...offshoot of the buzz

New Gear, New Tunes

2007-01-26T22:45:00.000-08:00

I've added a new mac to my list of gear! So, I'm rerecording some of my Grown Ups Now tunes when I'm home bored with the day off. There are presently two new rerecs of Love's not Fair, and Good for the Soul up on my MySpace. Also, I made them downloadable.

Upcoming, I'll be playing at Bodhi's Café and Lounge so come join us.

For those who still read this...

2006-10-04T22:03:00.000-07:00

...I've added a few more tunes to the MySpace page. Enjoy.

Updates and gigs

2006-09-16T22:58:00.000-07:00

It's been entirely too long since I've written here so here's a touch of what's going on:

You can check out Dan's MySpace for upcoming gigs. But notably, Brad and I are playing the BT's RWC homecoming coffeehouse from 8-10pm on Monday the 25th of Sept.

Most recently, Tommy has moved back in town which clearly means good times in the jamming and performing realm. Brad, Tommy and I got together for a show at SPoT coffee last Sunday. we opened for and ended up playing with Mr. Daniel Ball, Jr. which was entirely more fun that I deem healthy on a given Sunday night.

Tonight we found ourselves playing Leaf & Bean in Chili. Mostly covers, but a good time nonetheless. Sidenote: if you go there, get the chocolate/peanutbutter blenderita. The owner of L&B got together with Ben and Jerry's peanutbutter guy. Enough said.

Next in line, we're looking at doing some gigs at Boulder Coffee, Monty's Corner, SPoT and L&B again.

I'm currently beginning a new wave of music fo myself. I'll be joinging up with Shawn Berry and writing some stuff for him and hopefully producing as well. Daniel Ryan Band's not dead...watch here for updates.

Updates

2006-05-13T22:05:00.000-07:00

Greetings all.

Neck Tie Fiction is on hold for a bit. We're going to work a bit more on new tunes as well as spend some time doing our day jobs, saving money, and living life in general. You'll be able to find Brad and Dan giggin around Rochester in coffeehouse settings as well as assorted weddings.

Brad's and my first wedding gig together was a blast and we are looking forward to our next one in August. My new sound gear will allow small sessions in and around Rochester and small events. For more gig info this summer, keep up here and on www.myspace.com/danielryanband.

A little something to do finals week...

2006-04-28T21:37:00.000-07:00

What's going down

2006-03-28T12:13:00.000-08:00

The "NeckTie Fiction" project is on hold until May when we hope to go into the studio to crank out some more tunes. Right now opera is keeping me quite busy. Catch you again in late April for studio prep!

Studio Session 2: success

2006-02-20T22:56:00.000-08:00

We went back in the studio after two months off. We took plenty of time prior so we could attack the new tunes efficiently. Our plan was a success. We finished four tunes in two days:

5K
Lights Up
Sleepy Valentine
Blue Jeans for Khakis

For a listen, visit the MySpace page HERE

Post Gig Update

2006-01-21T11:36:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all who wandered out to Leaf & Bean last night for Brad's and my 2 hour set. We had a good turnout and a good crew.

Guest vocalist Nichole Chiazza hopped on board for I'm Yours - Jason Mraz cover.

We're going to be playing L & B on a monthly basis, so don't fret if you couldn't make it out this time. Ciao tutti!

- DR

Brad & Daniel @ Leaf & Bean

2006-01-12T07:22:00.000-08:00

End 2005 New 2006 update

2005-12-29T07:19:00.000-08:00

So the plan is to wander into the studio the second weekend in January. We'll lay down at least one single, if not two depending on how quickly we move this time around.

Current issues holding us back: Christmas, New Years, money, and work visas for Canadians. We're working the issues out and will be back and jamming in not time.

So this is Christmas...

2005-12-24T07:52:00.000-08:00

This is my favorite holidy. It's also my busiest. Fear not all ye who read here, we will be hitting the studio again shortly after 2006 is upon us. In the mean time, bum around Daniel Ryan on MySpace and listen to some music.

If you're a Christmas Traditionalist, like myself, I will place upon you my own favorite tradition: A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens

Marley was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it. And Scrooge's name was good upon 'Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail....

Session December

2005-12-13T21:40:00.000-08:00

That's right, December Recording is done. Accomplished:

The Single - All we have to do now is mix it, and we'll have a finished work on our hands

The Samples - We have bits and pieces of three other songs that we'll work into new singles later on. One of said singles stemmed from a jam session and Tommy Boy is currently lyricising it. Another one was a jazz jam we did as our first ever play-along and I'll toss some vocals overtop. The latter is one I've had sitting around for several years and it will be a blast when it's done, now to just rewrite the vocals for the verses....

As for future scheduling, Mitrowski will come up sometime in January to record a dual acoustic piece with me, let me know if you want to stop in for that session.

It was a good solid run. I was pleased to get as much done in the studio as we did and enjoy it as much as we did. Often people will record with a click track, making everything in pieces. To me it gives less of a 'feel' to the song like we're assembling it rather than performing it. When we laid everything down, we did it the whole band all at once and added touch-ups later. That's when the band clicks as one, when we can play off eachother.

I couldn't recommend NoteWorthy more highly. They have been wonderful to work with and very accomodating.

As for the gear, Tommy and Joel trucked their rigs down from the Great White North, but I have my brother to thank for the use of the Guild for one song. Grazie mille.

