Up and coming Ryan Humbert

By: Jay Minkin
Date: 10/31/2007
APRIL 19, 2007—I often make references to “The Akron Sound” when describing the music being created in this area. It’s a sound that has changed through the passing decades, but uniquely vibrant—which at times has created a buzz on the world music scene. One local artist who has grown and is ready to break out is Ryan Humbert. The hardest working man in the Akron music scene, Ryan is a 1999 graduate of Green High School and The Art Institute of Pittsburgh.

You most likely will never see the same show twice when you catch Ryan performing. It could be solo or with long time vocal collaborator and acoustic guitarist Emily Bates. It could be a trio, quartet, or the complete Ryan Humbert Band (RHB) with Steve Norgrove on bass, Eric Ortopan on drums, and long time friend Ben Evans on keyboards. Then there is the complete 10-piece RHB with gospel choir backing vocals, which could be electric, acoustic or both. The brilliance must be heard to appreciate how Ryan performs his songs in these various arrangements.

Ryan’s growth as an artist can be heard through his music from his initial release with 2004’s Nothing to Lose through 2005’s Hangman to the fan-requested EP release The Well, Whatever Demos in 2006. This talented singer/songwriter melds the elements of rock, pop, blues, country, folk and R&B into his own Americana sound.
Ryan is currently in the studio producing the new album for local favorite Tracey Thomas, known by most new wavers as the lead singer from the legendary band UNIT 5. Recently, Ryan has been traveling to Nashville and working on his next project with one of Music City’s top producers.

Ryan will be performing April 20th at Maize Valley Winery in Hartville, with the full RHB April 21st at The Geisen Haus in North Canton, and solo April 26th at Sonnet’s Café in Wadsworth. A very special RHB acoustic night with the JLTS Gospel Choir will take place April 28th at Musica in Akron. For more performance dates you can visit www.ryanhumbert.com or www.myspace.com/ryanhumbertband.

Jay Minkin is an Akron area entrepreneur, music promoter and critic. For more of his thoughts on music, you may e-mail him at blues4bird@aol.com.

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