point. But, you know, also, as an independent artist, it's pretty expensive to put out an entire work. You know, we don't have people funding us like we do if we had a label or anything like that. So being able to have the ability to continue to give some, somebody something new to listen to, I think is is a privilege in itself, to be able to do that. And, you know, hopefully, one day it'll go back to albums, and we can just go back to doing that, and have the liner notes. I hope at some point, I have the opportunity to do that, because I would love to go super old school with it and have all the liner notes and have it fold out into a poster. Like, back in the 90s.

 

Randy Hulsey  1:21:04

Like there's a big Stephanie Ryan poster that comes out. You get that's the benefit. You get the hang mat on the wall and whatnot. Yeah,

 

Stephanie Ryann  1:21:12

yeah. With all the creases and all the folds Exactly. into its case.

 

Randy Hulsey  1:21:17

Well, I was gonna say you're such a BS er, because you're not even old enough to know what a cassette tape is. I think you're just trying to like, I think you were just trying to make me feel good. Like I was talking about albums and stuff like that. Like, anyway, no,

 

Stephanie Ryann  1:21:32

no, my first cassette was Celine Dion. I think it came out in like 92. Her falling into you album. Yeah. Wow. What, what is coming up? By way

 

Randy Hulsey  1:21:48

of shows for you? Do you have a bag of shows coming up? Or are you light on shows right now talk to the listeners a little bit about where you're playing? Are you predominantly playing up in the New England area, I know that you and I were just in Nashville at the same time, I had reached out to you and said, Hey, I'm meeting trying to meet up with Sara and Clint Woolsey from stone Senate. And hopefully you can meet up and we never wound up meeting up because I think Clint got sick. And there was some COVID stuff going around their front office, but I didn't know how often you are getting down to Nashville to play. If most of your shows were up in New England talk the listeners a little bit about Stephanie Ryan and shows.

 

Stephanie Ryann  1:22:34

Well, there's gonna be a lot coming up. Most of which I can't dive into. However, January, I'm going down to Key West and I'm part of a songwriters festival there from the 11th to the 16th. Then I go back to Nashville. I'm there for a week and a half. And I'm playing the bluebird for the first time on January 26, which is very exciting. I have not played there before. So I'm very pumped about that. I've got right now on the docket. I've only got one show scheduled for Maine. And that's in July. Very far. Okay,

 

Randy Hulsey  1:23:17

you're looking forward to that one, right?

 

Stephanie Ryann  1:23:19

For sure. I'm looking to go to London in March for see to see. And hopefully playing a few places out there. I just don't have the ability to chat about that yet. Yeah, I'll be definitely in town for CMA Fest and booking some stuff for that. So there will be a lot coming on the calendar. But those of you listening I on my website and on like bands in town, I list where all of the shows I'm playing are located and the times and all that stuff. So you can check them out there by way

 

Randy Hulsey  1:23:51

of just anything may be inside or outside of music, anything exciting coming up that you would like to have kind of an open forum to chat to the listeners about either new music that's coming up anything that we didn't cover that you wanted to share with the listeners, I wanted to make sure that this time was well spent on you

 

Stephanie Ryann  1:24:14

know, thank you. I mean, I think we've covered so much stuff here but I am always willing and and excited about chatting with fans or people who have just stumbled upon my music or my page. I'm much more what's the word? I pay a lot more attention to Instagram than I do any of the other platforms. So if listeners are wanting to get in touch and let me know like how do you feel about the music? What do you what are you looking for? What do you want next for me like what is your expectation or your vibe or even if you just want to say hey, sure. I have open DMS you are welcome to message me anytime and I would love it and I will be answered myself because I don't have people managing me.

 

Randy Hulsey  1:25:05

You know, that's a good thing, though. That's a good thing though. Stephanie, I've had a few people on the show that had kind of turned over their social media and things like that, too, you know, marketing and publishing people. And they're like, I took it back, because the things that were being posted, not that they were doing anything wrong. But people know, my candor, they know, my sense of humor, and that wasn't coming out in my post, and people could detect it. That's not something that so and so would say, or that Stephanie would never say that, right. So it was just kind of like, and let me just pull this back in. And let me let me do it myself. So that's, that's good. You know, but you stay grounded that way. And you give the listener a personal touch. And I think that that's how you organically build a following is just by being personable to people, right? When you when you think that you're too big to talk to people anymore. That's when you probably start losing people versus gaming people.

