#236 Ryan Vaughn- Drummer, Percussionist, Music Manager and More!
Photo of Ryan taken by Eric Townsend.
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Over the past twenty years, drummer/percussionist Ryan Vaughn has become a fixture in the independent music scene. Ryan has performed with some of the best independent singer/songwriters; including Caleb Hawley, Chrissi Poland, Zach Hurd (Bay Ledges), Sonya Kitchell, Elizabeth & the Catapult, Wakey! Wakey!, Ian Axel (A Great Big World), Rachel Platten, Lucius, Emily Kinney, Charlotte Sometimes, etc.
Ryan has also performed with numerous well-known recording artists such as John Forté, Anna Nalick, Aloe Blacc, Dave Monks (Tokyo Police Club), Joshua Radin, Ryan Cabrera, Tony Lucca, Jeffrey Gaines, Teddy Geiger, Tyler Hilton, Natasha Bedingfield, Rita Wilson, Hugh Jackman, Bebe Rexha, Lizzy Grant (Lana Del Rey), Ben Taylor, and Carly Simon. Ryan has performed on television for Late Night with Conan O’Brien with Joshua Radin, Comcast’s Backstage with Nick Howard (2012 winner of The Voice in Germany), and he is featured in John Forté’s groundbreaking documentary entitled The Russian Winter, which premiered at the TriBeCa Film Festival in the Spring of 2012.
In 2013, Ryan was the bandleader of the house band for Katie Couric’s daytime talk show, Katie. In 2016, Ryan worked on the development for Fox 20th Century’s hit movie, The Greatest Showman, for which he received a credit on the multi-award-winning original motion picture soundtrack. Vaughn has also worked on numerous other shows, including The Masked Singer, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, and The Bachelor Presents: Listen To Your Heart.
In addition to performing and recording, Ryan has always had a knack for the business of music. In 2014, Ryan took a position as head of A&R for the new music company, Fieldhouse Music (BMG). In 2016, Vaughn was hired as the Business Development Manager at Marshall Arts U.S. (AEG). In 2017, Ryan founded his own artist management company called Backline Creative. Simultaneously to launching Backline Creative, Ryan helped his wife launch her custom music company, Head Bitch Music.
While Ryan was born in Upland, CA, he grew up in Prescott, AZ. Vaughn went on to earn two Associate degrees – one in Jazz Performance and the other in General Business – from Mesa Community College in Mesa, AZ and later his Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance from the prestigious William Paterson University of New Jersey in Wayne, NJ.
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday to Sir Richard Starkey, (born 7 July 1940), better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame during the 1960s as the drummer for the Beatles. He occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, usually for one song on each album, including "Yellow Submarine", "With a Little Help from My Friends" and their cover of "Act Naturally". He also wrote and sang the Beatles' songs "Don't Pass Me By" and "Octopus's Garden", and is credited as a co-writer of others.
Starr was afflicted by life-threatening illnesses during childhood, with periods of prolonged hospitalization. He briefly held a position with British Rail before securing an apprenticeship as a machinist at a Liverpool equipment manufacturer. Soon afterwards, he became interested in the UK skiffle craze and developed a fervent admiration for the genre. In 1957, he co-founded his first band, the Eddie Clayton Skiffle Group, which earned several prestigious local bookings before the fad succumbed to American rock and roll around early 1958. When the Beatles formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool group, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. After achieving moderate success in the UK and Hamburg, he quit the Hurricanes when he was asked to join the Beatles in August 1962, replacing Pete Best. Since 1989, he has toured with thirteen variations of Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band.
Starr's playing style, which emphasized feel over technical virtuosity, influenced many drummers to reconsider their playing from a compositional perspective. He also influenced various modern drumming techniques, such as the matched grip, tuning the drums lower, and using muffling devices on tonal rings. In his opinion, his finest recorded performance was on the Beatles' "Rain". In 1999, he was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame. In 2011, Rolling Stone readers named him the fifth-greatest drummer of all time. He was inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a Beatle in 1988 and as a solo artist in 2015, and appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 2018 New Year Honors for services to music. In 2020, he was cited as the wealthiest drummer in the world, with a net worth of $350 million.
Happy Birthday to Aaron Sterling! Aaron is an American drummer, producer and engineer who lives in Los Angeles, CA.
Known for his studio work, Aaron has played drums on hundreds of records over the past decade for a variety of artists including...
