Meet Ryan Byrne
Ryan Byrne grew up in a family business, Byrne Auto, in the small town of Gorham, New Hampshire. As a teenager, Ryan learned how difficult it can be for a small family business to compete against corporate national chains. Always a champion for the underdog, he became fascinated with brainstorming ways in which agile, quick-to-adapt small businesses could not only survive, but thrive in the presence of lumbering corporate giants. But Ryan also had another love – performing music. Having been a part of the school band program from 4th grade all the way through his senior year of high school, Ryan pursued music when it came time for college. He studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts for a year before going on to earn his Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Plymouth State University in Plymouth, New Hampshire. It was during his time at Plymouth State that Ryan formed his rock band, Nostalgic Distortion, as well as an independent recording and distribution label, Dissonance Records with some fellow music department classmates.
Immediately after college Ryan took a position as a music teacher in rural northern New Hampshire not very far from his hometown. He continued to perform and record with Nostalgic Distortion, and even recorded as a solo artist when he released a song locally in 2003 called “Good Night Boss”. The tribute song was written after the fall of The Old Man of the Mountain – a prehistoric natural rock formation that resembled a face, and serves as a state symbol featured on state highway signs and the NH quarter. Ryan formed another recording label imprint, 251 Records, to record, distribute, and promote the CD-single.
Ryan taught in New Hampshire for 6 years, but his desire to pursue his music career to the next level got the best of him, and in October of 2004, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee. After a couple years of networking and gigging around Nashville, Ryan had the opportunity to become the bassist for then newly-signed indie-label country artist, Stephen Cochran. Ryan would keep this post for the next 10 years, undertaking multiple tours throughout the USA and an international Armed Forces Entertainment tour to the Middle East.
Ryan married his wife, Misha, in 2012 and they now make their home in Misha’s native city of Knoxville, Tennessee. Over the years, Ryan became a serious student of website design and development, social media, and digital marketing to promote his various musical and business projects. He also built websites and managed social media pages for his family’s business in New Hampshire.
In late 2013, Ryan founded 251 Media, to offer his web development and digital marketing services to other artists and small businesses. In 2017, he rebranded 251 Media as 251 Group, to serve as an umbrella business name under which Ryan offers a wide range of products and services including music lessons, live music, recorded music and publishing, digital marketing and promotion, ecommerce, SEO/SEM, web design and development, and related services such as web hosting, web security, domain name registration and renewals, and premium domain name sales and leasing.
To learn more about Ryan Byrne, visit www.RyanByrne.com.
