Short Form BioOver the last decade, Ryan Curtis has made a name for himself as a songwriter not easily packaged into any specific genre. He’s bounced almost seamlessly from folk and bluegrass to rockabilly, blues, and vintage rock n’ roll. Never to be pinned down, his latest release and solo debut, Rust Belt Broken Heart is steeped in the kind of vintage twang more common in a 1960s honky tonk, than a modern club or venue. Ryan’s songs are usually about life’s harder learned lessons, featuring picaresque heroes whom he gives a very personal feel. His new record dives deep into the different styles of country and western while telling tales from his youth in the Midwest from Michigan to Illinois. The gravelly voice of the Michigan born, Boise-based singer has been praised on KEXP and earned acclaim from the likes No Depression and Saving Country Music. He co-fronted Curtis/Sutton & The Scavengers, whose 2017 album Whiskey Rain put them on the playlist of keen americana and roots music listeners. Ryan also fronts The Weary Times, whose gritty soul sound has made them a constant fixture at venues and festivals across the Northwest. Rust Belt Broken Heart is out now, on American Standard Time Records. You can catch Ryan and his band out most weekends supporting the album and bringing their unique brand of high desert twang and Idaho honky tonk to the dives and haunts of the great American West.
Album Preview
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Rust Belt Broken Heart Music Videos |
Press Photos
"Rust Belt Broken Heart" Press
Album Review - Saving Country Music
"All Alone" Video Premiere - Americana Highways
Album Review - Twangville
Interview & Album Review - Tennessee Star
Album Review - Country Note
Album Review & Interview - Boise Weekly
Interview & Album Preview - Treasure Valley Podcast
"The Hideaway" Video Premiere - American Standard Time
"All Alone" Single Premiere and Album Reviw- Nanobot Rock
Album Review - Americana Highways
Album Review - Orange Flag Music
"All Alone" Video Premiere - Americana Highways
Album Review - Twangville
Interview & Album Review - Tennessee Star
Album Review - Country Note
Album Review & Interview - Boise Weekly
Interview & Album Preview - Treasure Valley Podcast
"The Hideaway" Video Premiere - American Standard Time
"All Alone" Single Premiere and Album Reviw- Nanobot Rock
Album Review - Americana Highways
Album Review - Orange Flag Music
The Weary Times Press & Interviews
"Why Are You So Lonely" Video Premiere & Album Review - American Standard Time
KEXP Music That Matters Podcast Featuring "Hard Times"
The Weary Times Album Review- The Northwest Music Scene
Interview & Live Show Photo Feature - Music Mondays 208
"I Can Tell" Song Premiere - Americana Highways
"Best For You" Video Premiere - Americana Music Show
Album Review and Interview - Boise Weekly
Album Review: The Blues and Roots Music Blog
Interview & Album Feature - Idaho Mountain Express News Paper
Album Review - In My Room Music Blog
Piece of Mind -Single Premiere and Review: Nanobot Rock
Hard Times Video Premiere: Nanobot Rock
KEXP Music That Matters Podcast Featuring "Hard Times"
Best Debut Roadhouse Blues Records of 2019 - Benveeblues.com
2019 Top Ten Albums - In My Room Music Blog
KEXP Music That Matters Podcast Featuring "Hard Times"
The Weary Times Album Review- The Northwest Music Scene
Interview & Live Show Photo Feature - Music Mondays 208
"I Can Tell" Song Premiere - Americana Highways
"Best For You" Video Premiere - Americana Music Show
