Jimmy Ryan: Bio

- Writes 'em, Sings 'em and Plays Mandolin Front and Center

For more than a decade, Jimmy Ryan has electrified the Boston music scene with his fusion of bluegrass pickin’ and driving edge rock. Performing live, Jimmy’s fingers fly across the mandolin like lightning rips through a stormy sky. His flair is energizing, his style unique and the outcome leaves his audience spellbound. A blended perfection of rootsy rock, bluegrass and world music, his invigorating performance displays influences ranging from Bill Monroe to Bob Marley. Over the years Jimmy has teamed up with a string of talent, creating his own style of alt-country that compliments every one of his musical cohorts.

Born in Binghamton, NY, Jimmy spent his early life attending and playing at local bluegrass festivals. His unique sound and style emanate from playing with such a diverse group of bluegrass fiddlers and pickers, mixed with his love of rock and roll. Most noted for his left-handed imaginative mandolin playing, Jimmy Ryan’s old-timey voice and masterful songwriting reflect a seasoned musician indeed. He began his professional music career in a punk band Decentz and a traditional bluegrass band Pine Island, but he is probably best known for founding and fronting the bluegrass tinged rock band, The Blood Oranges in the late 80’s. "Years before anyone had invented the label 'alt-country,' The Blood Oranges helped pioneer the style, with Ryan as lead singer and songwriter," claims Miles of Music. After touring worldwide and releasing three records on East Side Digital, the Blood Oranges disbanded in 1994. Jimmy then formed and fronted the Beacon Hillbillies with mandolin master John McGann, mixing jazz and bluegrass and releasing three records. In 1996, Jimmy reunited with Mark Spencer to form Wooden Leg and they released a self-titled debut. Since then, in countless side projects, Jimmy has shared his energizing mandolin talent throughout the indie music scene. His fiery pickin’ is recognized by many in the bluegrass and alt-country circuits, and is sought after by many artists who seek to add his scorching style to their craft. One of the Jimmy’s most notable collaborations is his work with former Morphine and Treat Her Right frontman, the late Mark Sandman. Together they played the Boston scene as Treat Her Orange, a partnership that would later blossom into the Pale Brothers (and yield the track "In Spite of Me" on Morphine’s Cure for Pain). Both were two talent-laden and interesting side projects that featured live performances but hailed no official albums. You can now hear some of these selected gems on the recently released Sandbox – The Music of Mark Sandman (2004, Hi-N-Dry). In addition to playing acoustic mandolin, Jimmy also plays mandocello, 5-string and 8-string electric mandolin, all custom crafted since he’s a left-handed player. In 2002, Jimmy released his solo debut, Lost DiamondAngel, produced by Billy Conway (Morphine, Twinemen) and mixed by Trina Shoemaker, two-time Grammy Award Winner for Sheryl Crow’s, The Globe Sessions. In 2005, “Gospel Shirt”, the sophomore release by Jimmy Ryan was released on the Hi-N-Dry label. www.hi-n-dry.com Check 'em out. Support indie music.

DISCOGRAPHY and OTHER APPEARANCES

Jimmy Ryan solo recordings:

2002 Lost Diamond Angel Self-released
2005 Gospel Shirt Ruido Grande/Hi-N-Dry
2007 Fun With Music-Ruido Grande
2009 Mandolin-Ruido Grande
2010 Le Mistral-Ruido Grande
2011 In My Soul-Ruido Grande-Single Series
2011 Just Like You-Ruido Grande-Single Series
2012 New Noise In Progress
2013 Readville/Ruido Grande

With Blood Oranges:

1990 Corn River ESD (East Side Digital)
1992 Lone Green Valley ESD (East Side Digital)
1994 Crying Tree ESD (East Side Digital)

With Beacon Hill Billies:

1992 Duffield Station ESD (East Side Digital)
1993 More Songs of Love and Murder ESD (East Side Digital)
1996 Better Place ESD (East Side Digital)

With Wooden Leg:

