Jocelyn Ryder

Jocelyn Ryder has been singing for her whole entire life. And writing songs, too. But not for her whole entire life. She just started after she listened to the Who and David Bowie a few times, and some Cheap Trick and then U2.Most of the time Jocelyn would write songs about Important Things like Life and Injustice and How Things Should Really Be. But most of the time, the songs weren't very good. But that's OK 'cause she was only like, 14.Some years later, Jocelyn went to a place called the Sidewalk Cafe on the Lower East Side of New York City. Her best friend was there doing the Monday night Anti-Hoot open mic. Jocelyn really liked it and decided to go back. And then she started singing there a capella (that means without music or instruments--sometimes, though, after she became a regular there--the crowd would bang on tables and clap along with her).Then she learned how to play guitar. She put a band together and started doing shows. It was really, really fun. She made friends with some very interesting people and met a boyfriend, a roommate, bandmates, her guitar teacher, the producer of her first cd ("On the Train") and Lach, who coined the term Anti-Folk, who is an awesome songwriter and performer and who runs the Sidewalk's amazing music scene and who was always very encouraging and supportive.In the Winter of 2001, Jocelyn released her first cd: "On the Train." The release party was at the C-Note on Avenue C in the East Village. It was a really packed house and Jocelyn had a great time. She invited her friends to play: Paula Carino, Mary Ann Farley and Tom Nishioka, her producer. Her friend Katrina Foster, a minister, blessed the cd.After September 11th, Jocelyn didn't play so many shows. She felt sad and it took awhile for her to feel like singing her songs about addiction and broken heartedness was still a good idea.Then Jocelyn moved to San Francisco. She's been in semi-retirement, but working on art and music still and is about to begin playing shows again. If you'd like to know when Jocelyn is going to play a show, add her as a friend and you can stay updated on when and where to hear her play.