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Ryan Ross takes his cue from blue-collar rockers
By John Benson
If you’re thinking Ryan Ross & the Y-Town Syndicate is a hip-hop project, think again.
Sure, Ross is inspired by The Boss, but it’s not rapper Rick Ross. Such name confusion must be commonplace for this Youngstown-area singer-guitarist and the Miami-based hip-hop king?
“I’d hope not; he’s a lot bigger than I am — literally and figuratively — at the moment,” said Ross, a 1999 Brookfield High School graduate.
These are fun times for Ross, who came out of high school thinking he’d have a “Friday Night Lights” career as a school teacher by day and football coach at night. However, fate had other plans and, eventually, Ross found himself on another path. At age 19, he started taking guitar lessons from local teacher Max Schang. Soon he was teaching others how to play a six string.
Then feeling confident, a 24-year-old Ross moved to Los Angeles to study guitar at the Musicians Institute.
“I guess it would have been the same to go to YSU, except it was made for contemporary music,” Ross said. “I went out there to do that and see whatever else was going to happen. While nothing did happen, I got to really see how the music business works. What it taught me was to take it to a professional level with the work and dedication.”
Ross realized that he may have been able to become a hired gun in Los Angeles but instead decided to focus on his own music. That’s when he came home and started writing. Then four years ago, with a batch of tunes to his credit, he put together the Ryan Ross & the Y-Town Syndicate, which releases its debut album, “Last House on the Block,” in the spring.
“We’re kind of a blue-collar, high-energy American rock ’n’ roll band with the sounds of the glory days of FM radio — Springsteen, Bryan Adams and Bon Jovi,” Ross said. “It’s a throwback to what those guys did.”
Songs from “Last House on the Block” that epitomize the band’s sound include the pop-rock “Tell Me What You’re Waiting For” and the driving “Come Out and Play.”
“It’s a love record overall with a lot of feel and emotion to it,” Ross said. “It also has a redemptive quality to it.”
Basically, just as Springsteen built his career around tales of the New Jersey working class, Ross is hoping to do the same about the Mahoning County area. The idea is with lot of hard work anyone can tough it out and make a living.
“Every so often the good guys can win,” Ross said.
So is Ross a good guy? Laughing, he said, “I try.”
Ryan Ross & the Y-Town Syndicate have booked the “Anywhere, Anytime Tour” with nine free shows scheduled around Northeast Ohio during November. The jaunt kicks off Saturday at Crickets, 1733 E. Midlothian Blvd., Youngstown.