News

We are working on setting up a concert in one of the VA hospitals. We want to play for the people who have served our country and have made great sacrifice to keep us free.

We'll keep you updated as we make some progress on this.

We were blessed to have a great audience at Wellness House. People really were attentive and listened to the words. My songs are really written for active listeners. There is a lot of nuance and subtle changes that make the songs.

We'd love to do a few more benefits before the end of the year. That would really give us a chance to make more of a contribution.

Seems like this is getting to be a fairly addictive process. Bill Kavanagh does such a great job of engineering and he has such great ears and ideas that it is hard to go any where else. Other studios may have more technology, but they don't have Bill Kavanagh!

I'll be back in the studio shortly to rework a couple of old songs and then put some new ones down.

We've added some new songs on this site! After you've heard Andon Davis' searing guitar on You Serve he also serves it up on Yes I See You and Falling.

Dee Mack, former band mate and long time friend did an outstanding job on the drums.

Of course, Mr. Bass, Bill Kavanagh contributed some incredible bass lines.

I can't thank these guys enough for their time, energy, and gracious way of doing things. Talented musicians, awesome people, I can't say enough good things about them. Fortunately they don't need it!

Hope you enjoy the songs.

Andon Davis from Heartsfield stopped by the studio on Sunday and dropped in some guitar parts. Andon is a great guy and a fabulous guitar player. But, rather than listen to me go on about how good he is, stop reading this and go listen to You Serve, Falling, and Yes, I See You. And then you can go on and on about Andon Davis and what a fabulous guitar player he is....

My long time friend and great drummer Dee Mack will be in the studio with me to lay down some drum tracks for a 4 Song EP. In addition to adding drums to You Serve and Falling, Dee will be adding drums to a couple of other songs. One of which is completely new. May 3 is the studio date! It is always good to see long time friends. And when one of them can really play drums it is even more fun!

I'm finally headed back to the studio to get more work done! I have been away from it for a couple of months but it seems much longer than that.
It is just what I need to get the juices flowing again!

We have what we hope is our final meeting with Chase Bank to complete the banking and legal work for the foundation. We will be launching the You Serve Foundation webpage on or before May 2, 2008.

You might be wondering why you can't buy the song yet. The answer is simple. We are in process of setting up the You Serve Foundation with Chase Bank. The lawyers aren't done yet. The Foundation has ZERO administrative costs. My company, SwiftKick Growth is picking up all the administrative costs so that the money we raise truly does go where we say it will. Once we have the it all in place we can go ahead and sell the song and raise the money. There are too many scams that cheat the military and don't get the money to where it should go and make a difference. We will have full disclosure available so anyone can check us out. In addition we will be rated and evaluated by the organization who rates all the philanthropic organizations.

Just when I thought it was safe - WHAM! Armed Forces Radio does a great job and I like that they listen to their listeners. That is always good! The listeners said they didn't want country, so the format has been dumped. Waiting to find out if You Serve was dumped along with the format or if they will continue to play the song.

We are working with Chase Bank to get the You Serve Foundation up and running. We fully expect the website to be up and operating in the next week.

As soon as Chase gives us the bank account we can begin selling the song with the money moving directly to the foundation. That way there can be no questions about the money. Typically there are a lot of questions when it comes to military programs. The people who protect us often don't get what they should becuase people run these funds as a way to make money, not to serve the people who serve us. The You Serve Foundation will pay no salaries, car expense, marketing expense, or travel expense. In other words, nothing. The income goes to fund scholarships and to keep the fund operating. That is it. We volunteer to serve those who serve.

Armed Forces Radio has put You Serve in their country rotation! Special thanks to Koz over at Armed Forces Radio for being gracious enough to include us in the songs they play.

I am deeply honored and if this can help sell more songs and create more scholarships for active military personnel, this is a wonderful thing!

I don't agree with every political decision that sends our troops around the world. But I do agree that I love my country and I support the people who make sacrifices for America.

Without our troops we'd be speaking German, Japanese, or Russian right now. Without our troops we wouldn't have the right to express our opinions against the political decisions with which we disagree.

When my new song, "You Serve" goes to market, all proceeds will be placed in a special non profit fund that goes to pay scholarships for military personnel. It will also be used to bring education to the hospitals where our active personnel and veterans are recovering from injuries and illnesses they have as a result of serving our country.

Some folks hate war. I hope that everyone does. I do too. I never want to see any country or any one fight.

I can separate the decisions that send people to war and the people who carry out the decisions because they serve. If everyone did that, we might be better off.

The new song, You Serve (written to honor all American troops, past, present, and future) is ready and loaded. There is a little work to do to it, but hope you enjoy it as it is, right now....
Ryan

June 12th 2008 I am fortunate enough to do a benefit for Wellness House in Hinsdale Illinois. My Mother and paternal grandfather died of cancer. Wellness House serves cancer patients and provides an incredible array of services for participants. They do it at no charge. The place has a very cool vibe. It is truly a blessing. This will be a closed concert and is only for those participants and staff at Wellness House.

I am in the studio on March 8th recording a new song that I wrote. The song is about our Military. It is a different kind of song a couple of ways....one very different way is that it honors all branches our service all at once...because together, we are America. The second thing that is song is doing is making a difference. All the proceeds from the sale of this song are being donated to a non-profit centered around funding scholarships for military personnel. I'll be talking about this more over the next few days, but know this.....this program will make a HUGE difference for the people who serve our country...and in doing so it will change their lives...which then changes America....it also will change American education and how it is delivered. Yeah, I know that sounds a bit dramatic....but, once you have all the facts you don't have to be smarter than a 5th grader to see it.

March 8th I'll be back in the studio doing a very special song. It is one that I just wrote as part of an American history class. With a little bit of luck the song will be chosen as the theme song for a new completely online college for active military personnel so they can complete their degree while on active duty. Because of the way the class has been structured it overcomes many of the obstacles our active military personnel face while serving our country and keeping us free. More on this later.

Feb 9 and 23 I'll be in the studio recording 4 new songs. "Choice or Chance" is a rocker that will feature drum work from one of my old band mates, Dee Mack. Dee is a great drummer who has spent 30 years on the road playing drums.

I'll also be doing "Yes, I See You" a song about honoring people for who they are.

"Empty Envelopes" is a new one about not putting things off....with good reason.

"You Showed Me" is about how actions speak louder than words.

I am really excited about these new songs!! They are fun to play and I hope you enjoy listening to them as much as I like writing and playing them!

Bill Kavanagh did a great job of engineering on Blessing & Burdens. He has amazing ears. And, he also put down those bass lines that make the songs come alive. Bill has a lot of talents and he certainly show cased his playing on Blessings & Burdens. Bill, YOU ROCK!!!
Thank you!!!

The BobDog Studios website has been getting a lot of hits from people listening to "Wings". I am excited that the songs are being heard.