Review: Ryan David Green Delivers a Tuneful Solo Guitar Debut with ‘Off and Running’

For more than 20 years, Ryan David Green has played in the Tucson-based acoustic duo Ryanhood with fellow guitarist/songwriter Cameron Hood, performing upbeat, melodic folk rock with tight vocal harmonies and twin guitar work. Now Green is stepping out with his first-ever solo guitar album, Off and Running, which strips away (most of) the vocals yet carries over the singer-songwriter sensibility—focusing on melody above all. The result is a relative rarity: a hummable guitar album.

Unlike many contemporary guitar soloists, Green doesn’t spotlight fretboard acrobatics or extended techniques like right-hand tapping and body percussion. His palette of tunings is pretty restrained too—five of the 11 pieces are in standard, and most others are in fairly common open and drop tunings, like open D, D minor, and CGDGBE. Rather than pushing the envelope of technique, he delivers a satchel of well-constructed, well-played original pieces—most clocking in at just two to three minutes.

Off and Running, Ryan David Green (self released)The album opener, “The Journey,” sets the mood, with a bright, summery melody fingerpicked in open D. “Reina de La Noche,” one of the standout solo tracks, is a graceful waltz that takes full advantage of the open strings in Dmaj7 tuning (D A D F# A C#). “After the Rain” (played with the second string tuned down to A) starts off with a Michael Hedges–esque rhythmic texture of fast hammer-ons and open strings, but soon a melody takes over, played up the neck and in harmonics. Green’s playing throughout is crisp and clear, with attention to the fine details of tone and articulation.

Green’s main guitar on the album is a Takamine P7DC dreadnought, plus he plays a Lakewood M-14 custom grand concert and a custom dreadnought built by the late amateur luthier Beth Mayer, to whom he dedicates the solo piece “Song for Beth.” To bring out the warmth and low-end fullness of the guitars, Green says he mixed the direct pickup signal with microphones.

Green does sing on three tracks: “Off and Running,” “Afterlife,” and “I Fell,” which bring to mind the indie folk-rock style of Nickel Creek’s Sean Watkins. But the instrumental pieces feel like they’re cut from the same cloth—just sung by guitar rather than voice.

Ryan David Green performs “Song for Beth” on a custom dreadnought built by the late amateur luthier Beth Mayer.Along with guitar, Green enhances the mixes with touches of bass, keyboards, and percussion, and brings in a few guests. His former Berklee classmate Jordan Perlson contributes drums on “The Journey,” and Ben Plotnick and Kaitlyn Raitz add thoughtfully arranged strings to several pieces. Abbie Gardner’s dobro blends beautifully with Green’s guitar and the strings on the wistful “Looking Back,” which unfolds like a vintage Windham Hill composition. 

Off and Running is worth a listen for fans of both instrumental guitar and singer-songwriter music. And for those who want to try their own hand at these accessible, appealing tunes, Green has published a complete tab book.

Jeffrey Pepper RodgersJeffrey Pepper Rodgers, founding editor of Acoustic Guitar, is a grand prize winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest and author of The Complete Singer-Songwriter, Beyond Strumming, and other books and videos for musicians. In addition to his ongoing work with AG, he offers live workshops for guitarists and songwriters, plus video lessons, song charts, and tab, on Patreon.