Over the last decade, Ryan Curtis has made a name for himself as a songwriter not easily packaged into any specific genre. He’s bounced almost seamlessly from folk and bluegrass to rockabilly, blues, and vintage rock n’ roll. Never to be pinned down, his latest release and solo debut, Rust Belt Broken Heart is steeped in the kind of vintage twang more common in a 1960s honky tonk, than a modern club. Ryan’s songs are usually about life’s harder-learned lessons, featuring picaresque heroes to whom he gives a very personal feel. His new record dives deep into the different styles of country and western while telling tales from his youth in the Midwest from Michigan to Illinois. The gravelly voice of the Michigan-born, Boise-based singer has been praised on KEXP and earned acclaim from the likes of No Depression and Saving Country Music. He’s set to release his second album, Ain’t Ever Easy, July 14th on American Standard Time Records. In the meantime, you can catch Ryan and his band out on the road week in and week out bringing their unique brand of high desert country blues to the dives and haunts of the great American West and beyond.
The best thing about Ryan Curtis albums is his ability to cover all the country sub-genres: ballads, western music, honky-tonk, country-rock are all in his oeuvre. Ain’t Ever Easy is the best example to date. The base tracks were recorded at Enterprise, Oregon’s famed OK Theatre (one of the first ever movie theaters in the wild west), with a core band of Ryan Curtis, Cooper Trail (Desolation Horse), and Nevada Sowle, and finished in Boise, Idaho at Luxetone studios.
With workmanlike dedication, Curtis has been making roots music albums for over a decade. He was a founding member of the gritty duo Curtis / Sutton & The Scavengers before taking an unexpected turn into the blue eyed soul, and vintage rock of The Weary Times. He released his first solo record Rust Belt Broken Heart to critical acclaim in 2021 on American Standard Time Records. Curtis constantly tours the cattle-drive trails between his home in Boise, reaching audiences in Wyoming, Montana, and all down the west coast every year, and he’s able to conjure rug-cutting bands of harcore country locals wherever he goes.
Today Glide is offering an exclusive premiere of the video for the album’s opener “Can’t Take Back,” a stomping and muscular work of country-funk that makes a strong impression right out of the gate. Mixing the kind of gruff vocals that will be sure to please fans of acts like Lucero and Ryan Bingham with a soundtrack that feels rooted in outlaw country and New Orleans boogie with a bluesy undertone soaking it all up, the song oozes Curtis’ “alt-country from the high country” sound. There are acts out there now that have brought together elements of funk with country, but Curtis does it on his own terms and manages to craft a tune that would have been right at home in the booze and cocaine-fueled redneck hippie scene of the 70s. The video also adds a psychedelic visual to complement the sound with its liquid illuminations.
“Can’t Take Back” is an older song that really took on a new life in the studio, when drummer, Copper Trail, suggested we try the song half time. It instantly transformed the song into that Waylon style 70’s country funk grove and I’ve never played it any different since. — Ryan Curtis
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