Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Gray.
Hi Ryan, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
As a young child, I would sing along to almost every song I heard. This included singing in places that were not always socially appropriate, like grocery stores, waiting rooms, and eventually, my kindergarten classroom–during the teacher’s lessons. Thankfully, my teacher was patient about this, and suggested I join the local community chorus once I was old enough. So, when I turned eight, I joined the Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus, and got my first formal instruction in singing and performing. During my time in the chorus, I met several friends who played various musical instruments. This, along with my dad’s musicianship as a singer and guitarist, piqued my interest in guitar, which I started learning around age 13.
I continued to develop as a musician and a performer in high school, playing guitar, singing in my school’s choir, and performing in a school musical. I also enjoyed writing poetry throughout my childhood, and once I knew enough about playing guitar, I naturally gravitated towards songwriting. At age 18, I wrote my first song, “Slow Down Blues.” This song eventually became the opening track of my first album, “I’m On My Way,” which I released in 2014.
My early-life performing experience eventually evolved into gigging. I actually started jamming, and eventually played gigs, with one of my college volleyball coaches. This was my jumping off point for playing music professionally. I continued gigging throughout my 20’s, performing at bars, restaurants, weddings, marriage proposals, corporate events and private parties. These experiences were important in my growth as a performer, but playing background music wasn’t everything that I wanted from being a professional musician. I wanted to get to the point where I was performing my own music to fans who wanted to hear it.
In 2021, I started taking songwriting lessons with a songwriter named Jake Shane, who helped me hone my skills in lyric writing. In 2022, I moved to San Diego, and started gigging more frequently and meeting people in the music scene. In 2024, I met Justin Froese and enrolled in his songwriter mastermind class, where I learned more about songwriting styles and techniques, recording music in a studio, and running a business as an independent artist. I also met some amazing friends through this, who continue to contribute a lot to my pursuit of music. This experience catalyzed my dream of being a performing artist and songwriter. Since November of 2024, I have released two singles, “Down in the Dirt,” and “Crumbling Away,” and I have another single coming out soon.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely has not been totally smooth. Despite having a lot of experience with music early on, it didn’t remain a central focus of my life as I got older. In college I was an NCAA athlete, and I didn’t go to school for music, so I rarely had time to give it the attention I wanted to. After college, I continued on to grad school, earned a doctoral degree and completed a residency program in physical therapy. I did my best to keep performing and writing music during that time, but my studies pushed music to the periphery of my life. After finishing school, I had hoped to bring music back into my life in a more significant way. However, within two weeks of graduating from my residency program, the world shut down because of COVID, which obviously had a huge impact on live music. So once again, I had to postpone my dream of being an artist while working in healthcare during COVID.
In 2021, while the world started to come out of the pandemic, and there was lots of hope about the return of live music, I had another difficult interruption to my life. That summer, both of my parents were diagnosed with cancer within a month of each other. I moved to Washington and spent several months supporting my parents as they went through chemotherapy treatment. In early 2022, my mom’s cancer had officially gone into remission, but my dad’s treatment was not successful in fighting his disease, and he died in May of 2022.
After my dad’s death, and with my mother’s cancer temporarily under control, I moved to San Diego, hoping to continue building my life and pursuing my music. But, my mother’s cancer returned later in 2022, and I found myself deciding how much time and energy I could devote to music, while also being available to support and spend time with my mom. She insisted that I stay in San Diego and not interrupt my life for her again. I did so, but made frequent trips to see her. Beyond the emotional challenge of watching a loved one go through chemotherapy, it was difficult to get any traction in music while traveling out of town so much. Scheduling gigs, networking opportunities, writing, and recording were all secondary to ensuring I could spend time with my mom. After several rounds of treatment, including two experimental clinical trials, she stopped receiving treatment and died in July of 2024. Losing both my parents in the span of two years has been painful and devastating, but it has also come with important lessons. It has made me viscerally aware of life’s brevity, which fuels my desire to make music. It has also given me even more purpose as I try to honor my parents’ spirit, and their love of music, in everything I do as an artist, and as a person.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a local San Diego singer, guitarist, and songwriter. I write music that is honest about expressing the most difficult things we feel as human beings. I write about the situations that don’t have clear solutions, the questions that don’t have clear answers, and the emotions that challenge us the most. I don’t shy away from these aspects of life, because music can shine a light on them in ways that makes us feel more whole and more connected to each other as people. I’m best known for my powerful voice, and thought-provoking lyrics. My lyrics are often visually driven to give the listener a vivid picture to associate with the feeling the song is expressing. My music style can be dark and earthy, but also groovy and upbeat. I love rock, blues, soul, R&B, folk/Americana, and so many other styles of music, so I incorporate many different influences into my songwriting. I feel most accomplished and proud when I’ve successfully channeled the tension of a difficult experience into a song that matches my perception of it. I also love when others tell me my songs have resonated with them in a meaningful way. Right now I’m pursuing as many avenues as I can to share my music with people. I perform locally in San Diego, I post content online, and I record and share my music on streaming platforms.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
I recently read “Steal Like an Artist” and “Keep Going” by Austin Kleon. They’re fun short reads, but he gives lots of helpful motivational wisdom for creative professionals in his books. For songwriting specifically, I really like the “Sodajerker on Songwriting” podcast. It’s two songwriters who interview other successful songwriters from all genres of music. It’s an independently funded, ad-free show, and there are always some really nice insights that come from their interviews that help keep me motivated and invested in the craft of songwriting.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ryangraymusic.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryangraymusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ryangraymusic1
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5rUxeFSGDTEVXac8QnfuUs
