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Hi Ryan, welcome to VENTS! How have you been?
Hey! I’ve been doing well I guess. Really happy that live music has returned to our lives and hopeful about the future.
Can you talk to us more about your latest single “Ready For The Road?”
“Ready For The Road” is the first track on the new album that just came out on 4/22. I started writing this song about 10 years ago on a trip across Italy but never could quite finish it. As the pandemic ground all live shows and almost all travel to a halt I started to feel this song in a new way. It really spoke to my deep longing for a return to the life of the traveling musician and the highs and lows of being in a new city every night.
Did any event in particular inspire you to write this song?
This song was inspired by my many years of Tour Managing bands like Rose Hill Drive and Ryan Bingham. I was blessed to be able to travel across the world with so many amazing musicians and gather unforgettable experiences along the way. Now that I’m focusing on my own music and raising my son here in Colorado I don’t get to travel to the far reaches of the planet as much as I used to but I’m always open to new adventure. I am going to play my first show in Alaska this summer at a festival and I always do my best to say yes to every opportunity to play music anywhere in the world.
Any plans to release a video for the single?
I don’t have plans for a video for “Ready For The Road” right now, but, I do want to expand my video content in 2022.
The single comes off your new album Edge of the Wild – what’s the story behind the title?
Edge of the Wild is a line in the song “These Days” and it just felt like the best title for this new batch of songs. We started recording this album at a cabin in the Poudre Canyon west of Fort Collins, CO and as we started the first song it started to rain and the electricity went out. When I stepped out onto the porch to check out the rain I realized we were witnessing a flash flood and watched a car and house float by in the river below. Unfortunately, four people lost their lives that night and it was a reminder of how powerful Mother Nature is and how important it is to find gratitude for each day. This same area had been severely burned in the Cameron Peak fire the fall of 2020 so the burn scar made conditions ripe for flash flood. These days it seems like no matter where we find ourselves we are always on the edge of the Wild.
How was the recording and writing process?
I’m always writing new songs. I can’t stop even if I wanted to (: Through the process of recording the songs do get filtered down and can take on a new life. I truly love that process.
For this album I worked with producer Ryan Young from Austin Texas again. We’ve done a couple albums together and he knows how I like to operate so it was a really natural experience. We started with a mobile recording rig in that cabin in the canyon for a couple days and recorded the more acoustic songs. Then we went to Coupe Studios in Boulder CO and recorded the full band songs over the weekend with Nate Barnes on drums and Daniel Sproul on electric guitar. They are just amazing musicians and humans (: There were some solos and background vocals we added later but for the most part this album was all done over 6 days in July 2021.
What role does Berthoud and Colorado play in your music?
Colorado has a huge influence on my music and songwriting as well as the farm here in Berthoud. We have a small organic farm that keeps us humbled and I love to have my hands in the soil. This type of work is good for the soul (like music) but sure is not an easy way to make a living. Chips are stacked against the small farms here in America and I hope that can change sometime soon.
I’m a Colorado native but was raised in Arkansas so I have a good blend of southern and northern influences to pull from as well as all the travel across the US, Canada, Europe, Japan, and the UK.
Where did you find the inspiration for the songs and lyrics?
I’m always writing. In good times and challenging times it’s how I process the world around me. Music helps me heal and is such a source of joy- even the sad songs (: This album definitely has songs inspired by the pandemic and by struggle but there are some (like “The Waves”) that were inspired by the beauty of Hawaii and the power of the ocean. I try to let the songs flow during the writing process without editing out the authenticity of what inspired them but inevitably they take on a life of their own once they get recorded and I start performing them at shows.
What else is happening next in Ryan Dart’s world?
I’m just trying to keep writing new material, improve my live performances, expand my reach into new states and new countries, and as spring unfolds here in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains I’m starting to get ready for the growing season here on the farm while trying to raise my son to value creativity and hard work. The last couple years has not been easy but I do know it’s made us stronger so I’m grateful for that despite the challenges.