Album Review and Interview - Boise Weekly
Album Review: The Blues and Roots Music Blog
Interview & Album Feature - Idaho Mountain Express News Paper
Album Review - In My Room Music Blog
Piece of Mind -Single Premiere and Review: Nanobot Rock
Hard Times Video Premiere: Nanobot Rock
KEXP Music That Matters Podcast Featuring "Hard Times"
Best Debut Roadhouse Blues Records of 2019 - Benveeblues.com
2019 Top Ten Albums - In My Room Music Blog
Curtis/Sutton & The Scavengers Press & Interviews
No Depression: "Whiskey Rain" Album Review
Audio Hammock Podcast (Curtis/Sutton discussion starts: 53:55)
American Standard Time : Song & Video Review
Nanobot Rock: Album Review 2017
Northwest Music Scene : Album Review
Ruta 66 (Spain) Interview
Rootsy (Sweden): Whiskey Rain Album Review
American Standard Time: EP Reveiw
AMADEUS MAGAZINE: Interview and EP Release article
Idaho Statesman: EP Reveiw
Nanobot Rock
Audio Hammock Podcast (Curtis/Sutton discussion starts: 53:55)
American Standard Time : Song & Video Review
Nanobot Rock: Album Review 2017
Northwest Music Scene : Album Review
Ruta 66 (Spain) Interview
Rootsy (Sweden): Whiskey Rain Album Review
American Standard Time: EP Reveiw
AMADEUS MAGAZINE: Interview and EP Release article
Idaho Statesman: EP Reveiw
Nanobot Rock
Winter & Spring Tour Schedule
Oct. 1st 2021- Lost Grove Brewing 5 year Anniversary fest (Boise, ID)
Oct. 15th 2021 – Rialto Theater (Bozeman, MT)
Oct. 16th 2021- Taproom (Bozeman, MT)
Oct. 30th 2021 - Landlocked Motorcycle Show (Boise, ID)
Nov. 6th 2021 – John’s Alley ( Moscow, ID) (Canceled)
Nov.19th 2021- Koto Brewing (Twin Falls, ID)
Nov. 20th 2021- Garage on Beck (Salt Lake City, UT)
Nov.27th 2021- Pengillys (Boise, ID)
Dec. 11th 2021- Silver Lake Lounge (Los Angeles, CA)
Dec. 13th 2021- Escondite (Los Angeles, CA)
February 4th 2022- Pengillys Saloon (Boise, ID)
February 5th 2022- Whiskey's (Ketchum, ID)
February 11th 2022- Tractor Tavern (Seattle, WA)
February 18th 2022 - Lowman Inn (Lowman, ID)
February 19th 2022 -Dirty Shame - (Crouch, ID
March 4th & 5th 2022 - Silver Dollar - (Jackson, WY)
March 18th 2022 - Gold Mine Grill & Saloon - (Idaho City, ID)
March 23rd- 27th 2022- Treefort Music Fest - (Boise, ID)
April 9th 2022 - Depot Bench Fest - (Boise, ID)
April 14th 2022 - The Olympic - (Boise, ID) Supporting Them Coulee Boys
April 15th 2022 - Foresters - (McCall, ID)
April 16th 2022 - John's Alley - (Moscow, ID)
April 30th 2022 - Aaron Golay's birthday Fest - (Mountain Home, ID)
May 14th -2022 - Whiskey Jacks - (Ketchum,ID)
May 20th 2022 - Pengillys Saloon - (Boise, ID)
May 27th-30th 2022 - Northwest Folk Life Festival - (Seattle, WA)
May29th 2022 - Tractor Tavern - (Seattle, WA)
June 5th 2022 - Music on The Water (headliner) - (Boise, ID)
June 4th 2022 - McCleary's State Street - (Boise, ID)
June 5th 2022 - St. Chappell Winery Open Air Concert Series - (Caldwell, ID)
June 10th & 11th 2022 -Nor East'r Music Festival - (Mio, MI)
June 14th 2022 - Montrose Saloon - (Chicago, IL)
June 25th- 2022 - Neurolux (Double Bill w/ Andrew Shepard)- Boise, ID
June 28th- 2022 - Tuesdays on the Creek ,supporting Rob Leines (Caldwell, ID)
July 12th-2022 - Ponderosa Center Concert Series - (McCall, ID)
July 21st 2022 - Mahoney's (Belview, ID)
July 22nd 2022 - Newpark Monthly Concert Series - (Park City, UT)
July 22nd 2022 - Sawtooth Hotel - (Stanley, ID)
July 28th - Aug 7th 2022 - Upper Midwest Tour (announcement coming soon)
August 18th 2022 - Stanley Street Dance - (Stanley, ID)
