Ryan Sheeler - http://www.ryansheeler.com
Ryan is a guitarist, composer, and singer-songwriter based in Central Iowa.
Born and raised in Ames with detours through Chicago and Iowa City, Ryan starting playing classical guitar at age 8. Soon after hearing Chuck Berry, The Ventures, Eric Clapton and Van Halen, he was hooked. :) From a very young age, Ryan showed an interest in writing. In his youth he heard songs by Dan Fogelberg, The Beatles, and Billy Joel, and soon tried some songwriting of his own. In college he performed with Flying Taxi, while studying musical composition, classical guitar, and tuba. He also studied theory/composition, conducting, musicology, low brass, and saxophone at Iowa State University and the University of Iowa.
Ryan continues to work as a free-lance guitarist in the Central Iowa area. For the past 27 years has served in the Worship Arts Ministry at Christ Community Church (formerly First Evangelical Free Church) of Ames. He has also performed all over Iowa for fun for dances, parties, fundraisers, festivals, weddings and other events in the bands Flying Taxi (1992-97), The River, (1994-97), The Box Brothers (2000-2016), KandyStore (2011-14), and currently with The Rag Doll Incident (2017-present).
After many of years of playing bands and groups, Ryan decided to strike on his own as a solo artist in 2006. In that time he has released 6 albums: Prayers and Promises (2006), Letters From North of Town (2008), Light In The Rain (2009) and Polk County Line (2011), Skies and Shadows (2013), A Star Above The Highway (2015), and Roads We've Taken (2020).
Ryan's own music blends, of country, rock, pop, blues R&B, Gospel/CCM styles and jazz. He has performed in venues all over Central Iowa such as: Cafe Diem, Cafe Milo, Zeke's, DG's Tap House, The Space for Ames, Mars Cafe, Ritual Cafe, The House of Bricks, Vaudeville Mews, Green Grounds Cafe, The Royal Mile, El Bait Shop, and the Des Moines Social Club.
Fully aware of his own need for the Grace that Jesus offers freely, Ryan's songs are stories about life's events, his relationships both with God and the people God puts in his path.