Gordon Gano And The Ryans

Gordon Gano And The Ryans

Gordon Gano And The Ryans is a group from New York and Wisconsin. It brings together Gordon Gano, Frank Ferrer, Lonnie D. Hillyer, Bill Ryan and Brendan Ryan.

Background

The project grows out of connections between Gano and the Ryan brothers, Bill and Brendan, who know his work with the Violent Femmes. In 2001, they live in the same New York City neighbourhood and begin spending time together. Their conversations often turn to a wide range of music, including Leonard Cohen, Television, Frank Black, Jackie Mittoo, Jimmy McGriff and Mose Allison.

Brendan Ryan plays keyboards on Gano's 2002 solo release Hitting the Ground. Between film score work on Fever Pitch and The Heartbreak Kid, the Ryans start sending Gano instrumental tracks, and he adds lyrics and melodic ideas. This develops into a long-running collaboration conducted largely by mail.

Under the Sun

One of the first songs from the partnership, Under the Sun, is performed at a 9/11 benefit concert and helps lead to a full recording project. The pair creates close to 40 songs, with 12 included on the album Under the Sun.

The recording draws on a range of styles. It includes the Yiddish-gospel feel of “Oholah Oholibah”, the gradually building “Still Suddenly Here”, the alt-country-leaning “Hired Gun” and the Heads-influenced “Wave and Water”. “Red” is based on a childhood rhyme Gano learns from an older sister and features the repeated question, “What color blood came out?”

Members and sound

The rhythm section consists of drummer Frank Ferrer, who has also played with Guns N' Roses and the Psychedelic Furs, and bassist Lonnie Hillyer, who has been associated with Maggie's Dream and Bernie Worrell. Gano's vocals and lyric writing remain central to the project, and the group presents itself as an ongoing part of his work rather than a side project.