Meet Michael Ryan

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Michael Ryan. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Michael , thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

After my second year of university, my summer job was playing shows with my band at the time. There weren’t a lot of options for work in my small hometown, and I had been playing guitar in bars since I was 16. That Summer was a transformative time for me. We started to write songs and develop an audience. Late in August, after a particularly good show, our band sat around and decided that we wanted to keep doing this. I decided to leave school and pursue music full time; that I would make that my life and career. The band performed for a number of years, with many highs and lows along the way. Throughout this, I developed a chronic shoulder injury that was limiting my ability to play guitar. I lost mobility in my fingers and things that I could normally do with ease had become difficult or impossible. The band eventually broke up but I wanted to continue to pursue what I set out to do. My identity was as a guitar player, but I could no longer play guitar. If I wanted to keep making music, I had to adapt. I spent two years rehabbing my shoulder, all the while teaching myself to sing and play piano. I’d do vocal scales for hours every day, and sing along with albums that I thought my voice was similar to. I never planned or wanted to be a singer, but knew that if I wanted to be a career musician, it was something I had to do in that moment. With guitar, as the injury started to improve, I began to adjust my technique, play in alternate tunings that were easier for my fingers, and found a guitar strap that distributed the weight onto my other shoulder. After the intensive two years, my guitar playing had come back to a point where I could at least hold a guitar again, and my voice had developed enough to sing on stage. From there, I started the band that I’m currently in, and have been playing around the world for 15 years as a lead singer.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I’ve been a musician for over 20 years. With my band “The Town Heroes”, I’ve been fortunate enough to tour around the world to 9 different countries, and release 7 albums. I’ve met the most amazing people along the way, many of which—including my wife Kristen—are in my life right now. Along with music, I have a recording studio in my house where I work with other artists and help them bring their ideas to life. I host a podcast called “Mike and Kristen” with my wife where we interview creative and inspiring people. We’ve also co-authored a book together called “You and Me” which is essentially about funny travel and relationship stories. Currently, I’m working on a big project that combines my two creative loves—music and writing. I’ve written a memoir called Power Chords that is about the experiences of my first band, leaving school to pursue a career in the music industry, the unbreakable resolve and confidence of people in their early twenties, and the often unwise and naïve decisions made along the way. To coincide with the writing, I will be recording a song for each of the 88 chapters in the book. Each song will be a musical representation of the mood and themes of the chapter it corresponds to. When complete, I plan to do an 88-date tour across North America to promote it.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

With any project, idea, or goal, I think the most important thing to begin with is to create a vision of what it is you want. This can change and adapt over time, but having an idea of what you want to create or achieve is imperative. You also have to make sure you believe in that vision. When you truly do, every single decision you make—whether consciously or not—is in pursuit of the goal. I think the next thing is to work as hard as you possibly can towards it. Creating the vision is useless if you’re not willing to put in the time and energy to get there. You’ll have to make ample sacrifices and it will be challenging, but if that vision is what you truly want and believe in, none of it will matter. And the final thing is to not get frustrated when things don’t go as planned. Setbacks can both point you in the direction you’re supposed to go in and motivate you even more. Adjust and adapt as needed, and remember that the goal is important, but the path along the way is as well. Enjoy the process, every step of the way.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

This is something I’ve always struggled with and has taken a long time to figure out. The activities I truly love in life, I’ve managed to turn into my career—which I’m incredibly grateful for. But at the same time, the things that were once my hobbies aren’t something I can now turn to for comfort. With my life and career being so focused on creativity and ideas, I try to do things to separate from my “mind”. Simple activities that bring me into the present moment are key. Nature and things like walking in the woods, going to the beach, or just being outside. Sports and physical activity is another. Sometimes, if I’m stuck on an idea or a block, I’ll just go and shoot a basketball for a few hours and one way or another, the solution will just seem to come to me. These aren’t necessarily the strategies that will work for everyone, but I think the root of it— separating entirely from the particular issue that is overwhelming you—is key for anyone. Basketball and nature are things I’ve always enjoyed, so they work for me. I think it’s just about finding the things that put a little smile on your face and gravitating towards them when needed.

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Image Credits

Nathanial Cole, Steph MacNamara, Nick Gaines, Kristen Herrington, Matt Corkum

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