Member Since: 3/6/2007
Band Website: bobryanmusic.com
Band Members: At present, and for most of the last 30 years, I find myself without a band. Solo. Lonely like a bull. Past bands include Woody and the Armadillos, the Magic Motion Machine, Cedar Breaks, Rodeo and the infamous Hensley, Hensley and Ryan.
Influences: Jesus - The Beatles - Walt Disney - Harpo Marx - Neil Young - Dr. Seuss - Flannery O'Connor - Salvador Dali - The Byrds - Peter Sellers - Mark Twain - Frank Zappa - Helen - Bob Dylan - Howdy Doody - Charles Addams - Walt Kelly - Ken Hensley - Maxfield Parrish - J.R.R. Tolkein - The Beverly Hillbillies - MAD - James Thurber - Carlos S. Contreras - Woody Allen - Bruce Cockburn - Richard Brautigan - Joni Mitchell - Robert Zeoli - Marvin the Martian - Robert E. Lee - Buffalo Springfield - C.F. Martin - Merle Haggard - J.S. Bach - Woody and the Armadillos - Maurice Sendak - 007 - T.S. Elliot - The Who - David Grisman - Steve Reeves - The Human Bass - Wonder Wart Hog - The Beach Boys - Edmund Lugge - Guy Levi Ireton - C.S. Lewis - Andrew Wyeth - Garrison Keillor - John Lennon - N.C. Wyeth - Roy Rogers - Charles Dickens - Captain Beefheart - T.H. White - Christopher Parkening - Emily Dickinson - Mort Drucker - The Smothers Brothers - Philbo - Pinky and the Brain - John Prine - David Crockett - G.K. Chesterton - John Sebastian - KXOK - George A. Custer - Friz Freiling - Crazy Horse - Richie Furay - Jonathan Winters - Leave it to Beaver - Jack Davis - Jane Biscan - Hank Williams - CSNY - Firesign Theater - Candid Camera - John F. Kennedy - Paul Simon - Carpy - POCO - Jimmy Rogers - Bill Cosby - Leo Fender - Arthur Rackham - David Crosby - Ed Sullivan - W.A. Mozart - Don Adams - Rocky & Bullwinkle - Dianne Arbus - The Lovin' Spoonful - Al Jaffee - Django Rienhardt - Gahan Wilson - William F. Buckley - The Hollies - Johnathan Winters - Charles Asbell - Gary Larson - Tom Fleming - Leo Kottke - Marvin Meder - Rod Serling - Lewis Carroll - Batman - David Levine - Lisa Perkins - Don Knotts - American Heritage Magazine - Ruben and the Jets - Lord Buckley - M.C. Escher - LBJ - Shel Silverstien - Marge Kasmarzik - Donovan - the Three Stooges - Prince Valiant - Texas - The Modern Jazz Quartet - Elvis - Tim Conway - Homer and Jethro - Larry Groce - Arthur Conan Doyle - Buffalo Bob - The Kinks - Charlie Chaplin - Bobby "Boris" Pickett - Edward Gorey - Brother Dave Gardner - Joshua Rifkin - Winslow Homer - Kas - George Martin - Phil Timper - Claude Bolling - Frank Jacob - Stephen Stills - The Monkees - Herb Lubalin - Groucho Marx - Chuck Jones - Frederick Remington - Ian Anderson - Matthew Brady - Emmylou Harris - Our Gang/Little Rascals - "Wierd" Al Yankovic - Ansel Adams - The Tick - Norton Juster - Jules Feiffer - Gilbert Sheldon - Jackson Browne - Bob Hensley - Borris Karloff - Edward S. Curtis - Eagles - William Barrett Travis - Angela Cartwright - Manhattan Transfer - Rich Woodruff - Dave Richter - The Kingston Trio - Captain Kangaroo - James Taylor - Walter Cronkite - Paul McCartney - The Celts - Haley Mills - Hieronymous Bosch - Johnny Horton - John Lynch - Miles Davis - Uncle Marsh - Michael Nesmith - Jackie Gleason - Vincent Van Gogh – Greg Brown – Smith – Walter Lord – Marty Robbins – Patsy Cline – Pappy & Jerry – Paul Revere & the Raiders – Louis Paul Jaennette – Deputy Dawg – The Ink Spots – The Cosmic Sheriff – KDNA – Mr. Toad – Dean Martin – Officer Furgeson - Blind Lemon Jefferson - The Illinois Speed Press - Eddie Pollatta - Carol Renfrow - Camp Ondesonk - Betty's Records – Desiderata - The Green-Eyed Midget - The Apostle Paul - Doug Sahm - Gigi - Tiki Pete & Dancing Bear - Eric Satie - Doc Watson - St. Louis - Bill Thrall - Eric Anderson - O'Fallon - Ricky Nelson - Van Morrison - John Hartford - Louis Armstrong -
Now, you see, those are mostly from the past... Newer Influences?
Tom Waits - Jay Farrar - Lucinda Williams – Robert McKee - Gillian Welch - Alejandro Escovedo - Brennan Manning - Calexico - Tord Gustavson - Arrested Development - Billy Williams - Greg Crow - Christopher Guest - The Coen Brothers - Greg Brown - Clem Snide - Son Volt - Beck - Henri Nouwen - Townes Van Zandt - Timothy Keller - Ernest Borgnine - Uncle Tupelo - Lyle Lovett - Peter Case - The Jayhawks - Jeff Del Nero - Pixar - Bosnia & Hercegovina - William H. Macy - The Future Friends of Millard Fillmore - David Rawlings - The Simpsons - The Wailin' Jennys - El Groupo De Guyo - The Adriatic Sea - Mark Wenzel - the Men of EBMMAS - Fred Willard - Richard Thompson - William H. Macy - Mladen - Daniel Lanois - The Dodds - Philip Glass - Barenaked Ladies - The Blind Boys of Alabama - Cowboy Junkies - Jack Miller - Homestar Runner & Strongbad - John Hiatt – Stephen Ambrose – Oswald Chambers
Sounds Like: Sounds like? Well... I suppose I grew up hearing Elvis, Sinatra, Patsy Cline and Marty Robbins, but then I found my own musical road which began by imitating the Beatles and then the Byrds and then Donovan and Dylan and then I found Buffalo Springfield and that really pointed me in some kind of direction. I was a Neil Clone in high school, but also loved Stills and Richie and so did a lot of Poco and CSNY and then became a Christian and didn't know where to go from there, for a lot of years, because I did not know how to be a musician/songwriter and a Christian at the same time. it seemed like a dichotomy to me.
Bruce Cockburn came along and showed me what it was to simply be myself, as a human being, an American, a Christian, a songwriter, a dad and whatever else I was... and report that in song - letting all those interpretive filters just be what they are and have what effect they would have.
Since then, Greg Brown and Jay Farrar and Emmylou and Lucinda and Gillian Welch and a dozen more have added their colorings to what I "sound like" ... but ... I dont sound like any of them.
BR
.. CDBABY LINK for BOB RYAN: The Spirit of Andy Devine --
So now... we have "the Spirit of Andy Devine" for your listening pleasure. Another fine Leaping Armadillo product for the discerning palate
Record Label: Leaping Armadillo Music
Type of Label: Indie