The pushback was there, but it wasn’t as bad as I had expected. Sure, I came across some rants online—Ryan’s abandoning her original fans, these songs aren’t country, I don’t recognize this music anymore.There were a few opinion essays in smaller publications saying that she was selling out on the music tradition that had brought her her fame, and that the move to LA and the slippery slope of more alternative country pop-rock would dilute her into another Hollywood clone. They used a lot of big scary words.
But the genuine fan base that Ryan had built, the Ryde-or-Dies and even more casual listeners who just liked her style ... they weren’t swayed at all. They liked her forher. They appreciated what she was doing and wanted to see more.
And it didn’t hurt that her technical skill was rock solid either.
Rolling Stone, published March 2012
A New Sound for a New Era?
Young bluegrass aficionado Ryan Holding has worked hard to establish herself as a fresh new fixture in a genre overwhelmingly composed of young bucks and old crooners. With an innocent charm and a glittering stage presence that’s supported by fretwork that would make Earl Scruggs proud, some have gone so far as to call this young banjoist a prodigy.
Holding built an ironclad reputation for herself both on the South and Northeast bluegrass circuits thatwas ratified by her signing to Austin, Texas’s Madcap label, a partnership that skyrocketed her to the top of the charts. And country stood supportively behind this little lady like a proud parent.
But Holding is growing up. Madcap’s expansion to Los Angeles has sparked rumors about whether the bluegrass star will cut ties with her country roots, and the concern isn’t without basis.
This month, Madcap released “Angeline,” Holding’s third single ahead of her forthcomingDiatribealbum—and it’s number three in a line of tracks that have sounded decidedly more pop than country.
Rolling Stonehas reviewed each single independently: “Count Your Days,” a fiery hell-hath-no-fury tirade of a scorned woman, almost approaching metal at times; “White Lace,” a soulful lament that the singer may never find true love, accentuated by a ’60s-style jazz organ; and now “Angeline,” a ballad-length exploration of a complex romantic relationship accompanied by equally complex electric guitar riffs—and, most notably, very little banjo—courtesy of Holding’s newest backup virtuoso, Wilder James.
These are a far cry from the sweet, clear-eyed “June Bug” or “Shoes on the Dash” of Holding’s debut album. It’s a grittier sound, born of an increasingly complicated musical identity and plain-old growing up; still young at 22, Holding already has more than seven years of industry experience under her belt.
It’s this critic’s prediction thatDiatribewill be reflective of Holding’s nuanced development. Her background provides a depth that artists trained strictly inpop or rock can’t match, an unusual flavor for which listeners seem to be hungry. She won’t stick with bluegrass forever.
Nor should she, if “Angeline’s” number one spot on the charts for the third week in a row is any indication.
Twelve
Jasmine
Iwant to call itDiatribe,” Ryan told me one day. “I have something to say, and people are going to hear it, whether they want to or not.”
The press around that album was great—and for that reason, we wanted to keep things as under wraps as possible. Helladonna had her whole discography leaked by a hacker earlier that year, and while it was still a great record and did go platinum, stuff like that is going to affect sales. It affects the way that artists approach their work too. It’s just not the ideal situation.
So Skip put us on lockdown. Only authorized personnel in the studio; he did a security review with our IT guys, met with our distributors and vendors to make sure all their policies were up to date and the recordings would be safe. And for the most part, they were.
With . . . one exception.
Skip
Obviously I’m not the jackass who actually did the leak, but I blame myself. Ryan had always had access to tracks that others didn’t, of course, and as we moved into the mixing process, there would often be a few she wasn’t yet satisfied with. The three singles were already outin the world, done deals. But onDiatribe, with one month left before the release, Ryan still wanted changes to “Dangerous,” “Listen!” and especially “Mine All Mine.”
I could be sympathetic as to why. Look, I wasn’t in her head, but they seemed more personal than a lot of the music she’d put out. More reflective of her current feelings about this career, maybe. Jas would have the best insight. They were all purportedly about relationships, but I wondered if “Dangerous” was more about taking this step toward a new sound—how it felt exciting but dangerous. And “Listen!” was firm and a little angry, the lyrics telling someone toShut up, shut up, just for one minute / Let me get the story straight before you try to spin it / I can’t hear myself / I can’t even think / With you and your words always talking at me.
It was “Mine All Mine” that was the genuine romantic.If we had met differently / In another life / Would you make a promise to be / Mine, all mine?
That one could’ve made the toughest son of a bitch melt. It’s beautiful, earnest, sad. The singer is falling for someone who’s off-limits—as much as she wants him, she can’t have him. So she imagines a parallel world where they’re different people.
Hey, I guess my insight’s not so bad. Or maybe I’m full of bullshit, who knows. They were just songs.
But they were important to Ryan. And while I thought all the tracks sounded great, she wasn’t satisfied, so I let her take the mixed files on a USB drive to listen to at home. We’d always done this with either CDs or thumb drives, now that they were easier. I didn’t give it a second thought.
Until T-minus two weeks beforeDiatribe’s release date.
It was early morning and I was in the shower; I could hear my cell ringing and ringing on the bathroom counter, and I thought,Oh hell, what’s this all about?I had a whole smattering of messages from my PR team, but the first callback I made was to Andre, who never got in touch this early, even by Austin time.
He said, “Have you seen the news this morning, Skip?”
And I said, “Give it to me straight.”
