IT’S just another work day down on the farm, but Tamworth singer-songwriter Ryan Morris can’t quite keep his mind on the job – or wipe the smile from his face.
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Yesterday, for the fourth consecutive day, his debut single, Let Me Drive, was number one on the iTunes chart, something that’s totally blown this country boy’s mind.
“I can’t believe it. I’m even in front of Taylor Swift and that Burning House song everyone is raving about,” Ryan said.
The single was only released on January 4, so Ryan is impressed his first commercial recording has hit the ground running.
“It’s bizarre. I can’t get my head around it. When Katrina Burgoyne and I wrote that song, I never believed for a minute it would be so well accepted,” Ryan said.
“It’s just a dream come true. My family is absolutely rapt.”
Ryan is the first of four generations from his family to cut and release a record.
He comes from a long line of entertainers, with his great-grandfather performing in Gilbert and Sullivan productions in the Central Western districts of NSW.
His grandparents, on both sides, were singers in Sydney. His mother is a classically-trained singer and his father is a drummer, who studied with Warren Daly of the Daly-Wilson Big Band.
“I’ve worked so hard for 12 years on the road, gigging, and the past three years now in Tamworth and it’s paid off,” Ryan said.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg though, as the second single, Read Your Mind, is due out in March.
“That song was up for Best International Song in the TSA Awards last year and didn’t win, so it will be interesting to see what happens once it’s out there commercially.”
Both songs will be on the EP Ryan will hopefully have in his hot little hands by the time he takes The Albert stage for his first gig of the festival on Friday night.
The disc was recorded with Michael Cole at Myki Music studio, which is located at the historic Tamworth Town Hall.
“It was produced by Rusty Crook at the town hall and mastered by Ted Howard at Rancom Street Studios in Sydney,” Ryan said.
“Recording it in the town hall was kinda cool. I just like the hopeless romanticisim of that.
“I didn’t just do it in some studio somewhere – I did it in Tamworth in the town hall, where so much great music has been made over the years.”
Ryan will be working every day of the festival, performing with his band, Something Borrowed (Andrew McMahon, Michael Cole and Luke Dallas), at The Albert, The Longyard, Southgate and The Pub.