Ryan Lindsay a 4x Country Music Alberta award winner
“I grew up around ranching and listening to country music on the radio. So I think some of that certainly has gotten into my music… from just growing with that lifestyle.” Ryan Lindsay
Article by Sue Dickens/Images submitted
Campbellford – Fri., Sept. 1, 2023 – You can take the singer out of the country but you can’t take country out of the singer.
That cliché definitely fits Ryan Lindsay, a songwriter and storyteller who grew up in Wainwright, Alberta, and is bringing his classic country music to the Aron Theatre on Thurs., Sept. 14, concert time is 7 p.m
Lindsay is a CCMA nominee, and 4x Country Music Alberta award winner. A genuine outdoorsman, he is deeply influenced by his background as a backcountry guide and growing up in the Prairies. Lindsay’s sound contains a clear nod towards classic country, with a blend of Americana and roots music.
Lindsay was in Lethbridge, Alberta, at the time of the telephone interview and it was soon obvious just how much he loves music and country living.
We asked him how his interest in music began.
“I grew up around ranching and listening to country music on the radio. So I think some of that certainly has gotten into my music… from just growing with that lifestyle,” he said.
He recalls his first job was working on a horse ranch and, “that kind of got me hooked on the outdoors…and so I went on to become a mountain guide a little later, for a couple of years and I got on with an outfit in the north and started to do canoe and raft guiding trips, 14 day expeditions down the river and, man I just loved that time of my life. It was so great to be in the backcountry as much as possible. I think I sort of got some of my early inspiration for writing songs from that.”
He spoke of playing the accordion when he was young and his mom played the piano, “sort of a life building skill, to learn to play an instrument.”
He added, “So I picked up a guitar and learned to sing and started to learn some ‘60s country songs. I remember my grandfather bought me a ‘60s country mixed tape and I started kind of learning some of those songs and it just gets into you in a different way. You know, for me it became a lifelong passion and at some point, when I was done guiding, I decided to start building a music career.”
He noted, “The biggest goal for me as an artist is how can I create music that really communicates who I am to people? And this is the genre that kind of allows me to do that best and, you know, I have a bunch of different influences. I mean, I obviously grew up listening to a lot of country but I also like the heartland rock stuff and Jackson Browne and always had a real taste for just good songwriting. So I think that’s kind of become a big part of what my music is. It’s country, it’s also a little bit kind of singer songwriter.”
Lindsay plays guitar and harmonica which come together at the same time in some of his songs. “I love bluegrass music too. So I’d love to flat pick and play acoustic guitar. But I play a little bit of electric too.”
As for the process, do the lyrics come first or the tune, he said, “I think for me, the process is different every time. I don’t really have a dedicated process of events. The main way that I come up with song lyrics is sort of on the fly while I’m on the road, singing a lot of voice notes into my phone and then later on, I’ll go in and kind of work those out and turn them into a song. But it normally comes with kind of a lyric and a bit of a melody at the same time. I kind of come up with an idea and it sort of comes together for me.”
Spoken like a true artist, whose creativity is what drives him.
When asked if he was inspired by any particular country singers he said, “I grew up listening to Alan Jackson and Garth Brooks and George Strait and all that stuff and my dad used to love listening to some of the heartland rock stuff… the Eagles and Jackson Browne, I always loved that style of songwriting you know, stories from the road.”
Continuing he said, “I kind of wear my heart on my sleeve a little bit with my songwriting. You know, sometimes I write a song just for the sake of telling a story, but certainly I’m always drawing on something that I’ve either lived or one of my good friends has lived, you know, it comes from something close in my life.”
Lindsay says he is looking forward to coming to Campbellford and talked about his tours which have “mostly been across the US…the majority of my tour dates I’ve actually been down in Texas..but I’ve been home for the summer touring back in Alberta.”
He is looking forward to performing at the theatre as a venue.
“I love a listening environment where people can just sit down and enjoy music, cut down the distractions of life, to sit down and relax and enjoy the music. I think that’s where that music is best presented. It’s most fun for the artist and for the audience,” he added.
He often tours with a band but the concert at the Aron will be “solo acoustic.”
He concluded, “There will be a focus on my new album that I just put out called Seasons.”
He hopes there will be time for a meet and greet with the audience after the concert at the merch table.
Here is Ryan’s website https://www.ryanlindsaymusic.com/
