CCM alum performs new EP on WCPO's Lounge Acts
Commercial Music Production alum Ryan Fine released "Square One" on July 10
Cincinnati TV news station WCPO featured UC College-Conservatory of Music alumnus Ryan Fine and his new EP "Square One" in a "Lounge Acts" performance at the Northside Yacht Club on July 10, 2020. The Nashville-based musician shared the four songs featured on the EP and talked about what life has been like for him as a musician during the pandemic.
Watch Fine's WCPO Lounge Acts performance. The segment was shot and produced by WCPO Mulitmedia Producer and CCM Electronic Media alumnus Brian Niesz (BFA, '02).
Ryan Fine. Photo/Ryan Fine
"This is such a weird time to be a musician," Fine (BFA Commercial Music Production, '17) told WCPO. "As soon as it happened, I lost all my regular work playing as a performing musician."
His performances during the pandemic were cancelled, but Fine has found other ways to share his music with the world. His debut EP "Square One" features four songs: Want It, Party for Two, Pretend and Square One. The concept album was inspired by Fine's own experiences with bad dates, budding relationships and heartbreak. It is available on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal and Deezer.
Fine also started Fine-Tuned Custom Songs to create original works for music lovers during the pandemic. He creates an original song based on what the customer wants. Customers can request songs for any occasion, specifying the tone and style of music. Prices for the songs start at $50. Fine has been writing and producing custom songs for kids going through traumatic experiences with the Songs of Love Foundation since 2016.
He was voted Best Instrumentalist of 2019 by readers of the Nashville Scene. As an artist he has over 336,000 streams on Spotify. Cincinnati audiences may remember his jazz pop group Ryan Fine & The Media, which performed a set at the Midpoint Music Festival in 2016. Learn more about Fine on his professional website.
Ryan Fine has had an incredible start to his music career in Nashville. He has netted over 336,000 streams from his music on Spotify and won Nashville’s Best Instrumentalist of 2019 in the Nashville Scene’s Reader’s Poll. He is following all of these accomplishments with his new "Square One" EP.
Fine is from Cincinnati, Ohio, where he began honing his skills as a performer, songwriter, pianist and producer at CCM. He had his own jazz pop group (Ryan Fine & The Media) and played many shows, including a set at Midpoint Music Festival in 2016. This is also when he released his first studio album, "Alone With Dreamers," which City Beat Magazine said “shined a bright light on the essence of his impressive songwriting."
Fine is excited about his new EP, "Square One," produced by Andy Sheridan (Ben Rector, Hunter Hayes). This four-song EP was co-written with some of his favorite Nashville-based songwriters and each song went through many stages to get to where they are on the finished product. While Fine is pleased with the pieces of him in each of these songs, he also knows he couldn’t have done this alone.
“One of my biggest challenges and greatest triumphs on "Square One" was learning to let go a bit and embrace the talented people around me. I am extremely proud of the songs I’ve written and knew they would speak for themselves, but the way they actually turned out on the EP is better than I ever could have imagined.”
On top of Fine’s artist career, he also co-writes for other musicians and bands, plays piano for other projects and private events, has songs that have made it as television placements, and recently started a custom songwriting business called Fine-Tuned Custom Songs. Fine is happy to be in a place where he can survive on music and pour all of his time and energy into it, and also incredibly excited to share his new EP with everyone, whether it be online or in person at one of his shows.
Feature image at top: Ryan Fine at the piano. Photo/Ryan Fine
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