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Celebrating Nashville Music: Ryman Shares His Unique Style and Story Behind 'Growing Pains' Album Release · Takin’ A Walk Nashville

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Taking a Walk Nashville.
• 0:02
  Speaker 2: Hey listeners, it's Sarah Harrelson, your host of the Taking
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: a Walk Nashville podcast. Have you heard of Ryman? No,
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: I'm not talking about Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, although you
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: might see him there soon. I'm talking about Ryman, a wonderful...
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: Indie country artist in Nashville, he describes his music as
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: barn pop and the alternative. He just released his new album,
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Growing Pains. It's so good. I hope you'll give it
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: a listen. And you can see him at upcoming festival
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: stages like Lollapalooza and Americana Fest. Stay tuned for my
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: conversation today with Ryman.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Takin' a Walk Nashville with your host, singer-songwriter,
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: Sarah Harrelson.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: Hi, listeners. It's Sarah Harrelson, your host of the Takin'
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: a Walk Nashville podcast. And today with me, I have Ryman.
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: He is a Nashville native about to release his album,
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: Growing Pains. I'm excited to talk all about it. How
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: are you today, Ryman?
• 1:09
  Speaker 3: Doing great. It's early, but I'm doing great.
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: Thanks for coming over to East Nashville with me this
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: early in the morning. So let's just first talk about
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: your name. You were named after Nashville's hallowed Ryman Auditorium
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: before you even had a choice in the matter. So
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: growing up in Music City, when did that name start
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: feeling like a calling rather than a huge piece of
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: history to carry?
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: I mean, I feel like as early as I can remember,
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: like whenever I was a toddler, like, I mean, my
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: parents were putting instruments in my face and those are
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: my favorite toys to play with. And my dad jokes
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: around that like my first word was guitar. And I
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: don't know if I like believe that, but my parents
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: had never lied to me about anything else.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: So.
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: That's awesome.
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: And you started playing instruments at a really young age too, right?
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: Yeah. I started like really getting into like piano and
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: and writing songs when I got grounded from like all
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: my video games and my electronics. And I was like,
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: I mean, I have access to these instruments that are
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: at my house. And then I just kind of fell
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: in love with music. And I think that I had
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: always been in love with music, but like specifically songwriting
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: and like coming up with stuff that's my own.
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: And now you're probably thankful that you were grounded and.
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: Could turn to music.
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: My dad brings it up all the time now.
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: That's awesome. Who were some of your influences growing up?
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: I feel like some of my earliest influences, like, oddly enough, were, like,
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: Rex Orange County was, like, kind of the person that, like,
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: got me into, like, writing. But, like, whenever I was
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: really young, I was really into, like, Foo Fighters and
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: Loretta Lynn and, like, Jackson Brown. Like, very kind of
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: all over the place. A lot of Weezer. It was
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: basically just whatever my parents were listening to. But, like,
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: even today there's stuff that I show my dad and
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  Speaker 3: he's like, dude, I played you this song like 10
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: years ago. Like you love this song when you were
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: six and I get a lot of my favorite tunes
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: from them.
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  Speaker 2: Well, it makes sense. You grew up listening to such
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: an eclectic mix of genres because you describe your own
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: style as barn pop and the alternative. I love that.
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: How do you balance the storytelling of folk and country
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: with the energy of indie pop and rock? Yeah.
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: I mean, I just think that like, I mean, especially
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: over the last two years, I feel like I've been
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: way more intentional about like the words of it all.
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: And just like, that's like kind of my favorite part
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: about music. But I think that my melodic sensibility, just
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: like I tend to lean more pop and like catchy,
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: like especially if you listen to some of my earlier music.
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: I started releasing music on like streaming when I was
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: like 15. And that stuff is like kind of down
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: the middle pop. And I mean, I'm not really saying
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: a whole lot of anything in those songs.
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah. There is a little bit of a difference. What
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: was kind of the turning point from, you know, you
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: were in an indie pop style to now still having
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: that style, but more country influences now? Yeah.
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: I mean, I think, I mean, for one, I was
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: in high school and definitely hadn't lived enough life experience
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  Speaker 3: to like know what I wanted to talk about or
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: wanted to sound, and I just wanted to sound like
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: whatever was cool at the time. And I think just like,
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: as I've gotten older and like, going back to my
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: roots and like the stuff that I like grew up
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: on and like, especially like seeing music in a live setting,
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  Speaker 3: I feel like that really contributed to me leaning towards
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: like the folky or like Americana country kind of thing.
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  Speaker 3: Just cause that's like the kind of music that I'm
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: always around, you know, especially being here, like seeing live music,
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  Speaker 3: like seeing stuff that's like folky and country in a
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: live setting is like a lot different than like seeing
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: like a pop show.
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: It is, yeah. Well, I was listening to your new
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: album today, and I was just immediately thinking if Paul
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: Simon was like modern country, you're kind of a mix
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: of Paul Simon and country.
