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From the bourbon hills of Kentucky to the streets of Los Angeles, Americana/Rock N’ Roll band Ryan Hahn and the Believers craft honest, insightful stories rooted in Americana, roots, and southern rock and roll. With their dynamic sound, Ryan and his believers harken back to the sounds of Steve Earle and Tom Petty telling stories of fleeing small town America for the big city and the struggles and joy in between.
Ryan shared the process behind his song Little Town. Download the lyrics to follow along.
We talked about:
- Our songwriting challenge for 2023
- The Song Talk Meetup
- Songwriter’s Hall of Fame
- How country music can have a strong sense of place
- How Ryan comes from a wide variety of experience, including metal, rock, R&B, and funk bands
- For Ryan, story is king, whether it’s a first-person song or a character in a third-person song
- Songs don’t have instrumental solos anymore, so it’s nice to hear
- Playing around with melodic hooks and phrasing
- How to approach a protest song; does it hit hard or soft?
- Our episode Writing a soft-hitting protest song with Anna Larson