John Patrick Ryan was born January 10, 1959 in Bethesda, Maryland and was raised in the town of Rockville, Maryland. John was the seventh of eight children, the fifth son born to Willis and Helen Ryan. His father, a classically trained pianist, was forced to leave his music behind after graduating college in 1941, due to his enlistment in the United States Army after the attack on Pearl Harbor. His father’s service during World War II eventually led to a 30 year career in the National Security Agency in Washington D.C. His mother devoted her time towards raising the family while also maintaining a successful career in Real Estate.
From a very early age, it became apparent that music was to play a major role in John’s life. As a small child, he was most often found listening for hours to music and sitting at the grand piano in the living room of their home, picking out tunes that he had heard and playing them by ear. At the age of seven, John’s enthusiasm for the piano led his parents to enroll him in formal piano lessons. After several weeks of lessons, however, the piano teacher resigned, frustrated by John’s ability to hear the music one time and play it by ear rather than from reading notes. John was told in front of his parents that he would never learn to play piano, and that they should not waste their time and efforts on providing lessons for him. This was somewhat of a defining moment in his musical career, for rather than discouraging him, it only served to further motivate him to learn music. He spent the next few years of his childhood teaching himself to play music by reading books, learning chords, and further developing his ear by listening to and learning to play a wide variety of music in different styles.
The Ryan household was a very dynamic and lively environment for a child to be raised in. As one of the youngest of eight children, John found himself exposed to a wide range of personalities, influences, and situations on a daily basis. Music was one of those influences, and John remembers sometimes going from room to room and often hearing different music coming from each one. His father would often be listening to classical music or jazz in one room, his older brothers listening to Buddy Holley, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, and his sisters to The Beatles, or Motown records in another room. Liturgical music also played a role, as John was enrolled in both Episcopalian and Catholic parochial schools, and the family faithfully attended church services every weekend. It was at the age of 13, after his family moved to Florida, that John actually secured his first position as a professionally paid musician as he was hired as a church organist to perform five services every weekend, a position he held for over five years.
John’s formative years as a musician found him performing not only as a church organist, but also playing piano and keyboards with local bands, and appearing with both rock bands and jazz groups. He eventually went on to study music theory and composition. This study combined with his love for the acoustic piano eventually led him to pursue the goal of refining his niche as a solo pianist and composer. At the age of 18, he left most of the band work behind and started finding steady work as a solo pianist in upscale restaurants and piano bars. John cites this as another turning point in his musical career, for it was during this time that he began to immerse himself in the music of the great American popular songwriters such as Gershwin, Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hart, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Johnny Mercer, etc., and towards developing his own unique piano style while playing his own solo piano arrangements of their classic songs.
In 1980, at the age of 21, John graduated Fire College and was hired as a Professional Firefighter with the City of Melbourne, Florida, a position he held for the next 25 years. In 1981 while attending art classes at a Community College, he met his future wife, Diana Ainbinder. They were married the following year, and in 1985, their daughter Jennifer was born. The years that followed found John providing for his family by working 56 hours a week as a Firefighter, while also steadily performing five nights a week as a solo pianist.
Over the years, John found himself performing concerts and playing piano on a regular basis in the finest clubs along the East coast of Florida. Although he loved performing and his services as a pianist were always in demand, his real passion was writing his own music and his dream was to someday become a successful songwriter. As he sat in front of the piano night after night playing song requests, popular tunes and standards, he continued writing his own songs and compositions, patiently working and waiting for the day when he might someday be listening to someone else playing his own songs.
He continued to work on recording projects, writing and recording original songs and compositions as well as sound scores for the video production industry. In 1997, he formed his company; Ryan Music Inc. to manage the music publishing, recording, and performance aspects of his music career and to manage and license a catalog of his original songs, copyrights, and musical compositions. In 2004, John retired from his career as a Firefighter in order to devote more time to writing and recording his music.
In January of 2005, John finally received the big break that he had been waiting for and working towards for so many years. One evening while performing at the piano bar of a popular restaurant in Melbourne Beach, Florida, John was approached by a London record producer, Peter Clayton of Robinwood Productions. Peter walked over to the piano and said, “Hello young man, you don’t remember me, do you?” upon which John replied, “Sure I do, you’re Peter Clayton!” The two had actually met briefly a year prior at the same piano bar where Peter, on vacation from London, had first heard John playing. Peter had originally been interested in bringing John to London to record an album of piano music, but was impressed when on this occasion he heard the music and lyrics of some of John’s original songs. This time, Peter went back to London with a package of John’s song demo’s and lyric sheets.
Within weeks of arriving back in London, and after consulting with friends and associates, Peter had decided to produce and record an entire album of John’s original songs. Things started happening quickly from there. Suddenly, over the next few months, John found himself heavily involved in a major recording project featuring an entire album his original music showcasing the music and lyrics of seventeen of his original songs brought to life by the beautiful arrangements of arranger and conductor, Pete Moore, the performances of four incredible vocalists, and the musical talents of world class musicians and recording engineers. John sums up the experience by quoting a line from one of the songs on the album, “Holding On To Dreams … there’s nothing like the way you feel when dreams turn into something that is real!”
"The one who practices loving-kindness sleeps and wakes in comfort and has no
bad dreams; he is dear to both humans and creatures; no danger harms him. His
mind can be quickly concentrated, his expression is happy and serene. He dies
without any confusion of mind. Loving-kindness protects him."
- Anguttara Nikaya
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