Lately, I have been known to fly last minute. The secret late night shows have been all in good fun, but the other night when I got the email from Taylor’s parents, knowing how much it would mean to stop by for her 14th birthday party, I could not resist. I took the drive upstate and there is not much to say except that there are some magical moments you get when you play music for people and this was one of them. I will not forget the look on her face and I will not forget the feeling it gave me.

Here is a taste of the night. The beauty of a basement birthday party, 1/2 slices of pizza, cake, awkward silence between boys and girls…

We are strong, we are young!

- r

I had a few days to clear my head last week on a holiday and was thinking about how everything has come to be… I sat on a beach (pictures attached) and finished Ayn Rand’s Fountainhead (not only the longest book I will ever read but quite possibly the greatest.) I collected my thoughts before I returned to NYC, to the craziness of getting this album out, and realized that there is so much out there now that creates what we know music to be. If you are reading this I am sure you spend some time online catching up on your favorite artists, and if they’re at all like me, you’re probably having some interaction with them. A MySpace comment, an email, a text message, whatever it is I have had tons of encounters with you. Some light and fluffy and some as serious and life changing as you can imagine. Music definitely used to be a one way street where the artist would put it out and listeners would let it enter them in their own way. A musician’s job was simply to take life in and then put it out as an art form. Now, thanks to the internet, it doesn’t end there. Musician’s have a back and forth with fans and are able to receive an instant reaction. In some ways its probably a terrible thing to have Jim Morrison looking through his MySpace messages at four in the morning when he should be on a peyote trip in the desert, and even though there is a definite romance to that idea, I wonder if the fans of today would be as understanding to it or would they move down the list to the next band they like - the one that writes to them everyday. My point being, is this killing music? I have a friend who can hardly turn on his amplifier let alone create a Facebook account and he is one of the most talented people I have ever met. No one wants to help him make an album because “he doesn’t have enough going on.” It kind of sucks that being an incredible musician and performer might not be enough these days. I am sure you have all heard it before, that in today’s landscape Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen would have already lost their record contracts because of lack of sales on their first albums. Think about the greatness we are probably missing out on. Where are they? Each member of “Inside”, a founding Long Island emo band responsible creating the entire scene, all have day jobs now. The singer who I grew up watching in rec halls and inspired me to play is currently employed at a bank.

All that being said we are here now at rstar.net. It is the way we are now and it truly is a part of music. I do have beliefs that there are serious downsides to it all, but on the other hand I truly have the need and desire to be a part of your lives as I wish you to be a part of mine.

Check out some more pictures from my beach holiday here.

Welcome to my new online home. I felt that now was the time to get something up so we can centralize this crazy world of MySpace’s, Facebook’s and the millions of other distractions. This site will grow over time and I am up for suggestions. My greatest moments in life have always been the moments when I connect with people. On or off the stage I believe that is my purpose. This is not an ‘online presence’ for me, it is my inspiration. To me, fans are not followers, fans are the fuel. You will never get some bullshit update or response from my label pretending to be me. You will get me. That being said it may not be as glitzy or planned, but in the words of the great 50 cent, ‘Me, I’m just me’.

April 18, 2008
The Dewey Beach PopFest @ The Dickenson Street on the Bay
Doors: 7pm
Show: 8pm
Ryan: 1000pm
FREE SHOW

I figure since the MySpace is fairly up to date I would start off this photographic section right - not with a new expensive photo shoot but with a time of my life that meant a lot to four boys from Long Island.

I grew up with Stage and we started playing at the age of 14 (I’m looking for those photos). These live shots were taken by a high school friend Julia Xanthos (now a real life newspaper photographer like in Spiderman).

It was at one of our last shows together and it somewhat captures what we were about.

The others are from the Maverick Records album photo shoot (Zsolt Sarvary-Bene and Danny Clinch).

The odd one out (you can see my baby picture hanging in the background) was when drummer and nursery school pal Justin Parker (Cortez the Killer) and I were auditioning to be pro wrestlers. Snap into a slim jim!