Boise, ID
Biography: Over the last decade, Ryan Curtis has continued to carve out a name for himself in the world of Alt-Country and Americana music. His unique blend of old school honky tonk and high desert country blues plays like a love letter to the past, bucking the slick sheen and tired cliches of today’s pop country radio in favor of traditional, songwriter-driven roots music. Ryan’s songs are usually about life’s harder-learned lessons, painting cinematic pictures of picaresque anti-heroes from the Midwest to the Rockies; down-and-out townies, bar room drifters, forlorn lovers, and resilient loners fill his visionary tales and mournful subject matter he turns into country gold.
His first solo record, 2021’s Rust Belt Broken Heart was woven together with a western noir sound soaked in the sorrowful twang of pedal steel. His latest Ain’t Ever Easy, (released in July on American Standard Time) builds on that, but with a more guitar-forward sound, mixing in early 70’s rock n’ roll, (a’ la Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street era Rolling Stones), alongside classic 60’s country and honky tonk. The gravelly voice of the Michigan-born, Boise-based singer has been praised on KEXP and earned acclaim from the likes of No Depression and Saving Country Music. You can catch Ryan and his band out on the road week in and week out bringing the heat to the dives and haunts of the great American West and beyond.