2025 Showcase Application Review

An adept storyteller and virtuosic musician, Ryland is a rounded troubadour at their finest.  With the folk sensibilities of a young John Prine and the wit and repartee of Mark Twain, Ryland’s compositions span bygone days, the here and now, and what may yet be to come.

An accomplished multi-instrumentalist and acclaimed banjoist, Ryland performs principally with acoustic guitar, banjo and mandolin.  His storytelling celebrates the singer-songwriter tradition with an old-timey and bluegrass influence.  From his own songs to traditional instrumentals, Ryland handles the old and new with the same glove; blurring the line between sorrow and joy, leading the audience through an evocative journey through the human experience in the modern world.  Whether you laugh through his stories between songs (that sometimes become more of the show themselves) or sway to the dulcet melodies of an artist on the brink of their prime, you’ll be almost as grateful for your time together as he is.