Join your host Steve Yusko as we discover Ryan David Orr. He was born in Ashland, Oregon to a singer-songwriter mother and a visual artist father.  Connect with The Long Island Sound Podcast  Intro/Outro song in this episode: “Fading out Fast” from Mike Nugent’s album, Mike Nugent and the Blue Moon Band . Opening Narration by Faith Yusko All songs in this podcast episode have been used with prior permission by the artists. Please Subscribe Here: Https://linktr.ee/thelongislandsoundpodcast h6n3aNIpE8zloKGwmnz4 Some of his earliest memories are of his mother singing him songs each night as bedtime stories. His childhood, which took place between Oregon and California, and later Tennessee and North Carolina, were surrounded by art, music, writing, and the adventures of rural living. At the age of 7, he began playing violin and singing in choirs, subsequently being recruited for several performance opportunities including a long run of the opera Tosca and the Northwest Children’s Honor Choir. His love of music and performance blossomed with the later move to the American south. His mother, a country and folk songwriter, hoped that proximity to Nashville would be beneficial to her musical career. She recorded several albums, giving Ryan his first taste of being “in the studio”. For Ryan, there are too many influences and inspirations to list all of them in one place, but his background in the performing and visual arts began to take form during his high school years, when he put down the violin and picked up guitar. He immersed himself in a plethora of musical styles and genres. He spun old classic rock vinyls he found in record store bargain bins. He kept a constant flow of music going for most of his waking hours, devouring everything from Neil Young to Radiohead, Mos Def to Deftones, Beethoven to RL Burnside. He was greatly influenced by the Seattle grunge sound, modeling much of his first song writing attempts after bands like Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Nirvana. Most of what he wrote at first wasn’t very good, but over time he began to shape and define his own voice. He continued absorbing artists like Tori Amos, Tom Waits, Whiskeytown, Thelonious Monk, Richard Buckner, Bjork, Massive Attack, Cat Stevens, and CSNY. Awards/Accolades: Best Folk Album International – Toronto Exclusive Magazine (2007) Finalist – Song of the Year songwriting competition Runner-up – Song of the Year songwriting competition Best Music Video – Show Low Film Festival (2018) Best Music Video - White Mountains Film Festival (2022) Best Music Video - Switzerland International Film Festival "Great, distinctive voice...worthy of top marks" -Stuart Epps, producer (Oasis, Elton John, Led Zeppelin) Another artistic love of Ryan's is in the arena of film and photography. He holds a degree in Film and Media Studies from Arizona State University, and began putting his film knowledge to use in 2013 when he wrote, directed, and filmed a music video for the song "Margaret" from his album More Than Strangers. Since then, he has written, directed, and/or filmed several more music videos to accompany songs from his various albums.