Matthew Ryan

"If you had everything you wished for, what would you live for and what would you lose? " Matthew Ryan, "Happy Hour"

On his newest release, Concussion, Matthew Ryan continues his tradition of concise, rainwater-clear observation and emotional exploration while stepping into some new, undiscovered territory. The resulting record is a sober, ten-song reflection on "common people and common tragedies."

The Chester, Pennsylvania native's working-class childhood on the borders of the housing projects of Philadelphia comes into play, as well as the 29-year-old's unflinching dedication to furthering the vision charted inhis first two releases: Mayday and East AutumnGrin. These two records, which were critics' favorites and won him fans among many artists, including Jakob Dylan and Steve Earle (who described Ryan as "one of the best songwriters I've seen come to Nashville,") patented Ryan's Hemingway-like, straightforward concision. Where Mayday discussed what Ryan calls "resentment over the loss of innocence" and Grin , the "struggle to resurrect romanticism in your life," Concussion connects the trains of thought explored previously, and plainly shows "people fighting for their lives, looking for anything that means something." Mayday was a scruffy hellraiser and Grin more polished and sophisticated. But, Concussion is a new animal all together - a simmering, mostly acoustic record of emotional protest songs and punchdrunk characters.

Concussion was built at a breakneck pace at Richard McLaurin's Monkey Finger studio in Nashville - recorded and mixed in 8 days on a diet of whiskey, coffee, cigarettes, and raisin bread. With McLaurin and Ryan producing and Kingsway Studios alumnus Rich Eldridge as second engineer, Concussion became a record where "mistakes were as important as execution." The crew and musicians accepted the occasional passing motorcycle and irritable dog as providential. Ryan tackled half the songs with just his guitar and voice, and with the intermittent detail instrument, thus setting the tone for the rest of the record - personal, intimate, and secretive. The most glimmering and sensual texture added to the record is Lucinda Williams' presence on the duet "Devastation" - which Williams calls "one of the best songs I've ever heard."
Concussion doesn't try to make any grandiose statements about anything. Instead, it drops listeners into the middle of stories. What is explored here is what happens just after all hell breaks loose - in that deadly slow motion of self-doubt and confusion. Whether it's theinstant after the crash in "Chickering Angel" or the second o funexplained self-betrayal in "Rabbit", Ryan gives you the moment and lets you draw your own conclusions. Ryan says the characters of Concussion are like "boxers who don't know when to quit, swinging in all the wrong directions." They're the mumbling dregs of "Happy Hour", the weary lovers of "Devastation", and the emotionally stripped, somehow hopeful narrator of "Autopilot". All of them live in desperate, decisive moments and all of them are recognizable as little pieces of everyone.

As Matthew puts it, "If you're living, you're thinking. If you're thinking everything's alright, you're wrong. So, where does that leave you?"

	Matthew Ryan Sound Clips Concussion 1. Drift 2. Rabbit 3. Happy Hour 4. Too Soon to Tell 5. Devastation 6. Autopilot 7. Chickering Angel 8. Night Watchman 9. Somebody Got Murdered 10. Shake the Tree