Ryan Sweezey
Somerville, MA | Established. Jan 01, 2011 | SELF
Music
Press
Ryan Sweezey may seem understated when you first see him step onto the stage. A t shirt and glasses is how he graces the “cover” of this live recording…but once he starts singing you are gripped with his emotion and the way that he croons each word of his songs. Dude’s voice is smooth like velvet and he plays with a passion that is confident and collected. His guitar lines and subtle intricacies (as displayed here on “Late is the Hour”…and how about that falsetto, damn man).
Keep an eye on this guy and give this a listen or 12. Sweezey is one hell of a young talent that is deeply embedded in the local open mic circuit. Cutting his teeth and paying his dues like a champ…can’t wait to see what comes for this gent as the next year progresses. - Red Line Roots
Ryan Sweezey put together a performance that fired on all cylinders. Despite his young age, Sweezey played with the kind of polish that only someone with a lot of gigs under his belt can pull off. He effortlessly switched
between strumming and picking the strings without flubbing the beat. He knew when to back off of the microphone on the loud notes. He owned the neck of his guitar, and used build-ups and variations to subtly support the dynamic arc of each song. This is a man who knows his songs inside and out and knows how to deliver them.
About those songs: Sweezey has the makings of a great pop songwriter, sneaking sophisticated chords and structures into catchy love songs. His melodies were infectious, and did much to showcase a well-developed voice that impressed even the musicians in the audience. He even drew a few cries of "Woo!" from the mostly tame crowd when he went high on the chorus of his song, "Late Is The Hour." - EBASS
Young and up and coming rock star Ryan Sweezey is a newly chiseled gem in our music community. With million dollar pop/rock songs all day long, killer voice and rock solid guitar skills, Ryan has the potential of a John Mayer type career - Tom Bianchi, 24Hour Music
Our LLOMC prizewinner for week 456 is Ryan Sweezey. Ryan is one of the most consistent and crushing performers I’ve ever come across. His songs are folk/rock/pop brilliance. At first take they may seem simple (hence, “pop”) with verse-chorus hooks and straight forward lyrics... but get into the arrangements a bit and you’ll find that these are not easy arrangements. Harmonies and chord changes weave in and out of each other, complicated for the band, but straight up for the ear. And, the bottom line is Ryan executes every time. He’s a beast. - Tom Bianchi, 24Hour Music
The first musician to really knock my socks off this evening was Ryan Sweezey. The songwriter was a bit reserved at first, and I didn’t know what to expect, but as he eased into his first song I saw his humor and his huge stage presence. Solid guitar playing and a great voice, he is reminscent of what I guess I would call “folk-pop” in a way. A genre defined by catchiness in it’s overall presence, but delivers really well. I thoroughly enjoyed his 2 songs. - Red Line Roots
wow. what a voice. Ryan Sweezey is amazing. This past Sunday we had a GREAT time with the soft spoken but insanely talented Ryan. - WEMF Under the Covers
He masters his Epiphone acoustic guitar and has a very impressive voice too. “Truly Free” displays his youthful confidence. He’s got quite a vocal range combined with clarity...In his final offering he shows off his hammer-ons and pull-offs impressively connecting guitar runs. - The Noise
Discography
Live at Lizard Lounge 6-8-15 (2015)
1. One of Two2. Late Is the Hour
3. Edge of the World
Fall (2013)
1. All Through the Night2. Fly With Me
3. Truly Free
4. This Fall
5. Doing Time
6. It Is Love
7. You Can't Bring Us Down
8. What I Have
9. Seen You in September
10. Back Down
11. If You Fall
12. Home
No Hollywood Star (2012)
1. Breathe2. Turn It Around
3. Stay
4. Almost Blinded
5. One Week Down the Road
6. One True Love
7. I Can't Keep Myself from Loving You
8. Sailing Hearts
9. Still
10. Know That
11. From Me to You
Photos
Bio
Ryan Sweezey’s Americana-style rock is rooted in an eclectic
music library overflowing with classic rock, 90’s alternative, folk and adult
contemporary music. He has a level of experience well beyond his age with years
of relentless performing under his belt, contributing to a great amount of
maturity, musicality and melodic sensibility despite his youth.
As an overall package, Sweezey has a bit of a John Mayer quality – bringing together impressive vocal skills, guitar work and pop writing into one gripping combination. All aspects display a great level of stamina and versatility. With an impeccable ability to switch seamlessly from powerhouse belting to clear falsetto on voice, and full strumming to dexterous picking on the guitar, Sweezey knows how to bring a performance together dynamically, with palpable emotion cutting through the music.
Vocally, Sweezey takes his biggest influences from Rob Thomas, Adam Duritz, Matt Nathanson and Dan Layus. Phrasing, stylizing, grace notes, falsettos flips all come from countless hours of singing along with tunes by these musicians, with hints of a natural twang underlying.
Sweezey’s guitar work is a mixture of a number of influences with his own flourish to it. When it comes to lead parts, there are some definite Dickey Betts tendencies with major key-focused pentatonic picking. His rhythmic parts can hardly be called as such – as grace note accentuations intermingle with root notes of chords to keep the motion of the song driving forward, sometimes filling the space between vocal melodies, sometimes underscoring the voice as a cross-instrumental harmony. Echoing melodies play back in forth between voice and guitar all throughout his songs.
In terms of writing, he has a penchant for the Tom Petty style, a mixture of memorability and simplicity. There are still complexities hidden within the music, but the kind that are easy on the ears but hard on the band. These are songs that will get in your head and stay there for a while.
Ryan will be recording a new EP in March 2016.
Band Members
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