Musician and storyteller Barron Ryan will be leading concertgoers through his musical journey at the San Juan Community Sept. 15 at 7:30 p.m.
“The concert is where classic meets cool,” Ryan explained. “There is all this music that I love, a variety of categories, and I wanted to combine them. It includes jazz, ragtime, county, opo, a mix of different styles but the theme is my musical journey, ‘Classic meets Cool’”
Ryan recently came out with a book as well, “Honey this isn’t for You,” based on the true story of a man who had cystic fibrosis. From the time of diagnosis till his death in 1981, the man composed a number of songs as a way to ensure he was fully living his life and expressing all he wanted to express.
Ryan met his wife later. She showed him pages upon pages of her husband’s lyrics. Inspired by the story, he created an illustrative storybook. He will be reading from it during his Sept. 15 performance.
Music has inundated his life since he was in the womb, with both parents being musicians. By the time Ryan was four, he was taking piano lessons. The instrument remains his main media.
Although the industry is challenging, Ryan excelled in performing throughout his middle and high school years in Tulsa, OK, then continued to impress his peers and instructors as a piano performance major at The University of Oklahoma.
Everything did not come up roses, however, as Ryan was then rejected from all the music conservatories you might be impressed by. Disheartened and a little annoyed, he briefly gave up on the piano in pursuit of a satirical hip-hop career. But due to a favorable result in a piano competition that sent its winner to perform internationally, that project was graciously short-lived.
Through those ups and downs, what keeps Ryan coming back, he said, is the sense of wonder.
“Music is a uniquely powerful form of beauty, expression of love…it’s an extremely potent expression of beauty.”
Ryan said he has been inspired by those like YoYo Ma and Bobby McFarren who are excellent musicians willing to explore music on multiple levels and genres. “The reason I have modeled my career the way I have is because I wanted to figure out how Yo Yo Ma, for example, was able to play musical concertos, bluegrass, and the album he did with Bobbie McFarren, and have it all cohere.“
He still isn’t sure how they accomplished the feat.
“I don’t know how they did it,” he laughed, adding that for him, it was to tell a story.
For those young musicians, Ryan suggested finding someone who is doing what they would like to do and ask difficult questions; How long did it take them to get started? How did they get through the ups and downs, the challenging times?
“Everything will take twice as long and be twice as hard,” Ryan noted, adding that the industry is hot and cold, and it’s difficult to know what one’s schedule is going to be. It is essential to be willing to pivot at a moment’s notice.
“What’s unique about music is that it’s fun. To make it a profession is difficult but satisfying,” Ryan explained. “I wanted to find the beauty I was uniquely positioned for. To find that was a long road to travel.”
To buy tickets visit https://www.sjctheatre.org/.
Ryan will also be playing at the Orcas Center Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. and at the Lopez Center for Community and the Arts on Sept. 17 at 7 p.m.
