While still a newcomer to Providence, RI, Ryan Fitzsimmons was nominated for Best Folk Act in the Providence Phoenix Best Music Poll for 2004. Ryan is simply the kind of musician who impresses immediately. Just a few years later, he won the 2007 Best Music Poll for Best Male Vocalist.

Originally from central New York, Ryan Fitzsimmons' first exposure to music was sitting on the stairs in his parent's house as a child, listening to his older brother Todd practice blues licks along to Muddy Waters albums. He fell in love with the sound, and playing guitar became simply what he had to do. Ryan first gained attention at age 14 playing lead guitar in an alternative rock band called Anodyne which was nominated for a Syracuse Area Music Award (SAMMY). But after performing in a number of electric bands, Ryan decided to give up the amplifiers to see what he could do with just wood and steel and voice. What he discovered in performing solo with an acoustic guitar was an intimacy and nuance he found instantly inspiring.

Bringing to the fold his years of electric guitar playing and using innovative alternate tunings, Ryan Fitzsimmons' acoustic world runs the emotional gambit. The lyrics of Ryan's songs range from gentle, poetic details to the in-your-face realism of a bar fight, and his guitar ranges just as far, from starry night to thunderclap.

Over the last 5 years, Ryan has quietly been establishing a reputation as one of the most original and promising young songwriters on the scene today. Playing shows from Montana to New England (including venues such as Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, NY; Johnny D's in Somerville, MA; and the Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River, MA) Ryan has been engaging audiences with his distinctive songwriting and dynamic performances. Along the way, Ryan has shared the stage with performers Richie Havens, Greg Brown, Jesse Winchester, Peter Mulvey, Vance Gilbert, Jeff Lang, and Railroad Earth, among others.

Ryan's first CD, Open All Night, is the long-awaited companion to his live show. The album is a statement of Ryan's history, and in it Ryan takes all the diners, gas stations, smoky bars, and side streets that he's come across and extracts the human element, drawing the listener in with the questions and emotions that these places resonate. The album also features collaborations with many of Ryan's friends, including a subtle give-and-take with Peter Mulvey on the song "Write it Down". Delivered with Ryan's inspired guitar playing and dynamic presentation, Open All Night (recently chosen as one of the best folk albums of 2004 by the Providence Phoenix) proves what has been exciting audiences at Ryan's live performances for years.

Quotes


“I don't know what I was teaching him for, he could probably teach me a thing or two.”
Vance Gilbert – singer-songwriter (during a live performanc in 2000)

“I dug his deal, he gets better every time I see him.”
Peter Mulvey – singer-songwriter

“With a compelling aesthetic intact, the young Fitzsimmons seems to have a promising road laid out for him. Part storyteller, part poet, part melodicist, his best tunes recall the work of folk icons like John Gorka and Suzanne Vega.”
Bob Gulla, Providence Phoenix, Providence RI

“As one of the new breed of young New England singer/songwriters, Ryan Fitzsimmons is the real deal. I happened to catch him as an opening act one night and was knocked out by his singing, songwriting, guitar playing, and poise. He has the chops and smarts to go somewhere and I look forward to catching him again soon when someone else is opening for HIM!”
Barnes Newberry, host of Highway 61 Revisited, Folk Radio WUMB Boston MA

“(Ryan) paints a marvelous Jack Kerouac-description of the anonymous anyplace and anyones”
Jim Vickers, RI Motif, Providence RI

“Drawing from a wide range of influences, from Peter Mulvey to Richard Thompson to Johnny Cash, Fitzsimmons paints moving, moody portraits buoyed by exciting and intelligent guitar arrangements.”

“With a flair for the dramatic and the ability to turn power-chords into melody lines, RYAN FITZSIMMONS has long been a stand-out performer on the Syracuse acoustic scene. His continuing growth as a writer of songs rich in imagery and emotion gives Syracuseans even more right to be proud of him. With an increasingly busy tour schedule of regional gigs (he recently made a big splash opening for Peter Mulvey at the legendary Café Lena in Saratoga Springs), Ryan is poised to bust out of the local scene and make his mark as one of the northeast's most exciting new folk musicians.”
Joe Cleveland - Music Director, Folkus Project, Syracuse NY

“His sets have honed songs from Open All Night, which articulate dark clouds of his past like unrequited love (“Empty Glass“), feeling stuck (“LoFi“) and wistfulness in the Celtic-flavored “Sad, Sad, Sad, Sad.“ The vibe is content, though, with a lot of weary, nocturnal musings a la Tom Waits' Nighthawks at the Diner (Asylum) that suggest a loving empathy for the town that seemed to swallow people's hopes...His tone is nostalgic but not painful; he embraces his past as a viable subject matter and runs with it.”
Nathan Turk, Syracuse New Times Full Article

