I've never had a talk with God, never even tried but that line stuck with me as I listened to Ryan Cassata's blisteringly truthful song Bamboo Plants where his story often times told in wistful admonitions of his life about people in his life will touch you in deceptively deep ways. The ratable aspects are many but what pulls at my heartstrings so fucking hard is the tenor of his feeling about life and surviving it's many trials and tribulations. Life is fucking hard. It just is and this beautiful kind or road worn, part country, part folk, part Americana is filled with a lot of loving acceptance of people and the shit they are going through and I guess we all just have to (as the refrain says) "figure it out."
Beautiful words.
Cassata offers:
"We recorded this to tape with a full band. It was so awesome to work with the tape machine in a studio that only runs on analog. I really wanted to dive into a more classic rock / lo-fi sound and I feel like we were really able to accomplish that here while capturing all the emotion behind every note. I love this recording because it's exactly the way we sound. There's no auto tune, there's no note fixes or punch in's. It's exactly how we sound at a live show."
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Robb Donker
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
Ryan Cassata is an award winning singer-songwriter, actor, performer, writer, LGBTQ activist & motivational speaker based in Los Angeles. With features in Rolling Stone, Billboard Magazine, The New York Times, Buzzfeed, and The NY Daily News, Ryan has made the most of his career, which started when he was just 13.
As a musician with over 600 performances touring across the United States and internationally, including being the first openly trans performer at the Vans Warped Tour, along with performing at SXSW and the world’s biggest pride festivals, Ryan has been praised by The Advocate Magazine- calling him a “Transgender singing sensation.” Paper Magazine put him on their "50 LGBTQ Musicians You Should Prioritize" list, and LOGO’s New Now Next included Ryan on the “9 Trans Musicians You Need To Get Into” list. Billboard Magazine put him on the "11 Transgender & Non-Binary Musicians You Need to Know" list and premiered his award winning music video "Daughter" which has been viewed over half a million times. He has also been heard on Sirius XM Radio, BBC Radio 4 and other radio stations around the world. Ryan Cassata currently performs and records with a full band in Los Angeles.
Ryan was the focus of the award winning documentary film “Songs for Alexis” which screened at Frameline SF, Raindance in the UK, Toronto Hot Docs, DOC NYC and more. He co-starred in the indie film "Collective: Unconscious," which premiered at SXSW, and received praise from Rolling Stone Magazine & The New York Times. Ryan was awarded with "Best Breakout Performance" by the Victoria Independent Film Festival in 2016. Ryan has also been featured in several musical theatre productions including a workshop production at New York Stage & Film's Powerhouse Theatre at Vassar. Ryan was a recurring guest-star on the Facebook show "Turnt", and has appeared in several commercials and print ads. Cassata has modeled for brands such as Lids, Bonobos, Lull, and was the official face of TomboyX’s Trans Pride Underwear line in 2019 which he modeled in The Style Section of The New York Times.
Ryan began his work as an activist at age 13 after joining "The Safe Schools Team" and giving dozens of public speeches near his hometown on Long Island, and became the youngest ever keynote speaker at the Philadelphia Trans Heath conference. He continues to give speeches at middle and high schools as well as universities all over the USA to share his story and teach students about the problems of bullying, and to help communities with their journey towards trans inclusivity. He is the first recipient of the Harvey Milk Memorial Award, and has made appearances on several news networks, notably, CNN and TV shows including The Larry King Live Show, and The Tyra Banks Show.
Ryan Cassata has written original journalism pieces (about LGBT issues, current events, and music) that have been published in The Huffington Post, The New York Times, Original Plumbing Magazine, Indie Music Bus, IndieWire, Strange Fire Music Blog, Rock The Pigeon Music Blog, and many more!
Currently, Ryan is in the final stages of editing his memoir and spending time in the studio with his band-recording a new album of original music which follows his most recent full-band production album SHINE.
Committed to educating the global community through music, film, print, tv and in-person speeches, Ryan sheds light on his experience of being transgender and the adversity he has faced as a man. Ryan continues to share his inspiring message of hope & acceptance via his social media platforms and at venues across the nation.
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