Gerry Ryan Biography

Gerry was born and raised in Ireland, surrounded by a very musical family. At the age of six, he commenced musical training through the Royal Irish Academy of Music and Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann. He majored in Piano Forte, Piano Accordion, Dance and Theatre. Gerry began writing his own music at the age of nine and received commendations on his original works from adjudicators in a number of piano competitions. Throughout his early teens, he represented his county and province in music, dance and theatre and won provincial and national competitions as a soloist and group performer.

While studying English and Theology in Maynooth, Gerry was a member of the music society and students union for three years. In that time, he played a major role as a songwriter, arranger and musician for a variety of performances at the college halls winning a number of prizes in music contests. On finishing his studies, Gerry set out to pursue a career as a musician and songwriter.

Gerry moved to the UK in the late 80's and set about establishing himself in the music scene. Forming a number of bands in Leeds and Manchester, Gerry soon became the driving force behind the material and the musical arrangements. The bands toured throughout the UK supporting a number of established acts on their European tours, including Incognito and Ronnie Spector, and were featured on the main Virgin stage in the Sound City Music Industry festival, Leeds.

During this time, Gerry secured a management deal with Mercenary Music - tour managers for Simply Red, Tina Turner, Phil Collins and many others.

Gerry’s songs and the bands performance gained much interest from UK music industry professionals including EMI, Brian May from Queen, Rondor Music and Gut Records. Suitably impressed, Rondor Music invited the band to record their tracks at the studios in London. Subsequently, Elliot Kennedy, songwriter and producer for the Spice Girls, Take that, Celine Dion and Brian Adams, showed a major interest in the band and worked with them for over two years at his Steelworks Studios, Sheffield.

In 2000, Gerry left the band to pursue a career as an independent songwriter and producer. Returning to studies in 2001 at the Leeds College of Music, he developed new skills in writing and producing music for radio, television, film and multimedia. As a result, he secured some interesting projects that included:

	Full digital scoring and orchestration for a production of West Side Story at Siamsa Tire, the national folk theatre of Ireland
	Production, arrangement and conducting of a choral performance as part of the Queens jubilee concert in Leeds, UK
	Production, writing and arrangement, Pyramix Studios, as part of a televised performance at the international music festival in the conference centre, Cairo.
	Provided soundtrack and editing services for BBC radio Leeds, UK

Graduating in 2004 with a BA(Hons) degree in music and sound production, Gerry set up his own company, LaDeDa Productions, writing and producing music for radio, television and multimedia projects. Some of the contracts include:

	Music production, voice over projects and sonic branding for a number of clients listed with Leagus Video, UK. Contracts ranged from full corporate branding and presentation productions, to music for multimedia online video, corporate training, promotional and educational voice over services.
	Writing and producing full sing radio commercials for the Forever Broadcasting Corporation, USA - view jingle demo >>
	Advertising music for a number of regional and national television campaigns with Wigwam TV and Chief TV, Manchester, UK - view TV demo >>
	Designed and delivered a music educational programme, “Melodious”, for schools in West Yorkshire, UK - view multimedia demo >>
	Product development, writing, arranging and production of an independent album release for a UK recording artist - view artist page >>

In 2008, Gerry and his partner moved to Canada in the pursuit of new adventures, and has recently signed a broadcasting music publishing deal with Northstar Music in London, UK. He is currently writing and producing soundtracks to be featured on television, documentary and film productions.

Gerry is a member of Taxi Music A&R, the Songwriters Guild and Canadian Musicians Union.