August 19th & 20th 2022 - Kasino Club - (Stanley, ID)
August 26th 2022 - Foresters - (McCall, ID)
August 27th 2022- Return to Riverside Fest ( Potlach, ID)
September 2nd 2022 - Redfish Lake - (Stanley, ID)
September 3rd 2022 - Bogus Basin Music on the Mountain Series - Boise, ID
September 4th 2022 - Treasure Valley (announcement coming soon)
September 10th 2022 - Kuna (Announcement coming soon)
September 17th 2022 - Boise (Announcement coming soon)
September 30th, October 1st - Silver Dollar Bar (Jackson, WY)
Oct. 15th 2021 – Rialto Theater (Bozeman, MT)
Oct. 16th 2021- Taproom (Bozeman, MT)
Oct. 30th 2021 - Landlocked Motorcycle Show (Boise, ID)
Nov. 6th 2021 – John’s Alley ( Moscow, ID) (Canceled)
Nov.19th 2021- Koto Brewing (Twin Falls, ID)
Nov. 20th 2021- Garage on Beck (Salt Lake City, UT)
Nov.27th 2021- Pengillys (Boise, ID)
Dec. 11th 2021- Silver Lake Lounge (Los Angeles, CA)
Dec. 13th 2021- Escondite (Los Angeles, CA)
February 4th 2022- Pengillys Saloon (Boise, ID)
February 5th 2022- Whiskey's (Ketchum, ID)
February 11th 2022- Tractor Tavern (Seattle, WA)
February 18th 2022 - Lowman Inn (Lowman, ID)
February 19th 2022 -Dirty Shame - (Crouch, ID
March 4th & 5th 2022 - Silver Dollar - (Jackson, WY)
March 18th 2022 - Gold Mine Grill & Saloon - (Idaho City, ID)
March 23rd- 27th 2022- Treefort Music Fest - (Boise, ID)
April 9th 2022 - Depot Bench Fest - (Boise, ID)
April 14th 2022 - The Olympic - (Boise, ID) Supporting Them Coulee Boys
April 15th 2022 - Foresters - (McCall, ID)
April 16th 2022 - John's Alley - (Moscow, ID)
April 30th 2022 - Aaron Golay's birthday Fest - (Mountain Home, ID)
May 14th -2022 - Whiskey Jacks - (Ketchum,ID)
May 20th 2022 - Pengillys Saloon - (Boise, ID)
May 27th-30th 2022 - Northwest Folk Life Festival - (Seattle, WA)
May29th 2022 - Tractor Tavern - (Seattle, WA)
June 5th 2022 - Music on The Water (headliner) - (Boise, ID)
June 4th 2022 - McCleary's State Street - (Boise, ID)
June 5th 2022 - St. Chappell Winery Open Air Concert Series - (Caldwell, ID)
June 10th & 11th 2022 -Nor East'r Music Festival - (Mio, MI)
June 14th 2022 - Montrose Saloon - (Chicago, IL)
June 25th- 2022 - Neurolux (Double Bill w/ Andrew Shepard)- Boise, ID
June 28th- 2022 - Tuesdays on the Creek ,supporting Rob Leines (Caldwell, ID)
July 12th-2022 - Ponderosa Center Concert Series - (McCall, ID)
July 21st 2022 - Mahoney's (Belview, ID)
July 22nd 2022 - Newpark Monthly Concert Series - (Park City, UT)
July 22nd 2022 - Sawtooth Hotel - (Stanley, ID)
July 28th - Aug 7th 2022 - Upper Midwest Tour (announcement coming soon)
August 18th 2022 - Stanley Street Dance - (Stanley, ID)
August 19th & 20th 2022 - Kasino Club - (Stanley, ID)
August 26th 2022 - Foresters - (McCall, ID)
August 27th 2022- Return to Riverside Fest ( Potlach, ID)
September 2nd 2022 - Redfish Lake - (Stanley, ID)
September 3rd 2022 - Bogus Basin Music on the Mountain Series - Boise, ID
September 4th 2022 - Treasure Valley (announcement coming soon)
September 10th 2022 - Kuna (Announcement coming soon)
September 17th 2022 - Boise (Announcement coming soon)
September 30th, October 1st - Silver Dollar Bar (Jackson, WY)
Long form Bio
