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Gimme Five

Gimme 5: Greg Ryan

17 February 2025 39

Greg was a recent guest on the Pure Local Show. He's an amusing guy who is a multi-instrumentalist. His song "Elevator Club" was selected as Newport City Radio's Record Of The Week. Here are 5 things you never knew about Greg...

How old were you when you wrote your first song? What was it about and do you still play it?

I started writing piano music when I was about 11 but didn’t get into writing songs until much later. I wrote Memphis Time when I was 22 and still sing it to this day. The way I view my songs changes all the time though. i first wrote Memphis Time about a friend going through a long distance relationship. It felt like a good brief but not something I was hugely emotionally engaged with. I recently got asked to play the song at the wedding of some really good friends. That has totally changed how I view playing the song live and reframed it as a love song that means something personal to me.

What instruments do you play and are there any you would like to learn?

I play piano, harp, guitar, ukulele, saxophone and sing. I just found a clarinet at my parents’ house that I’d quite like to incorporate into my live shows. I’d love to get really good at the violin but that’s a steep and screechy learning curve.

If you could sit down and write with any legendary songwriter, past or present who would it be?

I’m going to go fairly local with my legend choice and say Martyn Joseph. I saw him perform recently at Acapela Studio in Cardiff and he’s a person that can engage a room for hours with just voice and a guitar. His songwriting style is deceptively simple and deeply rooted in the folk tradition. Amazing at telling stories about people whose stories need telling. Also a big fan of Kate Rusby and her ability to make light hearted subjects into properly beautiful folk ballards. Her shows are always top notch too.

Where in the world would you most like to visit - why?

I like cold places so anything Arctic or Scandinavian suits me! Wouldn’t mind braving the boat down to Antarctica to hang out with the penguins too.

Tell us about a local band or solo we should seek out. Why?

Ok this is going to be super difficult to pick just one. I recently did a show at Le Pub with Dan’s People and they are a huge amount of fun. They have lots of genuinely well written songs and you always leave their shows with a big smile on your face.

They are all excellent people as well as being excellent musicians too. Also love Generation Feral – anti-establishment looped ukulele spoken word warrior – what is actually not to love there!

Also Ophelia’s Beard – I saw them as a support band at le pub last year and it was one of those moments where you felt you’d discovered something properly special. Also, Afbob, McDermott and North and Jack Lloyd. I could write many a paragraph about all of them but I sense I’m already pushing my luck with this answer…