NEW LONDON, NH - February 9—It’s been barely a month since the State of New Hampshire—this performance’s location—was invaded by the national carnivores participating in what is known as the First-in-the-Nation Presidential Primary election. Its impact amounts to the synergistic combination of a vicious outlaw motorcycle gang-meet of yore and a Shriners Convention gone awry. Where the Shriners are concerned, however, there is an underlying purpose to do good and honorable charitable things, which is more than can be said for our oldest national bloodsport—presidential elections.

The national political circus arrived in NH for a five-day run which turned into the human tsunami NH expects and probably desires. The international spotlight is an addiction that the State (as opposed to its typical citizens) desperately fights to maintain at any cost.

This cycle’s warriors blew into town talking about “change we can believe in,” “change with experience,” and something about “ready on day one” which morphed into “ready for change.” Forget that change can be for the better or for the worse. They ask us to embrace change for its own sake; they've argued health care, free trade, immigration reform. But first and foremost, they’re all going to change something, in the faith that history is governed by some law of progress which guarantees that change is almost always an improvement.

You know who these individuals are. I don’t need to name names here, and they certainly don’t need even more exposure than they’re presently receiving. I’ll only conclude that at this juncture the three leaders of the pack (both major political parties included) are members of the coveted U.S. Senate—a body originally designed to prevent radical and expeditious change to occur. Go figure!

So it’s nice—pleasantly so—to see two individuals bring a semblance of REAL change to the State of New Hampshire, in the guise of a whole new way of presenting their already familiar repertoire. Ryan Green and Cameron Hood may just be the real change agents of 2008, proving that limited (just the duo) doesn’t mean small or weak.

Colby-Sawyer College is located at the cusp of New Hampshire’s Mount Ossipee and Ragged Mountain. It’s known as NH’s scenic central region. The student center building has a nice auditorium which lent itself to better-than-decent acoustics—always a plus for a Ryanhood performance. Ryan and Cameron never sounded better (and I’m confident in my assertion, having seen them play every conceivable type of venue over the past few years) or presented themselves in quite the same way, and that’s the change factor that prevailed.

You can see it in the photographs; Ryan playing percussion instruments, including an exotic tambourine, and Cameron sporting an adjustable neck brace harmonica holder. Then there’s the mandolin; the shiny, beautiful mandolin Ryan now plays whilst performing “Gardens and the Graves.” Well, he always made his Ovation guitar sound just like a mandolin, but the real thing makes for a highly impressive soundscape. What isn’t obvious to the casual viewer are the pedals Ryan Green now employs and utilizes, the specifics of which were explained to a curious inquirer post-show that, as is always the case, escaped me. All I can tell you here is that this device enriches the instrumental sound significantly.

Ryanhood is becoming a two-man orchestra. The visual impact is just as effective as the sonic; this new presentation makes them even more interesting to watch. There aren’t any gimmicks here, however. Every change in instrumentation has an affect on the music and the songs that are involved. It may appear to be extemporaneous, but I suspect that it was very well thought out and considered. I can assure everyone reading this to both a metaphysical and moral certitude that Ryanhood 2008 is a different Ryanhood live than its previous incarnation, and in a good way. Change, in this case, should not be confused with improvement. Ryanhood certainly weighs the costs and benefits of change, and considers its unintended consequences. Ryanhood, first and foremost, seriously takes into consideration that which must be conserved and how they may do that faithfully. I’m not suggesting that Ryanhood 2008 is the “new and improved” Ryanhood; only that it’s a slightly different version of what devoted followers have come to expect. I have the utmost of confidence that everyone will appreciate what has evolved.