BLOOMFIELD, CT - January 14--The prevailing murmur in the room was about the two guys from Boston who would be headlining at this particular monthly Wintonbury Coffeehouse Music Series. A few of the tables, after all, were occupied by young people who weren’t members of the Wintonbury Church, which is what the promoters of this series were eagerly anticipating. Their desire is for this series to reach out to music fans outside the Wintonbury Church family.

They’re serious about what they do. The Coffeehouse is housed within a fairly large basement of a modern structure including a stage area complete with stage lights, and a sound board to boot—operated, incidentally, by an extraordinarily conscientious person with exacting standards who wants the performers’ audio diffusion to project perfectly. Wintonbury’s Music Series is a solid production, presented in a very loose and entertaining manner by a comedic wit of an MC named Tim, whose manifestation is similar in many ways to comedian Jeff Foxworthy.

But who were these two guys from Boston, anyway? Hadn’t they recently opened for some big pop star to maximum audience critical acclaim? And which one was it? All these questions permeated the atmosphere, and some of the Ryanhood fans weren’t certain for sure who it was. Wasn’t it Tyler Hilton (well, THAT one almost happened)? Or was it Jason Mraz (which is the correct answer, and actually occurred more than once)?

Boston is considered the “Hub” of New England, and serves as the region’s media, musical, cultural, educational, and athletic epicenter. Many communities throughout New England strive to match what Boston/Cambridge has to offer in the way of performing arts, but it’s typically pale by comparison. Being an established Boston artistic entity still means a great deal when said performers appear elsewhere in this six-state area.

MC Tim told the audience a bit about Ryanhood, which went something like this: Ryan chose to pursue his college studies in Boston (Berklee College of Music), while Cameron chose Arizona (U Arizona). Seeking a locale in between to pair up again as a musical duo, they settled on, of all places, Mosquito, Arkansas—only to opt for Ryan’s adopted home, Boston, in the end. Mosquito, Arkansas! Well, it doesn’t exist—but it sure sounded good enough the way Tim told it. See for yourselves. Ryan quipped to the audience that he and Cameron may just have acquired something new for the official Ryanhood playbook. That’s the last the crowd heard about Arizona, which is unusual for Ryanhood; they always establish themselves as emanating first from Tucson, and then Boston. This evening Boston was the Ryanhood point of reference, a prudent decision overall.

In this light, perhaps “Stopless,” with its Boston allusions, was the ideal choice for the set’s opener. It certainly was from a musical standpoint. It kicked the show into high gear at the outset. The rest of the material, with the sole exception of the Postal Service/Jimmy Eat World medley “Such Great Heights/The Middle,” consisted of Ryanhood originals from each of their three CDs along with three as-yet-unrecorded songs.

This event and evening, in all actuality, belonged more to the opening act, Anna Brewer, than to the headliners Ryanhood. Anna is a very thoughtful and talented young singer/songwriter and performer. She also has deep roots and a long, long history with the Wintonbury Church. She and her family have been members for years; Anna literally grew up and came of age in the Wintonbury environment. Her immediate and extended family comprised the greater percentage of the respectably-sized audience, and they could have all potentially left after her excellent performance. The prevailing weather conditions were less than ideal that night.

Instead, Anna displayed a level of graciousness, maturity, and sophistication well suited to her type of music, which by her own admission is heavily influenced by Jewel and Fiona Apple with classical overtones and shades of Evanescence and Coldplay in the mix. Her classiness and outright elegance culminated with an enthusiastic endorsement for Ryanhood. In fact, she informed the audience that they were going to be very surprised by the duo, based on what she heard during their sound check. Everyone in the audience, to a person, remained to hear them.

Ryanhood didn’t disappoint. Just the opposite. They were firing on 16 cylinders both instrumentally and harmonically. Their set should have concluded with their now firmly established closer “Alright.” Encore demands changed that. Ryanhood asked for requests, and one for Ryan’s “Can I Kiss You” materialized immediately, so that’s how this particular performance ended.

The producers-promoters of this series have a firm philosophy as regards live musical presentation. Whereas a wide diversity of musical styles (everything from modern folk, traditional folk, Celtic, gospel, bluegrass, pop, jazz, light/acoustic rock, and modern/alternative sounds) are featured, no drum machines, midi tracks, or taped accompaniments are allowed, and performers who depend on them aren’t booked for the series. See the Wintonbury Coffeehouse’s Purpose and Programming and Live Music Policy. The live music statement, in particular, is interesting, and in many ways very poignant. I don’t agree with all of its facets, though. Ryanhood, after all, has resorted to this new technology, very effectively, on their Forward CD (“Helpless Hopeless” features drum programming sequences). It certainly didn’t make Cameron’s tour de force piece any less real or artificial as compared to its normal live rendition by just the duo. I do, however, fully respect the policy that Wintonbury Coffeehouse has developed, implemented, and enforces.

If I may steal (as opposed to “borrow”) a phrase or two from Wintonbury’s live music statement—don’t forget, talent borrows; genius steals—then Ryanhood indeed met all of the Coffeehouse’s hopes for optimal emotional impact that live accompaniment creates. Ryanhood, as always, successfully created a sense of intimacy and immediacy. The performance we heard was exclusive to this audience and evening, if even in the slightest and subtlest manner— created just for them, and will never be done exactly this way again. Ryanhood, as always, adapted their program to the needs and mood of this particular audience. They certainly care enough about their music and those who will listen to it to rehearse and further refine their craft together and to present the best performance they can, and this dedication to themselves and their listeners sends a very positive message to any of their audiences. These are things I’ve proclaimed time and again throughout these Ryanhood Reader reports, and they manifest themselves whenever and wherever Ryanhood performs, from subways and street festivals to clubs and theaters, performance halls, amphitheaters, and everything in between. Their level of intimacy and sincerity with audiences always connects, and in a way uniquely appropriate for that particular group of spectators. I’ve witnessed it over and over again.

David D[ionne]