CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — There's country music, and then there's Texas country music.
The first needs all the trappings you'd expect of a rhinestone cowboy – fancy threads, synthetic sound and hoity-toity venues; meanwhile, the other only requires raw emotion, grit and in Matthew Ryan's case, a homemade B-Bender.
Matthew Ryan and his three-piece band joined us live to perform a stripped-back, Texas-tuff set of singles and country classics, many of which were originally performed by the people that first set fire to the country boy's heart.
"I grew up listening to country music," said Ryan. "I can remember falling in love with it when I was about four years old, riding with my grandpa in a pick-up truck listening to Hank Williams Sr., Lefty Frizzell and all those greats."
One of the songs Ryan performed was his most recent single "Honky Tonk Downstairs," which reached No. 39 on the Texas Country Music Chart.
Ryan's schedule is booked and busy through to September, but he still plans to revisit the Coastal Bend in March and May of this year.
His March dates begin Mar. 17 with a show from 8-11 p.m. at TANNINS Wine Bar, followed by shows on Mar. 18 and May 6 at Padre Island Burger Company.
Ryan also plans to bring his honky tonkin' country flavor to the big time: he's set to perform at the Fun Town RV Show in Arlington's AT&T Stadium.
More information, merchandise, music platforms and future shows by Matthew Ryan can be found at his official website.