Heartland Country Music.
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Minnesota's Clayton Ryan is made of a different kind of soil.
With no streaming presence, label backing, or financial support, he has honed his powerful, homegrown voice in his own Midwestern way, building a fanbase one by one from stages and honky tonks across the country.
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Despite his flyover-state upbringing, the singer and songwriter has grown strong roots in the music industry, and his work as a writer, performer, and multi-instrumentalist in LA and Nashville has put his songs in TV and movies including NASCAR, Walker, NFL Sunday Night Football, and The Outdoor Channel, and landed the electric performer on stages with artists including John Morgan, John Michael Montgomery, Jo Dee Messina, Collin Raye, Flatland Cavalry, and Liam St John.
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His entirely crowd-funded debut album Ghost Town has been streamed over 100,000 times, and the title track was included on The Current's "Top 89 Tracks of 2024." His Whiskey Jam debut included one of only a handful of encores in its 1000-show history.
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His steady, independent rise into the industry has been on full, transparent display with his weekly documentary series "With The Wild Man," now streaming for free on his highly active YouTube channel.​​
"First of all, Clayton Ryan has a fantastic voice. Just this huge bellow, this vibrato that just resonates... It's ridiculous."
- Pretty Fort Weekly
"The lost art of the story song. I could almost hear Gordon Lightfoot singing this."
- Marcus Hummon, Grammy-Award Winning Songwriter
"Simply put, Ryan is the kind of singer-songwriter Americana and roots music needs right now. He’s that good."
- B Sides & Badlands
