Long Form Bio

​For over a decade Ryan Curtis has been constantly working in various genres of roots music, blues, soul, vintage sounding rock n’ roll, but his latest, Rust Belt Broken Heart will be his debut solo album. Ryan’s songs are usually about life’s harder learned lessons, featuring picaresque heroes whom he gives a very personal feel. Rust Belt Broken Heart 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 No Depression. He co-fronted Curtis/Sutton & The Scavengers, whose 2017 album Whiskey Rain put them on the playlist of keen country and roots music listeners. Ryan also fronts The Weary Times, whose gritty soul sound has made them a constant fixture at venues and festivals in the Northwest. 
 
In the winter of 2020 Ryan Curtis went to Enterprise, Oregon’s OK Theater alone 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 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. He returned to Boise with the demos, and brought in his bandmates for overdubs at Luxtone Studio, with a focus on clear, but vintage instrumentation.
 
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 Hideout", 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 more than the sum of its parts. It's an ode to the solitude and beauty --and the lessons to be learned from those-- that the Midwest provides. 

Rust Belt Broken Heart is out on vinyl and digital, on American Standard Time Records. Ryan Curtis will be playing several live shows later this year including Sawtooth Valley Gathering, Summer’s End Fest, and Treefort Music Fest.

Social Media Links

ASTR Bandcamp

Album Preview
(Available on all streaming platforms 07-30-21)

Released 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


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

Curtis/Sutton & The Scavengers Press & Interviews

Summer Tour Schedule

May 1st - Locking Horns Riverside (Horseshoe Bend, ID)
May 15th - Lost Grove Brewing (Boise, ID)
May 21st & 22nd - Silver Dollar Bar (Jackson Hole, WY)
May 28th - The Dirty Shame  (Crouch, ID) 
May 29th - The Gold Mine (Idaho City, ID)
June 5th - McCleary on State (Boise, ID)
June 6th - St. Chappel Winery (Caldwell, ID) 
June 18th - Indian Creek Steak House (Caldwell, ID)
June 20th - Kin (Boise, ID)
June 24-26th - Weiser River Music Fest (Weiser, ID)
July 2nd - Sawtooth Hotel (Stanley, ID)
July 15 - Stanley Street Dance (Stanley, ID)
July 16th & 17th - Kasino Club (Stanley, ID)
July 23rd - Redfish Lake Lodge (Stanley, ID)
July 24th- Road to Summers End Fest  (Hailey, ID)
August 6th & 7th - Sawtooth Valley Gathering (Stanley, ID) * w/ The Weary Times
August 13th & 14th - Velvet Halls Dance Hall @ Mountain Village (Stanley, ID) *w/ The Weary Times
August 26th - Mahoney's  (Bellevue, ID)
August 27th- Summers End Fest (Hailey, ID) * w/ The Weary Times
September 10th & 11th - Cemetery Road Fest (Idaho Falls, ID)
Sept. 22nd-26th - Treefort Music Fest (Boise, ID) * w/ The Weary Times

RC