John Mayer / Taylor Swift / Sara Bareilles / The Civil Wars / Miley Cyrus / Keith Urban / Maren Morris / James Bay / Niall Horan / Lana Del Rey / Lady Antebellum / Richie Sambora / Regina Spektor / Fiona Apple / Glen Campbell / Kris Kristofferson / Rachel Platten / Lily Allen / Liz Phair / Gavin DeGraw / Natasha Bedingfield / Kelly Clarkson / Brooke Fraser / Foreigner / Mat Kearney / Gungor / Matt Nathanson / Ben Rector / Brett Dennen / Lissie / Chris Tomlin / Steve Martin and Edie Brickell / Dierks Bentley / Frankie Ballard / Jake Owen / The Band Perry / Rai Thistlethwayte / Kris Allen / Selena / Alejandro Sanz / Pablo Alborán / Luan Santana / William Fitzsimmons / Blake Shelton / Shakira / and many many more.
He also has a podcast called Sterloid Talks! and a sample pack called The Bucket.
Happy Birthday to (friend of the show), Ryan Brown. Ryan is a professional drummer and percussionist in Los Angeles, California. In addition to his gig as the drummer for Dweezil Zappa, he plays with Los Angeles-based bands The Young Royals, Black Belt Karate, SexTapes, AM/FM, The Fuxedos and Madras, and in the bands of artists Arrica Rose, Karem Malicki-Sanchez, Colin Armstrong, Josh Canova, Space Oddity and rapper J Naugh-T.
He has toured with Taiwanese pop star Chyi-Chin and L.A. bands OWL and Ultraviolet, performed on “Last Call with Carson Daly” with Ingrid Michaelson and played the Bern Jazz Festival in Switzerland with R&B artist Niki Haris. He has recorded tracks and albums with producers Marti Frederiksen, Mark Hudson, Mikal Reid, Russ Irwin, Rob Seals, Glen Laughlin, Rob Shrock, Brian Dobbs, Klaus Derendorf, Brian Paturalski, Billy Morrison, Larry Crane and David Weisberg, including the hit single “The Real Thing” from Bo Bice.
Ryan can also be heard on releases by Foreigner, Circus Diablo, Hannah Montana, Clay Aiken, Cassie Davis, Nick Lachey, Jesse McCartney, Heather Graham, Suzie McNeil (Rock Star INXS) and Stephanie McIntosh, as well as on the movie soundtracks for Ice Age: Continental Drift (Adam Schlesinger), Kung Fu Panda (Hans Zimmer and John Powell) and The Dark Knight (Hans Zimmer). He’s performed on recordings with Alex Lifeson, Earl Slick, Elliot Easton and Rudy Sarzo.
Ryan has also appeared as a sideline musician in numerous TV shows and movies, including Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World’s End, Desperate Housewives, Jag and Samantha Who?. He plays all styles of music, including rock, R&B, jazz, ska, funk, blues, folk and country. He is on the drum faculty at Musicians Institute in Hollywood, Calif., and teaches private lessons as well. A native of Denver, Colorado, he has played drums and percussion since he was 11 years old. Ryan graduated from Indiana University with a degree in jazz studies and percussion.
Gig Alerts
Questlove has a new movie out about a Music Festival in Harlem called The Summer of Soul!
You can search for other summer festivals on the Jambase Festival Website.
You can also catch the end of the Blue Note Jazz Festival in various locations around NYC.
Social Soundbyte
Friend of the show Rónán Ó Snodaigh, (born in Dublin 1970) has a new video out. He is one of six brothers, was brought up in an Irish speaking home. His mother is an artist and writer and his father a writer and publisher in the Irish language, Rónán was immersed in an atmosphere of culture and creativity from early days. He started writing poetry in his teens, selling his work on the streets of Dublin’s city centre where he also started his musical career, busking with a collective of young musicians including Glen Hansard, Mic Christopher and Paddy Casey. Kíla started to take form from this busking fraternity with Rónán on bodhran and vocals. They quickly earned wider recognition for their unique blend of traditional Irish, rock and an ability to absorb just about any other musical culture into their writing pot. You can check out his interview on Episode 102.
Educational Spotlight
Drummers Benny Greb and JoJo Mayer have a drum camp in Germany this September. Registration will begin in August. Check out their websites for more details.
Iconic Recording
"Sun Is Shining" is a song by Bob Marley & the Wailers first appearing on the Lee Perry-produced album Soul Revolution in 1971, and then on African Herbsman in 1973. Marley later re-recorded the song for his 1978 album Kaya. In 1999, a reggae fusion remix by "Bob Marley vs. Funkstar De Luxe" reached number one on the U.S. dance chart and number three on the UK Singles Chart and has been widely credited as one of the songs which led to the popularity of reggae fusion.