Over the last decade, Ryan Curtis has made a name for himself as songwriter not easily packaged into any specific genre. He’s bounced almost seemly from folk and bluegrass to rockabilly, blues and vintage rock n’ roll. Never to be pinned down, his latest release and solo debut, Rust Belt Broken Heart is steeped in the kind of vintage twang more common in 1960’s honky tonk, than a modern club. Ryan’s songs are usually about life’s harder learned lessons, featuring picaresque heroes whom he gives a very personal feel. His new record dives deep into the different styles of country and western, while telling tales from his youth in the Midwest from Michigan to Illinois. The gravelly voice of the Michigan born, Boise based singer has been praised on KEXP and earned acclaim from the likes No Depression and Saving Country Music. He co-fronted Curtis/Sutton & The Scavengers, whose 2017 album Whiskey Rain put them on the playlist of keen americana and roots music listeners. Ryan also fronts The Weary Times, whose gritty soul sound has made them a constant fixture at venues and festivals across the Northwest.
In the winter of 2020 Ryan Curtis went to Enterprise, Oregon’s OK Theater to record an EP’s worth of songs. The setting, a century old theater on the edge of civilization, with Bart Budwig as engineer, and an intuitive house rhythm section featuring Cooper Trail on drums and Nevada Sowle on bass proved fruitful. Curtis tracked his EP worth of songs in one day. That night, Curtis noticed that the four songs he randomly picked for the EP had a common theme, a connection, back home to the Midwest. With two days left to record he pulled more songs fitting that theme from his own, vast, songwriting canon, and in the remaining days recorded an album’s worth of songs, that eventually became Rust Belt Broken Heart
Before the first track is over Curtis and company are peeling the paint off everything precious with pedal steel riffs and Curtis' voice, a rough implement that cuts a swathe like a combine harvester and demands your attention. The title track touches on many of the themes the album visits: the difference between being lonely and being alone in the expansive American Midwest, hard work, heavy drinking, and reaping what you've sown.
Curtis and crew immediately turn to the foundation of their sound --honky-tonk-- for their next track. There is a barrelhouse piano in the background of "The Hideaway", about the dive bar where you go to hit rock bottom. The song, about a bar for drinking, not fun, features guest vocals from David Henry, and swaying lap steel from Dave Manion.
His sixty grit voice shouldn't fool you, Curtis has become an extremely sensitive songwriter and story-teller. Case in point: “Pour Another Glass,” a four on the floor western delicately weaving acoustic guitars, pedal steel, and accordion that tells the story of a couple weathering the trials of time with questionable decisions, from a couple different points of view. Curtis is shockingly pragmatic with some elder advice on "She Said" singing "you don't always have to like her, you'll see it right from the start / you don't always have to like her, but you better love her with all of your heart,” over Dave Manion’s delicate dobro fills.
Curtis’ has a no-nonsense attitude, and a work ethic that winnows travails into fun, captured best on “Beautiful Day” when Ryan Sings "...and I know just what they'll say, I'm some fool, for lettin' you get away, but they don't know you like I do, they don't know what you put me through," before fiddle reels nostalgic among skittering snare.
The summation of all Ryan Curtis' efforts : the gritty swagger of Curtis/Sutton & The Scavengers, the soulful songs of The Weary Times, and his solo work come together on “350 Miles”, on which Daniel Blumenfeld plays propulsive piano and organ riffs that swirl into a memories of Northeast Michigan.
