When you first hear Ryan Long sing, you feel as if you could sing along with him. Even for those new to his music, his songs take us into a story so lyrically engaging and so detailed by chord and melody that by the end we believe his smooth baritone vocals are meant for us. Long started playing guitar and writing songs at nineteen while studying engineering technology at East Tennessee State University. His great love of story songs was inspired by James Taylor and Garth Brooks, but it is his unique twist on Appalachian folk-pop that has made him a light in the same music circles supporting John Gorka, Pierce Pettis, and David Wilcox. In 1997, Ryan began a relationship with Young Life performing regularly throughout the U.S. at their more than twenty camps. By the end of 1998 he had released his debut record, Cry for Me, produced by Michael Aukofer at Word/Myrhh studios in Nashville. Cry is filled with a host of skilled contributors inc...