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Ryan Rolando
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Ryan Rolando was born and raised in a small town in Northern Minnesota, his father was a mining superintendent, and his mother a housewife. Ryan grew up the youngest of five children (3 sisters and 1 brother) with an age gap of 10 years between him and his youngest sibling. Starting with his oldest sister, music became a strong influence on everyone in his family, eventually filtering down through all of the children to him. From birth Ryan was surrounded by the sounds of music his family listened to. By the tender age of 2, he was carrying around his first cassette tape recorder and microphone, recording everything around him that he heard, often trying to interview family members, or hiding it in unsuspected places while the family was unaware. Sharing a bedroom with his brother, he would often play records for Ryan, who already was singing along in key and memorizing the lyrics to his favorite artists which he played.
Their bedroom was painted with posters of his brothers favorite artists of the era, KISS, Alice Cooper, and Rush, which Ryan copied and put up in his crib. Being his main influence, his brother started playing bass guitar in his early teens. Fascinated by watching his brother, Ryan would make guitars out of tennis rackets, and when he was a little older and the family would be out running errands, he would crank the volume on the family record player playing KISS, and jump around the house pretending to be one of the rock legends. You could often find Ryan outside in his brothers car, listening to all of his 8-track tapes, taking in the sounds they had to offer. At age 10, Ryan's brother introduced him to his first guitar, a 1973 Fender Stratocaster. He learned his first a simple finger pattern on a guitar called a bar chord, which he figured out looking at a picture in a magazine of female rock guitarist Joan Jett.He then learned his first song on the guitar off of radio, a song by The Romantics entitled "Talking In Your Sleep".
In his teens, guitar playing took off for Ryan Rolando by catching on to such players and bands of the day Beatles, Hendrix, Stones, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Black Sabbath, Metallica, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai some of his main ones. Although school work was important, Ryan could be found in his parents basement, learning all styles from Pop to Metal, and recording and playing around with his brother's music equipment. He was also a talented student in high school band and choir, eventually leaving sports behind in 9th grade to dedicate more time to playing guitar and singing, sometimes 6-8 hours a day. Starting off playing in high school with different friends in different bands into his 20's, he eventually worked his way into a band playing rock, classic rock and blues with his older brother and at times helping him with his newly forming sound and production company. Playing weekends and working sound jobs started becoming a regular thing for Rolando, honing his guitar chops in bars on weekends, and taking in various technologies and experiences working production for local to national acts.
In his teens, guitar playing took off for him by catching on to such players and bands of the day Beatles, Hendrix, Stones, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Black Sabbath, Metallica, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai some of his main ones. Although school work was important, Ryan could be found in his parents basement, learning all styles from Pop to Metal, and recording and playing around with his brother's music equipment. He was also a talented student in high school band and choir, eventually leaving sports behind in 9th grade to dedicate more time to playing guitar and singing, sometimes 6-8 hours a day. Starting off playing in high school with different friends in different bands into his 20's, he eventually worked his way into a band playing rock, classic rock and blues with his older brother and at times helping him with his newly forming sound and production company. Playing weekends and working sound jobs started becoming a regular thing, honing his guitar chops in bars on weekends, and taking in various technologies and experiences working production for local to national acts.
When Ryan turned 20, through friends and connections and a short demo recorded in his brother's living room with a drum machine, they landed a job playing shows in Salt Lake City and getting a spot at the Sturgis motorcycle rally for a newly owned bar called "The Broken Spoke". Purchased by Jay Allen of Bisbee, AZ, "The Rolando Brothers" as they were then called would continue working "The Spoke" for the next 5 years, eventually taking over the production job after their first year there. The time frame would prove to be a new and productive chapter, meeting some of their heros through production jobs, playing bigger and better shows, but also living the grind of the road in small doses, paving the path of the heart and soul of where Ryan's music comes from . "The Rolando Brothers" alliance would eventually part after 5 years with both seeking different interests in music, Scott in one direction with production, and Ryan continuing on playing with different bands locally, nationally and with "The Spoke" for 9 more years until the present, playing everything from blues to todays best hard rock, making him a well known music veteran of Sturgis, SD.
Ryan started out on the stage, playing covers, throughout his experience creating a large pool of influences that would show to him to be an invaluable tool for creating his own style of music. Ryan continues to play both nationally and locally, and has become a "national act" for Jay Allen and the crowds at "The Broken Spoke" in 5 different locations, headlining his own shows, creating a large following. Recording would ultimately become a necessity. Unwilling to take compromise and pay someone to record his ideas, it was always his vision to be able to record in his own facility. For the last 10 years, Ryan put his efforts into building his own recording studio, using what he learned in his years in production, starting with a small recorder, to a now, state-of-the-art, recording set up. He has been involved in many different, diverse projects, from commercials for TV and radio, to working with other friends, and acts, to his first CD effort.
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Dues Are Paid Recorded with friend and mentor Bob Oakman of Bob Oakman productions in Nashville, TN, this is a small reflection of Ryan's immense talent as a musician, singer, writer and co-writer. The Nickelback inspired production of "So Called Friend" shows Ryan's talents at his height in the guitar attack, giving the listener a sonic slap in the face, or as the song states in lyric "like a punch upside my head". A melding of Ryan's influences is shown throughout, from the pop inspirations of "The Way" and "Star", to the hard rock and precision of "Celebrity" and "The Chill Factor", this CD has plenty to offer the listener. Collaborations between Bob and Ryan became "Brick House", "Reasons", "Vallery" featuring a guest appearance of the amazing Ron Thal from Guns And Roses (aka Bumblefoot) on lead guitar, and "The Way", all showing the creative talents and friendship between the two. A final track, the Eminem inspired "Already Dead" shows a different side, diving into hip hop and rock showcasing the rap talents of his nephew Darrin Pender aka Random Concepts. Recorded in both Ryan's studio and Bob's, it was a technological effort, sending tracks back and fourth between studios via the internet for production, mixing and editing. An awesome collection for a first effort, providing the listener with influence from pop, blues, rock, and metal, molding Ryan's music into his own creative style. CD Price: $14.97  |