Matthew Ryan

Hello Everyone!

I’ve got a bunch of shows on the East Coast coming up in May. 

I’ll be folkering from Atlanta over to Raleigh then Philly and up through Jersey then over to Pittsburgh and Detroit and more! 

But before the solo tour starts, The Northern Wires & I will be opening for The Old 97s at The Cowan here in Nashville on May 2nd.

Check the TOUR PAGE for all dates, details and tickets and RSVP info. 

I’m planning some special setlist inclusions for the solo tour you guys. Hope you’ll join me and help spread the word. Here are all the solo dates:

Plus my good friend Sammy Kay has agreed to open the night for me in Philly and NYC!

Can’t wait to see & play for you guys! 

Gonna be some beauties. 

Always.

Alright. See ya soon!

10 years ago Matthew Ryan Vs The Silver State came out. 

“Jane, I Still Feel The Same” has gone on to enjoy millions and millions of plays and streams and high-fives. Though substantially less purchases (wink, wink, cough, cough). 

Funny how it's starting to feel like even my recent work seems long ago... But this song remains one of my favorites that I've offered ever, it's called "Closing In". 

Impressionistic and personal without falling into diary. It's a love letter to a handful of the loves of my life. Both people and ideas... And music. 

Stay pure and optimistic. Be an honest participant in the beauty that's always possible. 

My only regret is that it ends on the minor chord... I love so much of The Silver State album, but "Closing In" always strikes a certain chord with me.

A giant thank you to Doug Lancio, Brian Bequette, Steve Latanation, Eamon McLoughlin and Kate York for helping me bring this into the world. This song was only a hopeful skeleton without you guys. 

Alright. Thank you for allowing for this kind of indulgence. Feels good to love something from the past. As always, give it a listen and share if you're inclined. 

Here's another, more sentimental video version of "Closing In" on Youtube: 

A More Sentimental Video For "Closing In"

& 

Here's the entire album, Matthew Ryan Vs The Silver State on Spotify:

Matthew Ryan Vs The Silver State on Spotify

Friends, 

Please take a moment to read about The Summer Kills. 

Turns out, I'm a singer in a "band" now as well. It's a long and beautiful story... 

But essentially Marc and Andrew created the music while I wrote the words and melodies and then sang. 

It took us 7 years to finally agree that it was ready to be shared with you. 

Our "debut" album comes out on April 27th, 2018. 

The Summer Kills is what we call this collaboration between Marc Byrd and Andrew Thompson (of the ambient duo Hammock), and me. 

The album is called Last Night We Became Swans. 

It's a sprawling beauty. I can't wait for you to hear it. It's some of the most cinematic and emotional stuff I've been a part of. It's smart but instinctual, filmic in that it has a tone throughout. And thematically, there's a story being told - it has a beginning, middle and an end. But it's more impressionistic than a concept record, it's essentially following a love story through all the weather and the events that define that space between two people. And it even pans out a bit further... But it never loses sight of that thread between the "two" hearts it's exploring. 

The album was mixed by one of my favorite engineers out there today, his name is Peter Katis. You're probably familiar with some of the beautiful work he's done with The National, Japandroids and Glen Hansard. I'm blown away by what Peter brought to what we created. Last Night We Became Swans is as much a sonic adventure as it is a lyrical or musical adventure. 

You can pre-order the entire album right now via our Bandcamp Page right here: 

The Summer Kills, Last Night We Became Swans

We'll be sharing more singles as we get closer to release. It's always quite exciting and a bit daunting to launch a new idea into the world. We hope you'll take the time to welcome it, to get familiar with what this music is offering. 

All three of us feel it's quite special. We hope you agree. The beautiful work depends on you these days... 

And I love that notion. 

Best Always, 

Matthew Ryan 

Click the album art below to check out the track-list and consider pre-ordering Last Night We Became Swans, by The Summer Kills!

Dear Friends on the West Coast, 

It's been entirely too long! I'm playing some shows on your beautiful side of the country this week! I hope you can make it out. I'll be traveling with Rhett Miller of The Old 97s for these intimate shows. I'll be playing first and Rhett will follow. 

We'll be starting in Seattle on Wednesday, then Portland on Thursday, San Francisco on Friday, Los Angeles on Saturday and the finally San Diego on well... You get the idea. 

You can expect to hear songs from all across the albums and maybe even surprise or two here and there. 

Hope to see and play for ya... Click the image below for all details and tickets!

So happy to let you guys know about this as well...

It just dawned on me that 1 week from today you’ll be able to hear our first official offering as The Summer Kills.  

An album created by Marc and Andrew (of Hammock) + Me.  

Seven years in the making. Surreal for its release to be approaching. Feels almost sudden. We turned every stone to make this exactly what we intended.  

It’s everything I want from music:  

Wildly cinematic and fully realized with poetry on its adventurous and moody sleeves.  

Love letters.  

I can’t wait for you to hear it.  

Follow us over on The Summer Kills Facebook Page so we can invite you to listen as the story develops.  

More soon...