1996 Wooden Leg ESD (East Side Digital)

ABOUT THE BLOOD ORANGES — “An alternative country band with a strong bluegrass background, the Blood Oranges were fronted by Jim Ryan, a singer/songwriter who led the group on a custom-produced electric mandolin. Born in New York in 1957, Ryan was first introduced to traditional American bluegrass and folk as a child through the state university in his hometown of Binghamton, where a local country and blues organization sponsored shows highlighting the nation's musical roots. After spending his formative years attending bluegrass festivals, he began honing his own skills as a performer by playing with fiddlers and pickers of all ages and musical backgrounds. Ryan formed the Blood Oranges in the late '80s with bassist/vocalist Cheri Knight, guitarist Mark Spencer and drummer Ron Ward as a forum for fusing his love of traditional music along with his interest in rock 'n' roll; while Ryan's twangy vocals and bluegrass background stood as the dominant elements of their sound, the group's experimental nature aligned its music more strongly with the Americana movement of the 1990s than with any stripe of straightforward country. In 1991, the Blood Oranges issued their debut album, Corn River, a collection of bluegrass originals combined with renditions of classics like "Dig a Hole" and "Shady Grove." Both 1992's Lone Green Valley and 1994's The Crying Tree continued to refine the quartet's distinctive sound. In 1995, Spencer left the group to tour with Lisa Loeb, and the Blood Oranges promptly disbanded; Knight continued as a solo performer, while Ryan and Spencer ultimately reunited in Wooden Leg." ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide

ABOUT THE BEACON HILL BILLIES — The Beacon Hill Billies were featured in Dirty Linen Folk and World Music magazine, No. 47 - August/September '93

ABOUT WOODEN LEG — "After the break-up of the electric bluegrass band the Blood

Oranges, the group's mandolinist Jim Ryan and guitarist Mark Spencer reunited to form the more rock-oriented Wooden Leg, which issued its self-titled debut LP in 1996." ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide "Boston is the center of New England's country influenced folk/singer-songwriter scene, out of which comes WOODEN LEG, songwriter and mandolin player Jimmy Ryan's latest project after he had formed BLOOD ORANGES, a punk-bluegrass band and the bluegrass outfit BEACON HILLBILLIES. Now Wooden Leg returns Ryan to rock and country influenced music - picking up where the Blood Oranges left off." ~ Blue Rose Records

SOLO RECORDINGS
"Jimmy Ryan, another Sandman friend, opened with an exquisite country set that evoked a cross between Gram Parsons and Richard Thompson... Ryan played a low-sounding mandocello, which Sandman picked out for him. Ryan used it well, as another tribute to his friend." ~ Steve Morse, The Boston Globe, Orchestra Morphine tribute to Mark Sandman of Morphine

Additonal Mandolin Credits:

1993 Morphine, Cure For Pain (Ryko)
1995 Boiled In Lead, Songs From The Gypsy (Omnium)
1997 Catie Curtis, Catie Curtis (Ryko)
1998 Buttercup, Buttercup (Spirit Of Orr)
1998 Dumptruck, Terminal (Devil In The Woods)
1998 Gerald Collier, Gerald Collier (WEA, Warner Bros.)
1999 Catie Curtis, Crash Course In Roses (Ryko)
1999 Brooks Williams, Hundred Year Show (Signature)
2000 Warren Zevon, Life’ll Kill Ya’ (Artemis)
2000 Catie Curtis, My Shirt Looks Good On You (Ryko)
(songwriter as well)
2002 The Slaughter Rule soundtrack
March 2002 With The Blood Oranges and Jay Farrar
2003 Maybe Baby, What Matters (Hi-N-Dry)
2004 Jake Brennan, Love and Bombs (YepRoc)
2004 William Ackerman (Windham Hill)
2004 Caged Heat, Caged Heat (Hi-N-Dry)
2004 Country Doctors, More Venom, Less Self Pity (Valient Recordings)
2005 Sarah Borges, Silver City (Blue Corn Music)
2005 Christian McNeill, Inside The Whale (Hi-N-Dry) (vocals too)
2005 Judd Fuller, Grocery Store Roses (self)
2006 Hayseed 2006-2010 Various Projects
2010 Laura Cantrell Trains & Boats & Planes.(Diesel Only)
2011 Girls,Guns,& Glory ,Sweet Nothings
2011 Le Mistral,Le Mistral (Ruido Grande')
2012 Soda Frog (self)
2012 Alley Stoetzel, What We’ve Been Up To (Lunar Notes Music)