The boys were fabulous. Joel was solid as I'd dreamed, coming with the highest recommendations from people who simply don't recommend lightly. Tommy Boy brought out the King of Tone and almost played the theme from Green Acres, bringing down the house. Brad was a friggin rock, as on as any crew could hope for in a drummer. As for me, I was just living it up, as they say. So, we'll see where this takes us. Watch for updates, I'll toss them up from time to time. Ciao tutti.

- D.R

Session 1

2005-12-10T07:07:00.000-08:00

Studio session 1 was good times. Tommy, Lydia, and I wandered into NoteWorthy around 9pm for our intro/ideas run. Setting guitars and doing soundchecks was a breeze. We jammed for awhile and meandered out c. 11:30pm leaving everything for a hot start tonight. Session 2 begins at 6:30pm this evening.

Dig it up

2005-12-08T21:16:00.000-08:00

Session 1 is less than 24-hours away. Tommy and I will head into the studio to jam a bit and lay down some "idea tracks" as I like to call them. 9pm will find us tooling with grooves and conglomerations of ideas and themes.

Session 2, Saturday evening/night, will be full band. Joel and Brad will join us to work our first single: "Duck." Props again to Romina for her wit.

Session 3, all day Sunday, will bring us to the close of "Duck" as a band. We shall then begin our second single: "Side 2." We may revisit Duck before the end of the night.

Session 4. Monday night. Tommy and Joel will have fled back to the Great White North, leaving Brad and I to finish the two songs, mix a little, and add harmonic vocals and keyboards.

There will be posting and hopefully pics after each session. I am trusting Lydia to have fun with my camera in the studio. Ciao tutti.

- D.R.

Impromptu Handdrum Session

2005-11-29T22:58:00.000-08:00

So Brad found a handdrum laying around his townhouse. It's owner is a mystery so we decided to procure it for a jam session. Along the way we thought, what the heck, we've got a little bit of equiptment here, lets lay some of it down! Check out Dan Ryan on MySpace to hear some of it. Ciao tutti.

D.R.

T - 2 weeks

2005-11-28T08:16:00.000-08:00

Two weeks until our first recording session. I'm excited. Songs are running around in my head and I am trying to sort out exactly what I want to do first. Part of the reason for the newfound energy: Fyne is on board and this gives us unilimited stylistic possibilities. So, we're up to: Dan, Tommy, Brad, Joel, Dwayne. I'll keep you updated, don't you worry.

DR

The Backstory

2005-11-25T06:51:00.000-08:00

I've been wandering music since I was about 15. Starting with piano: classical, jazz, contemporary, whatever I could get my hands on. Next came trumpet. Apparently I decided a brass instrument would fullfill my jamming needs. I was wrong, I went next to guitar. There I took off, jamming with as many people as possible, always looking to learn more. I was the human sponge. After that was drums. We all know that every guitarist is a closet drummer. I did mostly jazz kit and loved every minute of it. All this between 15 and 19 years of age.

Roberts Wesleyan College was my home for college. Originally enrolled as a piano ed. major, I branched out with classical vocal music and strolled into a vocal ed. degree. There's something about the public school that just didn't click with me, so I tryed my hand in the performance world. I was singing baritone at the time and was cast in the role of Il Conte in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro. I found my spot. In the opera world. Who'd have guessed.

I'm one of those people who simply can't sit still doing one thing over and over again, and my love of music is still too great for me to hold on strictly to opera. So, the acoustic singer/songwriter part of me never died...in fact, classical music helped me build that into something I consider a little more substantial than the average boy. People often forget there is something to be learned from every genre and thus passed to the others for further refinement.

Along the way, I hung out and jammed with one Tommy Hawkins (electric/acoustic guitars). Everything from church/chapel music, to our three-guitar late-night jam sessions with Master Ed Mitrowski. It was in those latter-mentioned times that I grew the most as a guitarist, gleaning and repeating, fine-tuning the guitarist ear. We pulled Brad Farrow into the fray and towed him along as our drummer. We played together off and on for about 4 years.

I recorded here and there with friends, wrote music with others, gigged around a little bit. Nothing major until the fateful night I got the phone call from Shawn Hektor. She and I had sung together years back and now she was prepping a demo and wanted me along for the ride. (She too was/is working with Unyted Records.) So I flew down to Vegas and we hit the studio for three days, cranking out three originals. During that time I was able to make some substantial connections with my current manager and we got the ball rolling on my own project.

It's funny how things can be handed to you when youleast expect them. This opportunity was one I wasn't particularly looking for, yet here it is; an opportunity for which I am extremely greatful. I look forward to working with the crew: Tommy, Brad, Joel, and hopefully Dwayne. Pace e ciao, tutti.

- D.R.

Daniel Ryan Band?

2005-11-24T21:57:00.000-08:00

Daniel Ryan. I have my hand in many things, this band one of that many. I never really expected to be joined with four Canadians, writing my own music and passing it on to other for their listening enjoyment. Don't get me wrong, I love playing for people...but this kind of just fell in my lap.

I'll post up the whole story sooner or later, but for now only a few details be needed:

We're working on the demo in about 2.5 weeks here in Rochester, New York. My Canadians will be coming along, of course, and hopefully my friend Fyne from back in the day. The scheduled release date for the first single is January first, though from time to time I'll be posting acoustic versions of the songs somewhere on the web for your perusal.