Ross Ryan

Biography

The Difficult Third Compilation Known for such hits as 'Blue Chevrolet Ballerina', 'Blood on the Microphone' and of course his signature tune, 'I am Pegasus' - singer-songwriter Ross Ryan is one of Australia's finest and most versatile performing musicians. Ross's music career was launched in the mid-seventies when he scored the support spot on a 16 date Roy Orbison Australian tour. The audience and media response to his performances were such that in just over a year he was voted at the then...

The Difficult Third Compilation

Known for such hits as 'Blue Chevrolet Ballerina', 'Blood on the Microphone' and of course his signature tune, 'I am Pegasus' - singer-songwriter Ross Ryan is one of Australia's finest and most versatile performing musicians.

Ross's music career was launched in the mid-seventies when he scored the support spot on a 16 date Roy Orbison Australian tour. The audience and media response to his performances were such that in just over a year he was voted at the then Radio Federation awards, Best New Talent and his debut album 'A Poem You Can Keep' was named Record of the Year.

Then came the clincher. Ross's second album,'My Name Means Horse', contained the gigantic hit single 'I Am Pegasus'; a recording that is to this day a perennial Gold radio favourite. The song was deemed a National Anthem by ABC TV's 2003 series 'Love Is In The Air', complete with news footage of Ross's gold record presentation by then Prime Minister Gough Whitlam.

Hell, the guy even won a King of Pop award!

But for many, it's all about Ross Ryan the entertainer.

Over the years he has also toured with people as varied as Van Morrison, Rolf Harris, The Hollies, Roger Miller, Dr Hook and Roberta Flack. He staged and toured a one-man multimedia comedy show called 'Sing the One About the Horse' and with Rod Quantock appeared in the Melbourne Comedy Festival extravaganza 'Les Boys'.

Ross also supported Carole King during her 2006 Australian tour.

Recently he's worked with a couple of old friends: Australian singer-songwriter Doug Ashdown, as well as with the infamous Mark Holden ('Idol & Idle'). Ross has also performed at major festivals including Port Fairy, the Melbourne Blues Festival, Woodford and the National in Canberra.

As a songwriter, he composed not only 8 of his own albums, but material for artists including John Farnham and Slim Dusty. As a producer, he established his own studio, G.I. Recorders, which led to the release of Ross's most recent studio album - 'One Person Queue' and the radio friendly single 'Cool River'.

Also, much to the delight of Ryan fans, Aztec Records in 2007 re-issued, for the first time on CD, Ross's classic 'My Name Means Horse' album.

The success of these releases of both old and new material have been the stimulus for Ross's return to live performance - either solo or with fellow Glen Combo musicians Ken Stephenson and Roy Zedras.

2009

2009 sees the release, through Coathanger Productions, of a new and much requested "best of" CD entitled: 'Ross Ryan - 'The Difficult Third Compilation'. Distributed through Aztec Music, the album includes two never before released tracks including the current single; 'Queensland' - available as a free download from Ross's web site: www.rossryan.com.

The video clip of 'Queensland' has also just been released and it too can be found on the web site.

As for touring, the second half of the year sees Ross appearing at venues as far flung as Perth and Port Moresby, with tours of Queensland and Tasmania also currently being planned.

And finally, work is currently underway on a new studio album. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.