Bobby Evers writesIn Rotation: Ryan Burns

by Bobby Evers

Ryan Burns | The Institute | Self-Released

OK, a folky acoustic guitar EP. Got it. Tell me more. Well, for starters, the young Chicago songwriter, also a member of the band Distant Brothers, describes his own work as "genre-bending Americana songs on his banjo and guitar," and according to his bio, he was an ethnomusicology major, pulling subtle influences from Mande drumming, and traditional Irish music. Track 1 sounds like it might be a cross between something off the Llewyn Davis soundtrack and from the Michigan singer-songwriter Matthew Shelton. Track 2 starts with a banjo that grabs you immediately. An aspect of this release that makes it hyper-local is that each track was inspired by a different work at the Art Institute of Chicago, where the EP gets its name from.