“Fitzsimmons is in ultrafine singer-songwriter voice with his debut disc, “Open All Night“.”
Mark Bialczak, Syracuse Post-Standard Full Article

“Ryan Fitzsimmons is a local singer-songwriter grinding out solo acoustic performances in Central NY on a regular basis. Formerly with the band Anodyne, Ryan has shed his electric skin and crafted a full, earthy acoustic whiplash. Ryan’s rhythmic strumming and impassioned vocals can go from tranquil to completely possessed in about a second. So make sure you don’t blink during one of his plainly honest and crackling performances.”
Tom Barron - writer for The Revolving Door, Syracuse NY

“Ryan is clearly more comfortable expressing himself through the music, and it seems he has a lot to say. Every one the songs played were filled with passion and emotion. Ryan Fitzsimmons is a performer that every self-respecting Syracusean should make the effort to check out.”
Michael Haight - CNYMusicAndArt.com (no longer online)

“I enjoy Ryan Fitzsimmons - he has a place he goes when he plays that makes it easy to see that he LOVES playing. His music is energetic and dynamic...it's inspiring to me.”
Dion Labatos - session player and leader of Syracuse based band Peep, in an interview with CNYMusicAndArt.com (no longer online)

Venues Ryan has played in the past

Club Passim, Cambridge MA
Johnny D's, Somerville MA
Narrows Center for the Arts, Fall River MA
Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs NY
Juna's Café, Ithaca NY
Stone Soup, Pawtucket RI
Nietzsche's, Buffalo NY
New Moon Coffeehouse, Haverhill MA
The Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland OH
Harper's Ferry, Alston MA
AS220, Providence RI
The Paradise Lounge, Boston MA
Club Metronome, Burlington VT
Kimball's, Williamsport PA
The Vanilla Bean Café, Pomfret CT
Blackstone River Theater, Cumberland RI
The Leaf and Bean, Bozeman MT
The Stone Church, Newmarket NH
The Burren, Somerville MA
Underground Concerts, Maplewood NJ
Cyber Cafe West, Binghamton NY
The Folkus Project at May Memorial, Syracuse NY
Java Hut, Worcester MA
Soule Homestead, Middleboro MA
The Aera, Newport RI
The Coffee Pavilion, Syracuse NY
Shifty's, Syracuse NY
See Spot Gallery, Ithaca NY
Soulful Cup, Corning NY
Java Junction, Brockport NY
The Red Barn, Deposit NY
Strawberry Fields, Potsdam NY
Common Grounds, Cazenovia NY
The Larkin, Albany NY
Old City Hall, Oswego NY
Haborfest, Oswego NY
The Towne Shoppe, Camillus NY
Bridge Street Music Hall, Syracuse NY
Planet 505, Syracuse NY
The OPL, Syracuse NY
The Stoop, Syracuse NY
The Wescott Community Center, Syracuse NY
The Black Bear, Big Sky MT
The Carabiner, Big Sky MT
Jack Creek Saloon, Big Sky MT
The Alpine Lounge, Big Sky MT
Dante's Inferno, Big Sky MT
Café Arpeggio, Fall River MA
The Call, Providence RI
The Brooklyn Tea and Coffee House, Providence RI
The Coffee Depot, Warren RI
India, Warren and East Greenwich RI
The Catfish Grill, Warwick RI
Rolfe St Station, Providence RI
Hooligans, East Providence, RI
Blossoms Café, Glocester RI
Eclectibles, Wakefield RI
Happy Endings Cake and Coffeehouse, Syracuse NY
Styleen's Rhythm Palace/Armory High, Syracuse NY
No Border's No Boundaries, Syracuse NY
Beaver Lake Concert Series, Baldwinsville NY
The Oak, Ithaca NY
Virgo Bat and Leo Phrog's, Utica NY
The Buckhout, Oswego NY
Casa De Luna, Oswego NY
The Ozone, Sidney NY
The Hardware Café, New Bedford MA

Colleges:
Lively Lucy's Coffeehouse at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs NY
Syracuse University, Syracuse NY
Potsdam State University, Potsdam NY
Oswego State University, Oswego NY
McPhails Pub at Providence College, Providence RI


Festivals:
Newport Sunset Music Festival, Newport RI
Oktoberfest, Harvard Square, Cambridge MA
MayFair, Harvard Square, Cambridge MA
Syracuse Arts and Crafts Festival, Syracuse NY
Wescott Street Cultural Fair, Syracuse NY
Joe Davies Folk Festival, Middleboro MA
Golden Harvest Festival, Baldwinsville NY
Fall River Festival of the Arts, Fall River MA