About Rust Belt Broken Heart, and his songwriting journey, from Ryan Curtis:
"As I write this, the oldest song on Rust Belt Broken Heart is around 12 years old. I was in my late 20’s, living in Chicago, when I wrote “A Beautiful Day”. I certainly had no idea back then, that I would eventually record it and release it on an album over a decade later. I picked the songs for this record because of a common thread sewn into each of them. The story, characters, or origins all center around both the beautiful and downtrodden landscapes of The Great Lakes Region. This is where I grew up, and lived, before moving out west nine years ago. Like my actual years on this earth, the setting for each of the songs are split between a small town and the city, but at their core is the overall connection back home to the Midwest, a place surely embedded into my DNA. This record is dedicated to all my friends and family back in The Rust Belt. You made me who I am today, and I’ll always hold you in my heart. -RC"
Rust Belt Broken Heart is out on vinyl and digital, on American Standard Time Records.
In the winter of 2020 Ryan Curtis went to Enterprise, Oregon’s OK Theater to record an EP’s worth of songs. The setting, a century old theater on the edge of civilization, with Bart Budwig as engineer, and an intuitive house rhythm section featuring Cooper Trail on drums and Nevada Sowle on bass proved fruitful. Curtis tracked his EP worth of songs in one day. That night, Curtis noticed that the four songs he randomly picked for the EP had a common theme, a connection, back home to the Midwest. With two days left to record he pulled more songs fitting that theme from his own, vast, songwriting canon, and in the remaining days recorded an album’s worth of songs, that eventually became Rust Belt Broken Heart
Before the first track is over Curtis and company are peeling the paint off everything precious with pedal steel riffs and Curtis' voice, a rough implement that cuts a swathe like a combine harvester and demands your attention. The title track touches on many of the themes the album visits: the difference between being lonely and being alone in the expansive American Midwest, hard work, heavy drinking, and reaping what you've sown.
Curtis and crew immediately turn to the foundation of their sound --honky-tonk-- for their next track. There is a barrelhouse piano in the background of "The Hideaway", about the dive bar where you go to hit rock bottom. The song, about a bar for drinking, not fun, features guest vocals from David Henry, and swaying lap steel from Dave Manion.
His sixty grit voice shouldn't fool you, Curtis has become an extremely sensitive songwriter and story-teller. Case in point: “Pour Another Glass,” a four on the floor western delicately weaving acoustic guitars, pedal steel, and accordion that tells the story of a couple weathering the trials of time with questionable decisions, from a couple different points of view. Curtis is shockingly pragmatic with some elder advice on "She Said" singing "you don't always have to like her, you'll see it right from the start / you don't always have to like her, but you better love her with all of your heart,” over Dave Manion’s delicate dobro fills.
Curtis’ has a no-nonsense attitude, and a work ethic that winnows travails into fun, captured best on “Beautiful Day” when Ryan Sings "...and I know just what they'll say, I'm some fool, for lettin' you get away, but they don't know you like I do, they don't know what you put me through," before fiddle reels nostalgic among skittering snare.
The summation of all Ryan Curtis' efforts : the gritty swagger of Curtis/Sutton & The Scavengers, the soulful songs of The Weary Times, and his solo work come together on “350 Miles”, on which Daniel Blumenfeld plays propulsive piano and organ riffs that swirl into a memories of Northeast Michigan.
About Rust Belt Broken Heart, and his songwriting journey, from Ryan Curtis:
"As I write this, the oldest song on Rust Belt Broken Heart is around 12 years old. I was in my late 20’s, living in Chicago, when I wrote “A Beautiful Day”. I certainly had no idea back then, that I would eventually record it and release it on an album over a decade later. I picked the songs for this record because of a common thread sewn into each of them. The story, characters, or origins all center around both the beautiful and downtrodden landscapes of The Great Lakes Region. This is where I grew up, and lived, before moving out west nine years ago. Like my actual years on this earth, the setting for each of the songs are split between a small town and the city, but at their core is the overall connection back home to the Midwest, a place surely embedded into my DNA. This record is dedicated to all my friends and family back in The Rust Belt. You made me who I am today, and I’ll always hold you in my heart. -RC"
Rust Belt Broken Heart is out on vinyl and digital, on American Standard Time Records.