Coast 2 Coast Closeup – Ryan Connolly

Born and raised in Chateauguay, Quebec. Ryan Connolly’s  childhood dream wasn’t to play music, it was to one day lace up his skates and play in the NHL. Although he was quite successful in hockey, making it through the Juniors and into the NCAA, and he earned a scholarship to play the game, it just wasn’t meant to be. Connolly was plagued with knee injuries, and that would eventually end his hockey career/dream. “After I stopped playing hockey, I needed something to fill that void. Music was always a passion of mine”. So naturally, that’s where he gravitated to, music.

You may recognize Ryan from his early days in music, in a band called “The Mudslingers”, that he formed with his brother Jarrod in 2014. They would gather National Radio attention from 2015 to 2017,  and that helped launch his professional music career and identity, in country-rock.  After a few hiccups in both his personal life and his band’s life, in 2016 they decided to part ways. Ryan wanted to continue his journey in music, and to develop his identity, as a solo artist, in the Country genre. It wasn’t easy. He began this transition by working on his craft, by starting to write songs again, and to feel out what kind of artist he wanted to share with the rest of the world.

From 2017 To 2019, Ryan was graced with opportunities to open for some pretty big Canadian names you’ll recognize such as Aaron Pritchett, Cold Creek County, Sass Jordan, and American country icon, Granger Smith. With a little help from a few connections he had made in the music industry, Ryan was blessed with the opportunity to work with Musical Producer/Canadian Rock icon- Robert Laidlaw!  “That was really the writing on the wall. Rob and I instantly saw eye to eye in musical preference”.  Which is so important. Ryan and Rob have spent the last year, working together to develop, write, produce, and master the “The Ryan Connolly Project”.

Listen to the interview