Nashville Noise sat down with Arizona country singer-songwriter Ryan Sims to get his side of the story. Sims opened up about his influences, inspiration and his new EP.
Sims grew up in Indiana and was one of three kids raised by a single mom. From a young age, he felt an unexplainable connection to music. He even says he was able to understand music beyond his years from a young age. “I understood chord changes and melody at some deep intuitive level,” he says in his bio. Those early days he jokes that Mr. Rogers and Sesame Street were his musical influences but it didn’t take long for him to want to create on his own. At the age of 10, Sims was already on his way to being a self-taught musician.
Last fall, Nashville Noise was lucky enough to get to see Sims and his band perform an industry-only showcase. Rightfully so, the country singer had a few nerves leading up to the performance.
“Some would call it butterflies but I call it gassy,” he says with a laugh. “I’m kidding… kinda. Playing for industry folks is a double edge sword. It’s wonderful to have the opportunity, but they can seem cold because they are there for business. It feels more like a doctor’s visit than a concert.”
Shortly after his showcase, Sims released the music from his performance in the form of his newest EP, My Side of the Story. He says the EP is a mix of songs about “love, loss, happiness and sadness” from his perspective. He called the music, “therapy for me… [I] hope people can relate.”
He released “Get Away” as the EP’s lead single after “a very intense game of Russian roulette.” Don’t worry, he won. Sims jokes but says that they “felt that song was a great way to kick off the push to radio, press and the world.”
A standout track on the EP is “Black and Blue.” It’s an emotional song with a universal theme.
“It’s a boy meets girl [story where the] girl tears boy’s heart out, girl takes a large bite, girl throws away what remains [and] boy writes a sweet sounding song about it. Again, I think a lot of people will relate and hopefully relate enough to buy my EP — and come see me play live.”
Although he doesn’t have any tour dates up yet, you can expect lots more shows from Sims in the future. Join the mailing list on his official website for the most up-to-date information. As far as this year is concerned though, Sims has set some very attainable music goals.
He says he hopes to “tour, record more music, collaborate with other bigger artists, make fans one at a time and play, play, play. I hope to be in Nashville real soon, it’s becoming my second home it seems.”
