Just Us Folk

“My sister and I never had the opportunity to be an accountant,” Ryland Moranz told me. “Music is kind of the family business.”

Such was the life trajectory for singer-songwriter Ryland Moranz. Almost 40 years ago, his parents helped create the South Country Fair in Fort Macleod, AB.

“It’s a nice, really to the roots, folk festival,” he said.

From the age of nine, Ryland began playing the mandolin because he liked Willie P. Bennett’s playing. He later switched to guitar in his teens. He began to write songs around the same time.

“Back when heartbreak was fashionable,” he said.

Ryland has three albums under his belt so far. The latest is 2024’s Better/Worse, released through Tonic Records. He describes the songs on the album as being written in a more streamlined and proficient manner than his two previous albums.

“I was able to cut to the quick of what I was feeling and thinking about,” he said.

The overall thematic thrust of Better/Worse is the belief that if you make things better for one, inevitably things are made worse for another.

Ryland’s songwriting philosophy has developed over the years since his first album in 2016. He used to believe you had to experience a feeling or event to be able to write about it. Now he has learned from his songwriting heroes that there’s a lot of power in a foible.

“It doesn’t have to be true. It just has to come from a true place,” he said.

All three of Ryland’s albums have been produced by Leeroy Stagger. It was working with Leeroy on the 2016 album Hello New Old World that led to Ryland being part of Leeroy’s band.

The last song on the album was “A Boxer’s Dream.” Ryland only knew how to play that one song on the piano which suited Leeroy to a “T”. It just so happened Leeroy was looking for a piano player in the style of Neil Young. That gig lasted about a year and then Ryland began filling in on other instruments for Leeroy. Over 10 years later, he’s still in the band, “The Rebeltone Sound”.

Trying to maintain a solo career while also being in someone else’s band can be difficult. Luckily, Ryland and Leeroy have the same manager, Kate Wattie, the founder of Tonic Records.

“Leeroy and I just get to be friends and poor Kate has to sort the rest of it out,” Ryland said.

As if having a solo career and being in Leeroy’s band aren’t enough, Ryland has a bluegrass duo with mandolinist Dan Fremlin. Their debut album, Williwaw, was released this past June on Tonic Records.

“Dan’s a next level player,” Ryland said. “The first couple of shows we played together, I couldn’t play properly because I was watching his hands so much.”

Also in the works is an album of Baroque music on the banjo. He’s working through Bach’s Cello Suites 1, 5 and 6.

For more on Ryland Moranz and Better/Worse, go to https://rylandmoranz.com