This is my worst of my life and best of my life in one song.  I recorded this the fall of 1999, a couple of months after I got sober.  I was with a friend in Ohio and finished the song during Thanksgiving dinner.  I had started the song the summer of '99 and could not finish it without crying.  Had no idea I was reaching out for help, and boy did I need it.  Thankfully a lot of people knew what to do with me and even more thankfully I did what I was told.  Steve McQueary, engineer extraordinaire, recorded this at The Static Shack, Bob & Tom's studio in Indianapolis.  It was a magical night that I will never forget, as it was the first sober song I had ever recorded.  Enjoy.  This is posted by request of some very courageous women I spoke to last week.  

Home

http://www.jimrysersongs.com  This is one of my favorite songs on the disc - the haunting guitar solo takes me back to the early days when I wanted to emulate David Gilmour and Alex Lifeson.  The lyrics were based on change of course - the "dance" lyric was based on the fact that after I got sober I changed the way I danced and some people liked it and some did not.  Regardless, sonically I love the whole of the song as each piece feels in place - from the Ulliean pipes (Irish bagpipe) to the sound of my Volbrecht electric guitar in my original Marshall that I used on the very first album.  This was the first song I did that made me branch into new sounds.  I did the solo late at night and the vocals very early in the morning. The spoken word at the end you can use a QR reader on the CD or the website to see - let me know if you have trouble!

Rule The Earth

http://www.jimrysersongs.com This is by and away my favorite cover off the CD.  It is a double CD and since I found that additional box people are getting the discs!  Thought I would throw another tune out here for those who like the old school style that is truly me.  This was recorded on my 16 track analog machine back in 2007, and I still love the sounds off this song today.  I had a terrible cold when I did the background vocals which was cool since it sounded different enough and not just a bunch of Jim Rysers singing!  I had no trouble securing a license from Paul Simon, but this song can't be downloaded as the license was only for CD sales!

Jim's CDs for sale here:

Scarborough Fair

This is the song that started it all over again!  I was in Iowa with Scott Prucha doing some turkey hunting and filming for Midwest Whitetail, and this song chorus came to me while I was taking a dump.  I had my cell phone and recorded it, and then it led to this song!  This was a really fun one to record, and I had Michael Clark play steel guitar on this.  I downloaded the song to a file, Michael loaded it into his studio, he recorded it, and sent back his part.  How cool is that?  I love this song as every time I play it it takes me right to Iowa, one of my favorite places in the world.  $5.00 of all proceeds fro the weekend of June 1 who buy the CD will go to two members of the MW pro staff who have cancer to help defray the costs of meds.  I had originally said the next 10 but they went quick so get in and help if you can!

Buy the disc!

Cold Spring

04  All I Want For Christmas Is You

06 Nuttin' For Christmas

08 Grown Up Christmas List

09 It Wasn't His Child

I wrote this for Drew Yarkosky for his Cabela's "Out West" show.  This one is a favorite because everyone who hears it sees in their minds what Drew put on the show.  You can see it on the 11/8/2012 show - just go to Cabela's website and get into Deer Nation, and then click on "Out West."  

Utah

I wrote this one for Drew as well.  He and Mike Lutt were in Nevada hunting mule deer, ane they went from the bases and 65 degree weather to snow and cold wind in the mountains by the end of the day.  Drew and Mike wanted a song that reflected hunting in that snowy environment and this was it. I had recorded the solo (yes, I am a David Gilmour wannabe) on the first take, although I played and recorded it several times just for the joy of doing so.  I love writing for these guys!! 

Fighting The Elements

I had a disc out with Arista Records in 1990 which had one minor hit song called Same Old Look. Fortunately I earned enough to go to college, grad school, and now run a program in a major hospital system in the Midwest to help people with addiction and pain. 

Fighting The Elements

Jim Ryser

Recent comments

Adele Rice

Related tracks