Texas native, Ryan Beaver, has been enamored with music for as long as he can remember. From playing on instruments and making up songs as a toddler, it was inevitable that Ryan’s path would lead him to a full-time career as a singer and songwriter. All the years of hard work and determination are paying off as Beaver is set to release his third studio album this year. His passion, intelligence and humility are undeniable and are just some of the characteristics that stood out even in our short conversation with the artist. Another undeniable quality of Ryan’s is his incredible talent. He’s already impressed us with his newest single, ‘Dark,’ and we can’t wait for the release of his next album, especially after hearing what he had to say.
Music has always been vital to Ryan, and growing up it was always very prominent in his life, “It’s kind of what made the world make sense for me,” he said. “You always kind of grow up saying, ‘I want to do music, I want to do that full time,’ but it’s become quite the challenge.” Although a future career in music was always on his mind, Beaver wound up going to college and earning a degree in Marketing. While his degree isn’t directly connected to singing or songwriting, his education has helped him more than he thought. “I think that has given me an insight into how the record industry is going to go, because it’s so…” he pauses, “We always joke it’s like the wild west. Kind of like anything goes these days as far as fans and trying to get people to listen because there’s so much out there, you’re just trying to get above the static,” he said. While Ryan was in college he also took great interest in Sociology, which ended up being his minor. “I did it because I loved it. Later in life I kind of realized, well no wonder I loved it because Sociology is the study of human behavior, and that’s songwriting. They go hand in hand.” Ryan’s got the tools and talent for a successful career in country music but even he admits that sometimes it just comes down to luck. Being at the right place at the right time, and being heard by the right people can be a game-changer. “Certain people get really lucky and something happens really quick and others have to work for it,” he said without any indication of resentment, even recognizing that he probably falls into the latter category. “It’s a business full of ups and downs, I know that,” he added.
The thing about Ryan is that he’s so passionate about his craft and truly believes in what he’s putting out there. He’s not putting on a mask to sell albums, his songs are genuine, and that’s a quality that fans can recognize. His newest single, ‘Dark’ is both powerful and poetic and listeners can surely relate to the honesty in the lyrics. Surprisingly, the song was written back in 2012, but it’s still one of Ryan’s favorites. “What I love about that is that it stood the test of time for me for the past few years and I think it has that sort of staying power,” he said. Ryan wrote the song with two of his friends, Ryan Tyndell and Matt Nolen, “I think I was connected to this song because we sort of stumbled on that hook, ‘I ain’t afraid of the dark,’ which it was very simple and I knew every kid in the world could get that,” he explained. “This was sort of about a tough time and I knew that other people could relate, everyone goes through tough times. So I thought it was cool because it sort of, for me, ended up being words that I needed to hear more than anybody.” Sonically, ‘Dark’ is unquestionably a strong country song. It begins calmly with some guitar which builds to an almighty chorus. It’s one of those songs where the sound reflects the lyrics perfectly.
As far as the rest of Beaver’s album, each song has its own individual sound and can easily stand on its own but they all fit together, nevertheless. “If you kind of think of it like a puzzle, we definitely have a lot of different pieces that sort of showcase a bunch of different vibes,” Ryan said, noting that you’ll hear bits of pop and reggae, a song that feels very country, and another that is very rock. “Somehow they’re all cohesive and they all work, but it’s still country music at the heart,” said Ryan on the basis that there’s always a story and the crafting of the song always comes first. Beaver believes this new record can appeal to a very diverse crowd, “Somebody who maybe only loves techno or pop or rock, I think that they can even listen to it and find something they like,” he said mentioning that this wasn’t necessarily his intention, it just sort of happened.
It’s been a long time coming for this record, Ryan has been collecting material since 2012 and started the recording process in 2014, cutting a few songs at a time when he had the cash to do so. He recorded the album over a year and a half and then spent some time sitting down with labels to figure out the right path for the record. The singer admitted that he didn’t really have a game plan and he’s had his fair share of ups and downs throughout the whole process, “That’s why it’s so exciting that we finally have dates of when it’s going to come out,” he said disclosing that the album is set to be released on May 6th. “This feels like my first record again because I know how much time and effort I put into songs and thinking about sounds and the recording,” said Ryan, “I went to a lot of festivals and watched a lot of shows and listened to a lot of music and I was really sort of inspired by what’s going on musically everywhere.”
Beaver confessed that before he started working on this album he was feeling a little burned out, “It didn’t feel like what I was doing at the time was very creative, and then we started working on this record and all of that changed.” In time, working on the new album became like therapy for Ryan, who ultimately decided on the title, ‘Rx.’ “This record has been a prescription for me so I thought hopefully it does the same for the listener.” For Ryan, it’s all about taking it one fan at a time, building up his fan-base and hoping the rest falls into place. Instead of striving for sales, Beaver just wants to put out music he’s proud of. “You make a project that you really believe in, that you really excited about, that if this was your last thing you ever put out then you’d be okay with that,” he explained. For him, if all those boxes are checked then he can feel okay with whatever numbers the record produces. “When you’re just putting out records time sort of reveals how good it is or isn’t,” Ryan said, justifying the statement with an example of The Beach Boys’ album, ‘Pet Sounds.’ “It didn’t really sell well, but over time people realized the brilliance of it and they started to buy it and it became one of the biggest selling records for The Beach Boys,” he explained, “It was just further ahead of it’s time. So you can’t worry about all that, you just have to make something you’re proud of.”
Naturally, Beaver is a nervous for the release of the new album, admitting that it’s always nerve-wracking to put yourself out there, but more so the singer is excited for fans to hear the new stuff. “We’re going to pre-release the record, I think, and then what we’ll do up until the release date is we’ll gratis some songs off the record. So you’ll get two or three tracks before the record actually comes out,” Ryan said, “I’ve never done it that way. I think it’s a cool idea because it allows listeners to focus on a few songs, not get 10 or 12 all at once.” Once they start rolling the album out, Beaver plans to head out on the road. “We’ll be booking a bunch of shows, just out pushing the record and hopefully get people to take a listen,” he said, “I’m going to be going out in the end of February with Lee Ann Womack, and then we’re going to do South by Southwest in Austin this year.” Beaver even mentioned that Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den could be among one of the stages he takes in the upcoming year. “I would bet that that’s going to be one of the things we do up there,” he said. But don’t hop in line just yet – the CT show can’t be confirmed with 100% certainty, but we’ll definitely be keeping it on our radar.
As 2016 unfolds, we can only hope to see Ryan Beaver thriving with success. The singer firmly believes that anything worth doing can’t be done quick and so Ryan’s not bothered by the length of time it took to get this album out. “I’m sort of one of those guys who’s a sucker for the story,” he revealed. Beaver also pointed out that one of his favorite parts about being an artist is the creation process – taking life and trying to make it make sense. For Ryan, he hopes that with ‘Rx’ he’s created something that can help make the world make sense for someone else as music has done for Ryan his entire life. Only time can tell, but we can’t wait to hear what else Beaver has in store for us. From the sounds of ‘Dark,’ we’re already preparing to be blown away.
You can pre-order Ryan’s album on iTunes now! You can order yours here.
Make sure to check out Ryan’s new song, ‘Fast,’ included with the pre-order!