The Town Heroes’ Michael S. Ryan is working on some new material and wants to try it out at our Dinner At The Carleton series on Wednesday, July 10th. As always, live music will get underway at 6 PM and admission is FREE. You’re going to want to hear Michael because, well, he’s excellent and funny!

In an age dominated by the rapid fire of technology, short attention spans and the desire for everything all at once, Michael S. Ryan wants you to slow things down: take a look around, breathe slowly – this is your world, this is your life. There are moments out there that matter, away from our screens, demands, pressure, and the race we’re all in. This is the soundtrack for it all. Playing softly in the background as things that matter happen – the good, the bad, and the things worth fighting for. He wants to share these moments with you.

Michael S. Ryan is the solo project of singer, multi-instrumentalist and frontman for the award winning Alt-Rock group The Town Heroes, Mike Ryan. As a prolific songwriter with more than 500 unrecorded songs, Michael S. Ryan highlights Ryan’s Folk oriented influences and allows him to explore various avenues of song writing and performing. A natural storyteller with a desire to entertain, Ryan’s ability to connect with an audience is unparalleled. Known for his banter, crowd engagement and comical stories, his goal as an entertainer is to transport the listener to a world where they believe anything is possible.

At the root of every song is a passionate exploration of the things that make us all human. Whether good or bad, they’re the things that make us who we are – heartache, love, the scocioeconomic struggles of rural Canada, dreams and family. His songs fluctuate between lush, multi-instrumented arrangements to stripped down acoustic ballads á la Bon Iver. Lyrically and thematically, they’re driven by personal experiences and the human condition.

“I just try to be aware of what’s happening in the world and write about things we all go through or feel,” says Ryan. “I can’t just write a song to write a song. I don’t know if that’s necessarily a good thing, but I need to have felt it myself to capture it. That way, no matter what I… or anyone… thinks of the song, I know that at least it’s real. And that’s more important to me than anything.”
Michael S. Ryan’s upcoming debut album, “From The Bottoms Of Our Murky Hearts” is a 12 song collection of emotive, lyrical and dense songs. They’re exactly what the title implies: song versions of the thoughts, feelings, pain and joy from deep inside us. Ryan’s falsetto yearnings are on full display showcasing his range, tenderness and ability transform the listener with his empathetic tendencies. The songs immediately display the passion in what he does. Maybe you’ll cry, maybe you’ll bend over in side-splitting laughter. The only guarantee is that you’ll feel something.

There are moments out there that matter. Michael S. Ryan is here to share them with you.