Ryan McMahonCAI-LizaT2024-02-12T13:13:55-08:00

Ryan McMahon

Engaging and honest, Ryan McMahon’s music is written from the heart and sung from the soul. It is as rock as folk can get before it starts to roll. A blend of folk, Americana and rock following the lead of his peers Jason Isbell, Nathaniel Rateliff & Warren Zevon. The singer songwriter has enough wit and charm to get through any situation and his songwriting fits every emotion into his live performance.

Over the years, Ryan has opened for many iconic bands and artists from Buffy Ste. Marie and Nickelback to Canadian country artists Chad Brownlee, Brett Kissel, Dallas Smith and Aaron Pritchett. His talent, persona and musicality opened many doors to the range of genres encompassed in his songs.

Canadian TV/Radio personality Terry David Mulligan may have summed up Ryan best: “The complete package. Singer. Songwriter. Performer. Troublemaker. Passionate human being. For me… priceless.”

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Tech Rider – 4 Piece

Tech Rider – 3 Piece

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A Song Can Change Your Mind
at the Cantina Navarro @ Folk Alliance

This House is Not for Sale
Blue Light Sessions

Driveway
live from The Chapel

Are You Alright?

Weeks Months Years
live from the Chapel *solo*

ONLINE

ryanmcmahon.com

Engaging and honest, Ryan McMahon’s music is written from the heart and sung from the soul. It is as rock as folk can get before it starts to roll. A blend of folk, americana and rock following the lead of his peers Jason Isbell, Nathaniel Rateliff & Warren Zevon. The singer songwriter has enough wit and charm to get through any situation and his songwriting fits every emotion into his live performance.

Born on the coast of British Columbia in a small seaside hamlet on Vancouver Island, Ryan’s first experiences performing were for family members laughing at his reiterations of comedians he loved. As he expelled versions of Eddie Murphy and Billy Connolly, McMahon fed off the energy from his audiences at such a young age and continued to dive into the music influences of his parents, which included a mix of Creedence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin, The Everly Brothers and BB King. He picked up a guitar in high school and became known for playing the Battle of the Bands and sneaking into the clubs in nearby cities as an under-aged performer.

After graduating, he moved across the pond into the Vancouver scene to join a group of musicians exploring the music and nightlife of the bigger arena. He spent a decade playing small clubs, hosting open mics, writing, and recording. The songwriting and recording became his outlet for understanding the human experience and his ability to connect to audiences grew with each story he told. During his time in Vancouver, he penned the album, Weeks Months Years, produced by Mike Rogerson at Bakerstreet in North Vancouver.

The muse of life brought him back to Vancouver Island in 2008 and as a solo artist, McMahon won a record three Vancouver Island Music Awards for Album of the Year, Male Artist of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year in 2012 for his album ALL GOOD STORIES. After touring in support of the album, he joined forces with Cory Woodward and Christopher Arruda to create Lion Bear Fox: a folk-rock trio that showcased and toured Canada, the U.S. and in Europe until 2019. McMahon’s contributions to the band resulted in some of their most well-known songs, like “Shine,” “Freedom” and “Going, Going, Gone.”

Over the years, Ryan has opened for many iconic bands and artists from Buffy Ste. Marie and Nickelback to Canadian country artists Chad Brownlee, Brett Kissel, Dallas Smith and Aaron Pritchett. His talent, persona and musicality opened many doors to the range of genres encompassed in his songs. In 2019, as he returned from Tonder Festival in Denmark, the opportunity to play with and meet Canadian Country Music singer Aaron Pritchett marked the embarking on a new chapter in music.

Pritchett took Ryan under his wing and lit a new fire under McMahon’s feet as the pandemic settled into the hearts of people around the world. After a few attempts at telling the story, Ryan wrote “One More Fire” as a calling card for how his passion for music has been reignited.

“Of course, songs and art are subjective things, but to me ‘One More Fire’ represents that yearning to obtain connectivity to the human race around me,” says Ryan. “That feeling in my belly that I had when it was the night before battle of the bands in high school; or that notion that tomorrow I’m going into a new city to meet that community and make ’em sing, laugh, cry or dance or all of it all at the same time.”

Ryan admits that after years of scratching, clawing, winning, losing, and going through a pandemic that put the brakes on the entertainment industry, the fire to create and perform remains burning in his heart — and won’t be extinguished anytime soon.