 

Stephanie Ryann  1:26:07

I agree. Yeah, it's a big, it's a big importance to me to have that ease of conversation with listeners with fans who, whoever wants to reach out and chat, obviously, nobody wants the main person to reach out and be like, I hate you. Because blah, you know, the, the positive ones. And having having that interaction with fans, I always want to have that with whoever's talking to me. You know, if you're talking to me, you are talking to me, I don't want you to be talking to someone else through me. Because it's not, it's not real. I want to have that real relationship with the people that are listening to me, because those people are, are what make me performing and putting out music. Like, that's what drives me absolutely, to continue to do what I'm doing, knowing that I'm touching somebody's life, to the point where they feel comfortable enough to reach out and just say like, Hey, or, I really liked the song or, you know, I would love a t shirt or a hat or, you know, whatever the case may be, I want you to come to Texas and play a show 100 I agree any of that. It's just really nice to have that that conversational relationship with the listeners that I think a lot of people don't necessarily have the ability to do and or choose not to,

 

Randy Hulsey  1:27:34

it's probably one of the most important things you do or will do besides actually making the music is being personable to the people that follow you and support the music, right? Because without them, you might as well just put the guitar in a closet because you have nobody listening to you at that point in time.

 

Stephanie Ryann  1:27:54

Without touching the lives of people if I'm going to touch the lives I want I want them to touch my life.

 

Randy Hulsey  1:27:59

Absolutely. I agree. It's it's a two way street for sure. And what we were just talking about, is a great segue into asking you where the listeners can find you on social media. You mentioned Instagram, but where else can the listeners find Stephanie Ryan on social media?

 

Stephanie Ryann  1:28:15

So Instagram is definitely Ryan music. So is Facebook. Believe YouTube is the same on my webpage is just Stephanie ryan.com where you can listen to all my music and find all of the information bio pictures, all that stuff, interacting with me it's definitely going to be Instagram but I'm also on Tik Tok. I believe that's also Stephanie Ryan music I tried to keep it real simple. So you're not trying to look up all different things. Absolutely. But yeah, I am available on all the platforms and and very appreciative to those who tune into to this and of course, any of your other podcasts that you've got going on. And anyone who listens to me going forward from this send me a DM let me know you heard me from here.

 

Randy Hulsey  1:29:00

Yeah, absolutely do that. And I remind the listeners that there's also merch that you can find for Stephanie there at Stephanie ryan.com and that's Stephanie Ste Phanie. And that's ry A N N double n.com You also have a I like the virtual coffee session with Stephanie that's like a like a really cool idea. And I wanted to mention that because if you go out to Stephanie's I think it's on the merch portion of your site if I if I remember correctly but at the bottom yeah you can sign up to do a virtual coffee chat with with Stephanie which would be really cool. I don't I can I honestly say that. I think that to remain relevant with anything you you have to stand out and you have to separate you know, you're yourself from like everybody else. And I saw that and I'm like, Okay, I've looked at a lot of websites since I started the podcast. And I don't think I've ever seen this. So that's awesome. Kudos to you for coming up with the idea. Maybe it's your own, maybe it's somebody else's. But nevertheless, I thought it was a great idea

 

Stephanie Ryann  1:30:18

for those pajama sessions that I talked to you about earlier. When I was doing those shows, during the pandemic, I was just like, You know what, it'd be really cool to offer that as something for sure. Because, you know, maybe somebody would be interested in having a coffee via zoom, and just hanging out for a

 

Randy Hulsey  1:30:36

bit. Yeah. Technology. You gotta love it. All right, awesome. Well, Stephanie, listen, thank you so much for being here and sharing your story with the listeners. It's a it's been great getting to know more about you and your music and your story. As always, I asked the listeners to like, share, and subscribe to the podcast. Also, make sure to follow Stephanie on all of her social media outlets, including the website at Stephanie ryan.com. And make sure you get out to support her at the shows whenever she's in town. You can find backstage pass radio on Facebook at backstage pass radio podcast, on Instagram at backstage pass radio, Twitter at backstage pass PC and on the website at backstage pass. radio.com. Thank you guys for tuning into the show. And remember to take care of yourselves and each other and we'll see you right back here on the next episode of backstage pass radio.

 

Adam Gordon  1:31:35

Thanks so much for joining us. We hope you enjoyed today's episode of backstage pass radio. Make sure to follow Randy on Facebook and Instagram at Randy Halsey music and on Twitter at our Halsey music. Also, make sure to like, subscribe and turn on alerts for upcoming podcasts. If you enjoyed the podcast, make sure to share the link with a friend and tell them backstage pass radio is the best show on the web for everything music. We'll see you next time right here on backstage pass radio