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: I'll take that any day. Thank you.
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: I love it. Yeah, you're celebrating the new release of
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: that album, Growing Pains. What makes Third Man Records' venue,
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: The Blue Room, the kind of right room to unveil
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: this new album?
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  Speaker 3: I mean, I love going to shows there. I've never played,
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: so it'll be my first time. But it's one of
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: those venues that you can tell that an artist was behind,
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: especially the decor and how eclectic it is. It's like
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: a giant elephant head.
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a super cool room.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's one of the most unique ones in town,
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: and it felt like the right decision for the show.
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah, very great place to celebrate your new album and
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: the new record Growing Pains, it opens with the title track.
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: It's sequenced to take listeners through real life emotional shifts.
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: So how did you land on the track order and
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: what story are you hoping someone hears that they listen
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: from start to finish?
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  Speaker 3: It's kind of funny. I mean, I feel like Growing
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: Pains just kind of sets up, I mean, the whole
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: project as like the overall theme and land in the
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: plane with Cut the Cameras is like I'm just getting
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: started is what the like, last line of the song is, and,
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: you know, record two's going to come one day, you know,
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: and it's funny enough, like, me and Cassidy, my manager,
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: we had both sent each other, like, our, like, track
• 6:24
  Speaker 3: list ideas, and they were, like, exactly the same. Oh, nice. And, like,
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: the odds of having all 11 songs in the same
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  Speaker 3: order is pretty crazy.
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: That never happens. Yeah.
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: And so that just kind of felt right.
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's amazing. And you teamed up with Hunter West,
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: Jake Finch, Colin Pastore for this record. How did working
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: with this group of producers kind of bring out the
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: DIY heart of these songs?
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: It was so fun. I mean, I feel like I
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: did three of the 11 songs with Hunter West, and
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: those were kind of the earlier songs that we did.
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: And those weren't really made with the intention of being
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: a record, but then kind of turned out, shaped out
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: that way. Um, but working with him is awesome. Uh,
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: I'm like every single song that we do together, it's
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: just beautiful. And I love working with him, but with,
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: with Jake and Colin, it was, it was kind of
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: a like breath of fresh air in the sense of like,
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: we started recording stuff that I'd like kind of always
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: been like reaching for and like doing a lot of stuff,
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  Speaker 3: like very live and organic and, and bandy sounding, uh,
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  Speaker 3: and kind of leaning like less and less pop, which
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: has been a lot of fun. And those guys are
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: incredible musicians. I mean, Hunter, Jake, Colin, all of them
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: are fantastic. And I feel very grateful to have those
• 7:43
  Speaker 3: people in my corner.
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: The record sounds great. I love the single Undo on it.
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  Speaker 2: It hits that bittersweet feeling of watching time speed up
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: and wishing for simpler days. What was the inspiration behind
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: that song?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I just got... I mean, like my,
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: my life kind of flipped on its head and over
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: the course of like a year, um, I had gone
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: from like basically putting out music and like never going
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: on the road and kind of feeling like I was
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: like flatlining and not really going anywhere. And then things
• 8:15
  Speaker 3: started to turn around and started going on the road,
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: started working with the label and management and stuff. Uh,
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: and then I started to like, just overthink like every
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: song that I was writing and thinking about how it
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: was going to be perceived as I'm writing it. And
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: That song is just about literally wanting to just be
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: in my backyard and writing songs that I'm not picking apart.
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: It's a great song. I love the lyrics, and I
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: love all your vocal layers on it. Definitely kind of
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: like pop vocal layers, but mixed with the steel guitar.
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  Speaker 2: It definitely leans into your alternative genre that you describe.
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: Were all of those songs on the record recorded in Nashville?
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: Where did you record them?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, all in Nashville. Basically all out of home studios.
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: So the three songs that I did with Hunter were
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: all recorded out of his space. And then all the
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: songs I did with Jake and Colin were out of
• 9:07
  Speaker 3: their space in South Nashville and East Nashville.
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: Awesome. The production on it is great. You co-wrote all
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: the songs on it. You're also in writing rooms multiple
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: times a week writing for other artists, including your collaboration
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: with Lacey K. Booth on Luck of the Draw. How
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: has writing for other voices sharpened your ability to pinpoint
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: your own narrative voice on growing pains. Yeah.
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: I feel like it's definitely gotten me out of my
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: comfort zone because whenever like you're the artist in the room,
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: I feel like you're usually like supposed to be driving
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: the ship, you know? And like, I have to tell
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: myself when I go into a room for writing for
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: another artist, it's like, I'm not trying to get a
• 9:49
  Speaker 3: song that I necessarily, it's like, I'm a hundred percent
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: satisfied with. I'm trying to get something that the artist
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: feels confident and honest and comfortable singing, you know, like
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: something that they're happy with and something that resonates with them,
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: you know, because we're not all going to have the
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: same taste.
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: But yeah. Yeah.
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: And with Lacey K Booth, you both have a similar
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: kind of tone. So it makes sense that you collaborate together.
