Ryan Cook and Sunny Acres

Ryan Cook :
Once known as Yarmouth's best, and most prolific screamer, and a veteran of the metal scene (Shadirpruf, Martyr's Brigade, Eddybulls), Ryan Cook pulled a complete 180 a few years ago and began focusing his attention on country music. He describes his newest record, "Sunny Acres," as an album "where old meets new." True to that, Ryan is making music that a music fan of any age can enjoy. Like the Milton Bradley games, Ryan can be enjoyed from ages 8 to 88 (and everywhere else before and after). This return to roots music has allowed Ryan to explore a new scene and start making interesting and honest music, that involves relatively less screaming.

Well I started singing in a band when I was in grade 8 with my friends Paul and Mark, (they both grew up to be much taller than me), from that day until the Summer of 2005 I sang lead vocals in various metal bands like Martyrs Brigade and Eddybulls. In most of these bands I was a screamer. Often I would try to incorporate singing and screaming to be a bit more original than some of the other acts i listened to. It sure was fun, and a lot of people were very kind to me, they often encouraged me to do more singing! After spending 10 years playing around Nova Scotia at the amateur level with many different bands I started to feel a separation between myself and the people I was singing to. I didnt really feel like I fit in anymore with the metal scene, and decided to step down permanently from the Eddybulls to take some time off from music. A very short time later I began listening to some old cassettes that a World War 2 veteran had given me when I was in a hospital about 5 years ago. I had always thought the music on these tapes was nostalgic and a lot of fun, but I had never bothered to look into the artists who sang these songs. It was Tennessee Ernie Ford, Patsy Cline, Marty Robbins, and even Merle Haggard, all of whom would come to have an influence on the music I write today. Eventually I looked back into the old records I remembered seeing around my grandparents house, when I was a kid - and my grandfolks were still alive! After spending months intensively studying bluegrass/old timey and country music, I started to write my own songs. I hope that with each song I write I can be honest and write from the real experiences of my heart. I am a big believer in old time music, I dont have much appeal for todays country music.