Press release from event organizers:
Ian Ridenhour and his band will make their Isis debut on Thursday, Oct. 27.
Ian is a unique performer. 2016 marks not only his sixteenth birthday, but also ten years as a professional musician. He began drumming with Bismarck, ND-based band Blind Mice at only six years old, the youngest band member by thirty years. He added songwriting the next year, and has never looked back.
In the decade since, Ian has shared the stage with artists like The Accidentals, Tigirlily, and local favorites David LaMotte and BJ Leiderman, composed classical and jazz music for concert and big band ensembles, been nominated in the same year for Best Percussionist and Best Keyboardist at the North Dakota Music Awards, played on albums by David LaMotte and Bronwyn Holmes, and recorded his own album, 2014’s Quietly Making Noise. In February of this year, he was the biggest winner on Who Wants to Be A Millionaire’s Whiz Kid week. Those winnings have funded the new album Cry About It, produced by Michael Hynes at Nomatic Studios in Asheville, as well as two music videos, directed by award-winning Asheville filmmaker Kira Bursky.
Of the new album, the Asheville Mountain Xpress says: “Though the subject matter comes from tricky emotions and real talk, Ridenhour’s songs are far from downers. Instead, the writing is pop-savvy and smart; his performances are dynamic, with hooky melodies, frenzied riffs and kinetic, danceable energy.”
PopMatters says of Ian: “There is a certain melodic flair to the man’s music that comes across as very pop-sensible, but without sacrificing any of the darkly, sometimes Burtonesque gloom of his overall musical persona. Even still, there’s a warmth and a kindness, there, too, and it all blends together to develop what is easily one of the more diverse piano-centered rock acts of modern times to uncover.” Or as Sav Buist of The Accidentals says, “[Ian] sounds like Jack White and Ben Folds had a baby.”
The show at Isis Music Hall will feature the album’s producer/engineer Michael Hynes on bass, James Kylen on drums, and Ian’s father Jamieson on guitar, with Ian fronting the band on keys and vocals. The performance starts at 7pm.
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