BIO

Ryan Newton is an independent singer-songwriter hailing from Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. After spending the better part of 20 years, as Newton puts it “kicking his heels”, at releasing music, he released his debut album in the Spring of 2019 entitled “Casting Shadows (On The Heels of Tomorrow).” The release saw the title track winning Best Alt Country Song at the 2020 Independent Music Awards, and the single ‘Fragile Ways’ received steady support on Vancouver Island radio and other markets throughout Canada.“I had set a goal long ago to have an album released before my 40th birthday and I managed to do it by the skin of my teeth,” Newton muses. “I woke up in my mid 30’s and realised I never actually did the thing I always said I would do and that was make music. Life and circumstances can get in the way of things but I never let the dream die. Sometimes it just takes longer to get there but when you do, the fulfillment that comes with the process can last a lifetime.”

That fulfillment continues with Newton’s latest EP release “Crossroad: Live Acoustic Covers of Brian Fallon & The Gaslight Anthem. “It’s a long-winded story” Newton jokes about how his latest release came about. The past 3 years saw Newton organized a series of tribute shows to Brian Fallon and The Gaslight Anthem on YouTube. As Newtons describes it, “With the pandemic in full swing and no shows happening I needed something creatively to do. I’m a big fan of The Gaslight Anthem and Brian Fallon’s solo work and I’m part of a fan page of theirs. Every Christmas, Brian Fallon always does these acoustic shows at a venue in New Jersey called ‘Crossroads’. They’ve almost become a pilgrimage to fans in a way. Someone brought up the fact that they weren’t happening and I just thought why don’t we do one online? I knew there were a tonne of independent musicians in the group. So, I put it out to the group and the rest as they say is history”.

The 3 songs Newton covered over that time include ‘Smoke’ from Brian Fallon’s first solo album, The Gaslight Anthem B-side “She Loves You, and “Ladykiller” from Fallon’s solo project with Ian Perkins ‘The Horrible Crowes’.