Meet Ryan
MEET RYAN
-OWNER AND FOUNDER OF INGLEWOOD INSTRUMENTS
Hey, I’m Ryan
So how did I find myself being so passionate about these instruments? Well, let’s dig a little deeper into how it all began...
I have always been a 'serial hobbiest' since a young age. I grew up playing the drums, piano, guitar PLUS singing and loved them all equally. I was a free spirit with a strong passion for music early on. The way music brings people together and the challenge of learning new songs and chords. I just couldn't get enough!
Fast forward many years later...
In 2012 I got married. My lovely wife and I took off on a road trip around the Southeastern USA for our honeymoon. Our first stop was in Asheville, NC, where I happened to pass a cart of these intriguing little folk instruments. They weren’t guitars, mandolins, ukuleles, or banjos, but had a hybrid sound and look.
By this point, I had been playing guitar for nearly 30 years, and had my undergrad degree in music - so this was a pretty exciting find! I considered myself a 'noodler' so to speak. I enjoyed playing and learning about lots of different instruments and was always up for a challenge.
If I’m completely honest, music school had killed my love of the guitar for a while. I’d left my once first love to collect dust in the corner. Eventually, it had become work to play it and not fun. This stick dulcimer got me excited again. It was something new and different to explore!
This new Stick Dulcimer Guitar was easy to pull down from the wall and just mess around with or sit and think about how to rearrange something I knew for the guitar and make it work on the stick dulcimer.
Fast forward and I see how it can help anyone find a way into the world of playing music. For years I've had people ask me what it is, and when I hand it to them they don't hesitate the way you see people shy away from guitars.
They take it and (yes, a little awkwardly), strum a note and smile. Making music just became achievable to them…
...and I know it will do the same for you!