Artist description Seattle's very own breed of songwriter that is part muscian, part hypnotist. You WILL like my music. You WILL join the mailing list. I was an English major, too, so I like to have rich lyrics. Whether my lyrics are rich or not is up for debate (e-mail complaints to ryanasher@lycos.com), but I would like to pretend that they are at least. There are times when my lyrics shine, and there are times when I could definitely be arrested by the Poetry Police. I play guitar and sing songs that I write, and sometimes songs that I don't write. I like to pretend that I'm a comedian, too, but that never seems to go over well in actuall practice. So scratch comedian off the list. Singer (check), Songwriter (check), Guitar Player (check), comedian (no!).

Music Style Yeah, right. Like anyone has a style of rock anymore. I guess what I play could be classified as

Musical Influences The Beatles, Counting Crows, Wilco, REM, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Fiona Apple, Death Cab For Cutie, Pete Yorn, Bob Dylan, Dave Matthews, Smashing Pumpkins, Glen Phillips, John Mayer, Elliott Smith, Weezer... lots.

Similar Artists I'd like to think that I sound like me. A combination of these influences plus a cup and a half of life experience. Isn't that the point of Post-Modernism? Ah Ha! That's what I am: Post-Modern rock.

Artist History I've been playing guitar since 7th grade, and singing for a very long time, but never really professionally. I've been in a few bands, including Essential Tides (1994-1997), several conglomerations (1997-1998, henceforth to be referred to as "The Lost Years"), and my most recent band, Beautiful Soup (1998-2003). I was born in beautiful Berkeley, California, and grew up nearby in the city of Walnut Creek, a placid suburbia. I have been living in Seattle, Washington for the past five years and own no pets. I've played all over and I've written many songs, but I hope to have more of a "history" to tell about soon after actually getting enough people's attention to read this "Aritst History" section.

Group Members Well, Ryan Polivka is, well, me. You may come to a Ryan Polivka performance and just see me playing guitar. If you see me with a guy who is extremely talented on guitar and songwriting much more, that is Boone Spooner, King Nine Member Extrordinaire. If Boone is there, you'll likely see the marvelously talented Dan Parenti on the bass guitar.

Instruments Martin HD-28 Acoustic Dreadnaught, 1994 22-Custom Paul Reed Smith electric guitar, 23-year old vocal chords from Berkeley, California. I record on my Dell Inspiron 8100 on Sonar 2.0. Live, I sing into a Sure-58 microphone, but for recording, I use a Sure BG condenser mic, and my precious KSM-32: a very fancy mic that befuddles the senses. Don't you feel like a better person for knowing that?

Albums I don't have a Ryan Polivka album yet, but I will soon! Here's a discography of my past endeavors: Pool Shark E.P. with Essential Tides (1995), Monsters! E.P. with Boone Spooner (1998). Beautiful Soup albums: Time to Rise E.P. (1999), Train of Thought (2000), Seven E.P. (2001), New Album to be Released Soon!

Press Reviews If you see one concert, only one, this year, make sure it is a Ryan Polivka acoustic show. Simply outrageously perfect in every way. Wow-whamo. -- Ryan's Own Head (unpublished, 2003).

Additional Info Wanna be on the e-mail list? E-mail me at ryanpolivka@hotmail.com!

Location Seattle, WA - USA

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