Ryan Ahlwardt at The Tarkington

When Ryan Ahlwardt emerged clutching his diploma from Indiana University in the spring of 2003, he was vastly unaware of the myriad places and people his talents would introduce him to over the next four years. Having his share of illustrious highlights as a member and Musical Director of Straight No Chaser, IU's nationally renowned men's a cappella group - such as opening for The Temptations and singing the National Anthem at The Brickyard 400 before an international audience of millions - Ahlwardt graduated fully satiated with his unique collegiate experience. Along with three fellow SNC alumni, he accepted an opportunity to set sail as a guest entertainer onboard Celebrity Cruises in May 2003. Forming the all-star powerhouse quartet The Coverdales - named after IU's star point guard in a rush to determine the group's name while in the studio recording their demo - the young men were soon underway, promising their parents they would put their hard-earned degrees to good use gallavanting upon the ocean singing doo-wop seven hours a week. After an exciting tour of the world - and many die-hard Coverdale fans later - Ahlwardt returned to Indiana's familiar environs to hone his crafts as a songwriter, singer, and guitarist. The gears were slowly turning in what would become his early twenties filled with economy-sized portions of soul-searching, guided direction and support from his family and friends, and many leaps of faith. "I returned to Bloomington to form a band and get reconnected with musicians who would challenge me as a songwriter," Ahlwardt said in a recent interview. He formed Mitchell Street Band - named after the group of friends' humble shoebox of a residence and rehearsal space for the next 15 months - with SNC/Celebrity alums Michael Luginbill and Nick Jaenicke. "With all the time to write songs out on the ocean, we came back with a sense of anticipation to begin performing them, create a buzz, and gather a following," Ahlwardt continues. He and his fellow band-mates cordially embarked upon different paths in early 2005, which marked a new milestone in his musical journey and an opportunity for Ahlwardt to gather a following of his own... And gather a following he did. With an intense touring schedule and word-of-mouth promotion from a rapidly growing fan base, Ahlwardt was able to take one of the nation's largest college towns by storm and rapidly expand his reach throughout the well-connected Midwest acoustic circuit. With a guitar-style akin to "James Taylor-meets-John Mayer," as Ahlwardt describes it, powerful vocals, catchy hooks, and conversational lyrics that his audiences could - and can - relate with, this up-and-coming singer/songwriter's early fans found him equally impressive and entertaining live. Through the buzzing promotional din that surrounded his early solo efforts, Ahlwardt could make out a distinctive new clamor fighting to be heard. The fan base he was cultivating persistently requested a CD at his shows, which caught Ahlwardt "admittedly off-guard." He approached Indianapolis-based drummer/engineer Darnell Perkins and Chicago-bred bassist Eugene McGhee - themselves former MSB members - to record a demo of three of his songs. The multi-talented trio's work quickly evolved into I Can See Forever, Ahlwardt's 10-song debut album released in May 2006 to an anxiously awaiting Hoosier market. Featuring - among others - songs about his seafaring adventures in pristine Alaska ("I Can See Forever"), friendly Floridian bartenders ("Holly"), and daydreams of distant summer road trips ("Windows Down"), ICSF was met with rave reviews from fans and regional music critics and became a standard in car stereos across the Midwest and, soon, the nation. Now 25-years old and "back home again in Indiana(polis)," Ryan has toured extensively throughout the Midwest in support of the album and shared the stage with such artists as Gabe Dixon, Ben Lee, Martin Sexton, Will Hoge, Corey Smith, and The Spin Doctors. By far, however, his most illustrious career highlight - as yet - was opening for The Beach Boys at the Indiana University Auditorium on October 28th, 2006 (alongside Perkins and McGhee). He reminisces: "Doug Booher (Director of the IU Auditorium and Ryan's former employer during his post-cruise ship days in Bloomington) called me to let me know that he "had some things brewing" that I might be interested in for the upcoming Homecoming weekend. I didn't think too much of it until he called two weeks later and asked me if I'd be interested in opening for The Beach Boys at the Auditorium. I thought he was joking. Next thing I know, I'm onstage playing my songs for 3,000 people and Mike Love & Co. are in the wings tapping their feet. It's a memory I'll never forget." Since ICSF's release, Ahlwardt has huddled gratefully next to such new-wave singer/songwriters as Ari Hest, Dave Barnes, Matt Wertz, and Marc Broussard in his twenty-something fans' iPods. He has not, however, forgotten the impact of the music of his parents' and grandparents' generations upon his songwriting style. "I was fortunate enough growing up to have my parents introduce me to the music of James Taylor, Seals & Crofts, America, Little River Band, Hall & Oates..." Ahlwardt rattles off, musing of earlier times. "My sister and I would be buckled up in the back seat of the Ahlwardt family camper singing everything from Kool & the Gang to Alabama at the top of our lungs as we rolled around Europe when I was a little kid," Ahlwardt remembers, laughing (Ahlwardt's father served in the Navy and was stationed in Germany at the time). "My grandparents also seasoned my musical palate with the likes of Elvis, The Beach Boys (which Ahlwardt adds was "completely full-circle when I got to open for them"), the Gershwin brothers, Cole Porter, Hoagy Carmichael, Mel Torme, Glenn Miller, Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky...you name it, I heard it." Ryan pays a sweet tribute to his grandparents on ICSF's "Turn My Head to Home" with its nostalgic imagery of nights along warm Florida waters underneath star-laden skies. "Once I started playing guitar back in 7th grade, I naturally gravitated back towards those artists' tunes," Ahlwardt continues. "Whether I knew it was happening or not - and I don't think I did - those formative years marked the onset of my career as a songwriter and musician. It's still second nature for me to listen to James Taylor's 'Sweet Baby James' record to get me back on track when I'm in a writing slump or any of John Mayer's albums when I need some inspiration," Ahlwardt reminisces, something that is evident that he enjoys - if not has a need to do, from hearing his collection of stories on ICSF. Speaking of Taylor - to whom Ryan tips his songwriter's hat in "Windows Down" - the legend has had a profoundly catalytic effect on Ahlwardt's future as a performer. Recounting the blistered fingers and gritty guitar strings of his youth, Ahlwardt recalls a much more recent date - Monday, November 13th, 2006 to be exact - that definitively altered his perception of his own future as a performer. Onstage on the Murat Theatre on a blustery Indianapolis fall evening sat Taylor, performing two hours of songs before a packed audience with only his guitar and an accompanying pianist. Amidst the seemingly palpable anticipation between songs, Ahlwardt watched in awe as Taylor graciously returned to stage for no less than three encores. He recalls telling his fiancé Lauren Orenga - his muse for "Saturday Night Live Girl" who gives a stellar vocal performance on "Turn My Head to Home," alone worthy of the album's purchase price - "That is what I want to do the rest of my life." And so it has begun for Ahlwardt, although "begun" may be too relative a term to describe his ongoing journey towards a yet-to-be-determined - or is it disclosed? - final destination. Acknowledging the opportunities and challenges that lay in wait ahead along his path, Ryan studiously takes notes from his trailblazing predecessors. Despite his many highlights and extensive resume', the Hoosier singer/songwriter claims to be "just getting started." We are invited to go along with him, bystanders-turn-travel companions, through his music, passion, and confidence in knowing that he is creating his own legacy with every note he sings and each song he leaves behind.