Coast 2 Coast Closeup – Ryan McMahon

In 2019, as Ryan McMahon returned from Tonder Festival in Denmark, the opportunity to play with and meet Canadian Country Music singer Aaron Pritchett marked the embarking on a new chapter in music. Pritchett took Ryan under his wing and has lit a new fire under McMahon’s feet as the pandemic settled into the hearts of people around the world. After a few attempts at telling the story, Ryan wrote “One More Fire” as a calling card for how his passion for music has been reignited.

Over the years, Ryan has shared the stage with Buffy Ste. Marie and Nickelback to Canadian country artists Chad Brownlee, Brett Kissel, Dallas Smith and Aaron Pritchett. His talent, persona and musicality opened many doors to the range of genres encompassed in his songs.

“Of course, songs and art are subjective things, but to me ‘One More Fire’ represents that yearning to obtain connectivity to the human race around me,” says Ryan. “That feeling in my belly that I had when it was the night before battle of the bands in high school; or that notion that tomorrow I’m going into a new city to meet that community and make ’em sing, laugh, cry or dance or all of it all at the same time.”

Ryan admits that after years of scratching, clawing, winning, losing, and going through a pandemic that put the brakes on the entertainment industry, the fire to create and perform remains burning in his heart — and won’t be extinguished anytime soon.

Listen to the interview