Ryan Sterling – High Road
Ryan Sterling is a Melbourne singer-songwriter and musician. His new album High Road follows on from 2022’s acclaimed Specks of Golden Dust, songs from which were featured in The Guardian’s best Australian songs of June 2022. High Roadshows the range of musical styles that Sterling loves. His honest storytelling combined with earnest delivery and a unique fingerpicking guitar style helps the songs soar.
High Road’s 22 songs range from loose rock and roll numbers to fingerpicked folk inspired tunes. Songs which blend elements of folk, country, blues, rock, jazz and pop. Like most of Sterling’s releases, it was self-recorded with Ryan writing, recording, playing, singing and mixing all instruments. A Fender Stratocaster obtained from a good friend was a fresh source of inspiration. It inspired a number the of songs on High Road to be based around the electric guitar. The album features many non-standard recording techniques such as found percussion rather than drum kits and many of the instruments recorded through an ancient Tascam 244. As with all of Sterling’s albums, there are plenty of songs played in Keith Richards’ open G tuning.
Songs written in dreams, songs written in the shower, songs about illness, Australian history and most significantly, songs that are the result of the accumulation of experiences, conversations and Ryan’s everyday life. High Road is certainly Sterling’s most lyrically upbeat album.
Years collecting records and working in a second-hand record store have helped Ryan combine a broad range of influences across many genres. Ryan has a melodic fingerpicking style which draws as much from Joni Mitchell and Nick Drake as it does from Keith Richards’ open G playing and Neil Young’s loose electric attack. His evocative harmonica playing is inspired by the melodic single note playing of Young as well as the loose playing of Dylan. His honest lyrics often tell a story with clever phrases and rhymes.