You can see the personnel on the album by CLICKING HERE.
Music News
TikTok says it will expand its canvas to users across the globe, allowing up to three-minute videos. That puts the short-form video app much closer to traditional length videos on platforms like YouTube and Facebook. The move is interesting, considering just how copied TikTok has become over the last two years. -Article
The platform began life as lip-syncing app Musical.ly, so music has always been a part of the platform. Before the platform became so huge, it used to allow people to upload their own sounds and music. Allowing users to upload whatever they want is a copyright nightmare waiting to happen on TikTok’s part. Thankfully, TikTok now licenses music from record labels, so there are plenty of tracks available to include in your videos.
You can trim music on TikTok to suit your needs, thanks to the built-in sound editor. TikTok has an extensive library of music and sound effects. -Article
Ryan Vaughn Interview
The interview starts with a redhead definition.
Ryan talks about the three basic things you need to keep a gig.
Show up on time
Be prepared
Be fun to hang out with
Damon subbed for Ryan in the Atomic Funk Project.
Ryan talks about being a drummer in NYC vs. Los Angeles and dealing with transportation, parking and cost of living.
Ryan went to William Patterson University. Some people that attended William Patterson were Tyshawn Sorey, Mark Guiliana, Brian Killeen, Josh Dion, Shawn Baltazor, and more!
Ryan and Damon talk a bit about Mark G and his D.R.O.P. System.
Damon tells the Saturday Halloween story full of drummers instigated by friend of the show Drew McKeon.
Ryan mentions the photographer Manish Gosalia and the extensive documentation he has of musicians in the Lower East Side of NYC.
Damon went to Umass Amherst undergrad with Abby Riccards and she got her masters at William Patterson with Ryan. Abby and Ryan played the beginning of Rockwood Music Hall when it was a Jazz and wine bar back in 2005.
Ryan attended Prescott High School in Prescott, AZ and then Mesa Community College where he studied with Dom Moio who was close with the Reyes Family (Walfredo Sr., Wally, Daniel, Lilliana, etc).
Ryan played a fair amount of Christian pop gigs in AZ. He even played with Matt Maher.
Drummer David Lancet introduced Ryan to the cajon.
Jill Stevenson was how Ryan became the “Tuesday Night Guy” at the Red Lion, playing cajon and percussion for several artists.
Damon talks about the DW Low Boy Hi Hats and Ryan mentions the (now discontinued) LP Side Hats.
Ryan talks about “Late Night at Rockwood” leading to “Full Vinyl”, and ultimately “The After Party”.
Damon talks about the beginnings of Facebook right after Myspace with the reference in the Social Network movie.
Ryan talks about being a sideperson and the preparation that goes into it, including electronics.
Ryan talks about being multifaceted in the music business. Part of that was inspired by his professor Fred Forney. Ryan was a drummer and tour manager to make his worth more valuable. He also references the “new breed” of multi-instrumentalist musician.
Ryan talks about his experience in the house band for the Katie Couric show and also how he started shifting to A&R and then artist management.
Ryan was also a guest on Paul Maddison’s Podcast called Secret Famous.
Ryan talks about how curriculum could be adjusted to help music majors. He also talks about being immersed and seeing the art you’re trying to create is just as important as sitting in a classroom.
Damon names a bunch of Connecticut musicians. Ryan coined the term CTMafia of great musicians.
Ryan talks about Justin Paul and Benj Pasek as well as The Greatest Showman.
Ryan talks about copyrights and more importantly for sidepeople, Neighboring Rights.
There are three Neighboring Rights Administrator that Ryan recommends.
Different than SoundExchange.
AFM SAG AFTRA FUND (non-featured performer neighboring rights): CLICK HERE TO SEE IF YOU HAVE MONEY WAITING.
You should also pick a PRO (Performing Rights Organization) for other features. ASCAP and BMI are two of the best.
Damon brings up Be An Arts Hero and the episode that corresponds with that.
Shout-out to friend of the show, Ari Herstand and Chris Robley.
Ryan talks about how the 10 year commercial lease can affect the music and entertainment scene for venues, studios and more.
Ryan talks about playing music and doing TV. Shout-out to District 78.
Ryan and Damon talk about the law of three: Music, Money, Hang or the three Ms. Music Money Mates. You need two out of three to take the gig. The Milieu or the networking, could be an additional consideration.
You can follow Ryan on Backline Creative or his wife’s company Head Bitch Music. You can email Ryan if you have additional questions at: ryan@backlinecreative.com.
He has social media on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