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: She's so incredible. I'm surprised that she's not 10 times
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: huger than she already is. She's like country Lana Del Rey.
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, she really is. Well, before doing music full time,
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: you were selling vintage clothes to support yourself. And you
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: still handcraft and upcycle your merch today. So how does
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: that inform the way that you connect with your fans?
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: And is this upcycled merch? Is that your own upcycled
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: vintage clothes or where do you find it? Yeah.
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: So I've been selling vintage clothes since I was in
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: high school. So it was like 2020. I think I
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: was like 15 or 16. And yeah, it's just something
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: that I'm also like passionate about, just like vintage fashion
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: in general. And I love that I've been able to
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: like kind of merge those two worlds, even though I
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: like quit selling vintage full time. But like I still
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: get to go like scavenge and go on the treasure
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: hunt to find all these denim shirts and jackets that
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: I'm putting these patches on.
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: That's awesome. So when people find your merch at your shows,
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: it's usually vintage.
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: Yeah. And there's a lot and a lot of it's
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: like one of one, you know, and I feel like
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: you don't see that too often where like someone gets
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: to take home something that like, I mean, I went
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: out and found it and I did it with my hands.
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: And it's like you were the only person that owns
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: this specific shirt, you know, like everything's one of one
• 11:39
  Speaker 3: because it's all really cool.
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: So yeah.
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's awesome. That's so unique. And for people to
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: find you at your upcoming shows, you know, you've already
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: shared stages with artists like Role Model and Stella Lefty.
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: And this year, you're hitting some massive festival stages. You're
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: hitting Lollapalooza, Americana Fest. Are you excited to bring your
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: new album to these festival crowds?
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: Oh, yeah. I mean, I haven't played a full band
• 12:06
  Speaker 3: show in like two years.
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: And.
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: We have our first rehearsal tonight. Nice. And that's basically
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: what I'm doing for the next week until the album
• 12:15
  Speaker 3: release show. And we go to Chicago for Lollapalooza the
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: next day. And I'm just excited to like be able
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: to lift the energy. Like since I've been touring, I've
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: only been doing solo acoustic shows. And like I can
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: only like dance around and like have so I can
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: only do so much with an acoustic guitar, you know.
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: So it'll be fun to have like backing band with
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: the boys and be able to have a little fun,
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: you know.
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that'll be a lot of fun. I'll definitely have
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: to come check you out at Americana Fest in Nashville
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: this September. I'll be there, so can't wait to see
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: your set. Where can people find the rest of your
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: upcoming tour dates?
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: On my website that I think is RymanMusic.com. Yeah, yeah.
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: Okay. Yeah, different from the Ryman Auditorium website.
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah.
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: I realized that if you just Google Ryman music, it
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: might not be the first thing.
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: Well, people can definitely find your upcoming album and shows there.
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: And hopefully soon we'll see you, Ryman, at the Ryman
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: here in Nashville. That would be epic. My last question
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: for you, Ryman, you grew up in Nashville. You've seen
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: a lot since you've been here. What's the most memorable
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: walk you have ever taken in Nashville?
• 13:28
  Speaker 3: Most memorable walk? Honestly, I'd say right after I dropped
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: out of college. I did a semester at Belmont. Okay.
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: And then I remember getting dropped by my booking agency
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: at the time because I was in school and they
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: couldn't book me for anything because I was in class
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: five days a week. And I just took a walk
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: down Belmont Boulevard and then all the way back and
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: just had my headphones in but wasn't listening to any music.
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: And when I got back, I was just like, I
• 14:03
  Speaker 3: don't think that I'm supposed to be here right now.
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: And that was when it all clicked that maybe college
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: isn't for me.
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: Wow.
• 14:10
  Speaker 3: And loved Belmont. I've met a lot of great people
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: through Belmont and did a lot of things for me.
• 14:16
  Speaker 3: But I'm glad that I made the decision when I did.
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that sounds like a memorable walk that kind of
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: helped you sort through things. Yeah, pivotal. And, you know,
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: you hear that a lot of, you know, people going
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: into the music programs at Belmont or similar schools. And,
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: you know, some are artists and it just makes sense for,
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: you know, some of them to leave so they can
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: go on the road and tour. And that helps their
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: career better sometimes. So I think that was the right
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: decision for you.
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: I think so, too. Yeah.
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: Well, Ryman, thank you so much for being here with
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: me today at the Russell Podcast Studio in East Nashville.
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: Listeners can look forward to your upcoming album, Growing Pains.
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: It releases on July 31st, and you have a ton
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: of upcoming tour dates that listeners can look forward to
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: and also catch you at Americana Fest here in Nashville
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: in September. Ryman, thank you again.
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: Thank you for having me.
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to Taking a Walk Nashville with Sarah Harrelson.
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: Please check out our other shows produced by Buzz Night
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: Media Productions, Comedy Save Me and Music Save Me, hosted
• 15:25
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