Rock Tour Rebel: Ryan Peel
Hometown: Memphis, Tennessee
Preferred Configuration: 22" bass, 12" tom, 14" Floor Tom, 14" Snare
Favored Appearance: Black Matte Finish
Affiliations: Ryan Peel (solo), Al Kapone, Lord Tand Eloise, Star and Micey, Susan Marshall, Sound Fuzion, So She Sang
Connection: ryanpeelmusic.com

Ryan Peel Biography

Memphis native Ryan Peel melds modern pop sensibilities with an old-school soul sound. His original compositions are embedded with vocal stylings worthy of Al Green's greatest hits, and his drumming skills are evocative of the circa-1960s Stax studio technique made famous by the legendary Al Jackson, Jr. Yet at 22, Peel is no mere revivalist - his songs are punctuated by a modern, urban slant that plays on hip-hop and southern rap.

"I feel like it's my responsibility to pay homage to my forefathers. I also want to appeal to people my age. I want to be true to those old school Memphis sounds in form, but at the end of the day, it all comes down to songwriting," says Peel, a second-generation Memphis musician who describes the arc that swoops through the history of his hometown music scene, encompassing B.B. King, Elvis Presley, Isaac Hayes and Justin Timberlake in the process, as a natural progression.

A riveting bandleader, Ryan holds down both percussion and vocal duties, relying on guitarist Alex Kramer and bassist David Parks, both finalists on MTV's Making His Band, keyboardist Claude Hinds, and a three-piece horn section to round out his group.

"At sixteen, I realized that music is not gonna cheat on me, or get sick of me, and I'm not gonna get sick of music. Music will always be there to comfort me," Peel muses about his cinematic theory of love. "I've been accused of aiming for something that's too idealistic. If it's not, I get out quickly. My feeling is, if there's no singular emotion, what's the point? I don't want to settle down with someone who's fun to spend time with, but nothing more."

His songs communicate complex emotions, personalities and situations. They recount our desires and disappointments with infectious harmonies and boundless rhythm. Not hard to believe that Peel was once lauded in the pages of GRAMMY Magazine as "a young Adam Levine with a twist of Kanye West." The honesty of his music has helped Ryan Peel build solid audiences at live performances and an ever growing fan base.

Ryan has also lent a hand on dozens sessions, cutting music for the award-winning documentary film I Am A Man and the MTV series $5 Cover, and held down the drummer's seat for a plethora of local artists, including rapper Al Kapone, hip-hop group Lord T & Eloise, and American Idol finalist Alexis Grace. The experience has shaped his artistic vision of himself and his sound. Peel has been relentlessly toiling with producer Scott Bomar (the Bo Keys, Hustle and Flow) on his debut album. The pair have been working in Bomar's analog recording studio Electraphonic in downtown Memphis working for a 2010 release date.

"What makes Memphis music, past and present, so real is that it's not produced," Peel says. "You're hearing what happens in the studio - a real product, not some guy layering instruments with ProTools - and I want to be the epitome of that. I want to give people something really intimate, rather than just singing over a track. Otherwise, where does real stop?"