Ryland Moranz – XO, 1945
Tonic Records – 15 January 2021
Based in Lethbridge, Alberta, Ryland Moranz is a man of many talents: singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, session musician, audio engineer, experienced tour manager, and accomplished visual artist. Oh yeah, and he’s also a qualified pilot.
In Canada at least, Moranz is presently best known as a key member of the prolific Albertan roots rocker Leeroy Stagger’s kickass band, the Rebeltone Sound, handling guitars, mandolin, banjo, and backing vocals. Stagger and Moranz effectively share bands, with the former’s Rebeltone Sound cohorts Tyson Maiko (upright bass), Kyle Harmon (drums) and Michael Ayotte (keyboards, accordion, percussion) also comprising the latter’s outfit, the Darkest Secrets. Adding to this the facts that – following 2016’s Hello Old New World – Moranz’s second solo release, XO, 1945, was recorded at Stagger’s Rebeltone Ranch studio; engineered, mixed and (alongside Maiko) co-produced by the pair, epitomizing teamwork they have between them built an economical and self-contained business model to sustain their interlocking combos. Otherwise, the only guests aboard for this fine new album are cellist George Fowler (Junkman’s Quire/Lethbridge Symphony) and veteran champion fiddler/composer Calvin Volrath, architect of over 70 of his own albums spanning almost three decades.
The easiest and most direct way to point listeners to what Moranz does is to say if you enjoy solid roots-rock in the vein of Steve Earle, Bruce Springsteen, Blue Mountain or Lucero, and folk acts such as the late icon John Prine and Old Man Luedecke, with occasional bluegrass-y intervention and prairie balladry, you cannot fail to appreciate his music. It’s a melodic, down-home arcadian sound that neither breaks new ground nor the time-tested mould from which great Canadiana is so consistently crafted. Loaded with quicksilver clawhammer banjo, animated fiddle and heartfelt vocals, XO, 1945 is a stirring, poignant, nostalgic, and rustic collection of songs.
What of that curious title, though? It’s actually a clue to some of the inspirations behind Moranz’s material. A voracious reader, he favours history books and classic literature, Hemingway and Vonnegut being particular favourites. (Another Moranz hero is Joe Strummer, who he’d be delighted to learn once wisely said, ‘I like to read because it’s the opposite of being on the go. Reading is the perfect antidote.’) Combining these literary flavours with life experiences, stories from the road, personal observations, and contemplations of the world around him, Moranz’s excellent songs are the satisfying end result.
“I feel less like a writer of fiction and more like a collector of sorts,” he says. “It’s a romantic notion, but I like the idea of being a hopeful observer of the world and the people in it. I think in a roundabout way that’s what the new record is about, and kind of why I called it ‘XO, 1945’ – kind regards from a past that’s different than you remember.”
Photo Credit: David Guenther