James Ryan is a talented, much-sought after guitarist from Melbourne, who divides his time between playing live, teaching, writing, producing and working the frets in various ways on a wide range of projects. He’s also an acclaimed clinician, who has presented numerous workshops for high profile gear brands such as Roland, Boss, Fender, Cole Clark, and D’Addario, showcasing their gear online and at music shows. James has also been a regular and much-loved participant in our Melbourne Guitar Shows.
An early career highlight included touring North and South America and Japan with Australian rock legends Men at Work, playing to thousands of people per night. James has recorded library cds for Fable Music Publishing and has released his own instrumental recordings such as his 2005 debut album “BLOWN”.
James has appeared on national TV shows such as Rove and Good Morning Australia and he’s also an in demand session guitarist, having played with Shania Twain, Ronan Keating, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Vanessa Amorosi, Kate Ceberano, Jon Stevens and many others.
More recently James has been playing live with Ross Wilson, The Badloves and the project closest to his heart, his own band King Canyon, alongside vocal great Jimmy Cupples. King Canyon came about during the pandemic, initially as an acoustic-based duo playing social media livestreams but has since developed into a fully blown band venture. Such is the talent of James Ryan, that the opportunities never stop. Only a few weeks ago he found himself playing in UK rock star Robbie Williams’ band as part of the biopic they are filming here in Melbourne.
With so much happening in James Ryan’s music life, we thought it would be a fitting gesture to catch up with him for a chat as our Musician of the Month for June, 2022.
For more on James Ryan, check out the King Canyon website and James’ YouTube channel
https://www.kingcanyon.com.au/
https://www.youtube.com/user/ilovenoise
