Wednesday, January 13, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
5
Doc Ryan serves up new music
By Jodi Schneider
Correspondent
For Central Oregon gui-
tarist-singer-songwriter and
orthopedic surgeon Michael
<Doc= Ryan, it9s American
Roots music, pure and simple.
Ryan has a passion for
playing that <alternative
country= sound 4 the wide-
ranging genre that includes
bluegrass, folk, and traditional
country, sometimes mixed up
with blues, rock, and jazz.
Ryan, playing acoustic
guitar and harmonica, set up
a livestream event and record-
ing session with the DiRT
Trio Band at The Belfry in
Sisters in early June.
The Belfry in Sisters has
been closed to live perfor-
mances because of COVID-
19 and has morphed into a
recording studio for a few art-
ists since June 2020.
Ryan told The Nugget,
<Our Belfry experience
became a marathon record-
ing session July 22-26 where
most of my third album was
completed.=
David Jacob-Strain pro-
duced Ryan9s album, <Stories,
Tales, Truth,= while Keith
Banning at Grange Recorders
was the engineer for all
sessions.
Ryan noted, <I was
extremely fortuitous to have
David 8off9 tour and Keith9s
schedule open. Local art-
ist Dennis McGregor and
singer-songwriter Beth Wood
added backup vocals to sev-
eral tracks and came into
the studio together. Beth had
recorded a session at The
Belfry earlier in June, before
my livestream. We were able
to talk her into coming back
in.=
Ry a n m e t J a c o b s -
Strain at the 2012 Sisters
Folk Festival Songwriters
Academy. Jacobs-Strain was
one of the performing artists
and song academy instructors.
<We met and played one of
my original songs at the song
academy,= Ryan said. <I was
recording my first album at
the time and I asked David if
he wouldn9t mind playing on
a few of my songs on it and
he agreed.=
All the performances at
the Belfry were fully masked
unless performing and all
vocal stations were spaced
well apart.
Ryan noted, <We were not
able to do any gang vocals
together because we needed
to maintain social distanc-
ing guidelines. We set up JP
Garau and his keyboards in
an airplane hangar next to
Sisters Airport. We would
record when the fire service
helicopters weren9t landing or
taking off.=
Originally from Texas,
Ryan moved to Bend in
1995 to work as an ortho-
pedic surgeon. He9s been a
key member of the Central
Oregon music scene since the
mid-2000s.
<My uncle inspired me to
play guitar when I was young.
Back in the 1960s in a sub-
urb of Dallas my uncle came
to live with us in our spare
room,= Ryan said. <He had
ridden his homebuilt motorcy-
cle and had a Harmony acous-
tic guitar. He would play folk
songs of that era. I later got
my own acoustic guitar, play-
ing for hours at a time. When
I entered high school, I was
drawn back to some of the
acoustic music of Neil Young
and Stephen Stills. Also, John
Denver. What has defined my
songwriting later in my life
was having the exposure to
the Texas singer-songwriters
who have inspired me the
most. They are not always
great musicians or accom-
plished vocalists, but they
tell an honest story from the
heart. I would try to see Ray
Wylie Hubbard, Jimmy and
Stevie Vaughn, Jerry Jeff
Walker in smaller clubs then
later Robert Earl Keen, Joe
Ely and others.=
Ryan has travelled with an
old acoustic Guild guitar and
played more campfires than
stages. He draws inspiration
from years of spending time
outdoors on the rivers and in
the mountains of Colorado
and Utah.
In 2004, Ryan and other
doctor friends formed the
band <One Night Only.=
They began the musical event
known as <Church of Neil=
which celebrates the life and
music of Neil Young. This
event was in its 16th year and
united a large part of Bend9s
music community. <One
Night Only= became the
<Docs of Rock= and for sev-
eral years they played fund-
raisers for nonprofit and char-
ity events in Central Oregon.
In 2014, Ryan took a sab-
batical with his family to
travel the world. He intensi-
fied his musical experience by
busking with street musicians
in Fiji and New Zealand, per-
forming in cafés by invitation,
and recording in deep canyons
in the Australian Outback.
Doc and his family eventu-
ally traveled to Thimphu,
Bhutan, where he discovered
and played a weekly gig at the
Mojo Park Bar, Bhutan9s only
blues bar and venue for west-
ern music.
Ryan played with The
Wychus Creek Band for eight
years, performing and record-
ing together before the DiRT
Trio band was established in
2019.
PHOTO PROVIDED
Doc Ryan’s latest album, “Stories, Tales, Truth,” was produced by David
Jacob-Strain. Keith Banning at Grange Recorders was the engineer.
<I was working on getting
back to a simpler setup. It was
great because we could still
perform, practice and record
in a socially distanced setup,
so the summer of 2020 was
weirdly busy!=
Pre-COVID, Ryan had
gigs in Sisters, Terrebonne,
Bend and events in Madras,
Redmond, and Tumalo, He
brought his unique and origi-
nal take on American music
to fundraisers, ranch hoe-
downs, deck parties, house
concerts and weddings.
The DiRT Trio band and
The Wychus Creek Band
have performed regular shows
and events at The Volcanic
Theatre Pub, The Les Schwab
Amphitheater, The Old Stone
Church, The Belfry in Sisters
and the Faith, Hope, and
Charity Events Center in
Terrebonne.
Ryan is now playing
regionally with his band
bringing original and selected
covers to folks virtually.
Sustaining the arts...
PHOTO PROVIDED
Ivette Tijerino, the Sisters community engagement and philanthropy
coordinator for St. Charles Health System, recently presented
a check for their 2021 sponsorship to Sisters Folk Festival staff
members Crista Munro, Brad Tisdel, Teresa Mills and Dave Ehle.
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