Barbara Ann Ryman (born February 3, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter, as well as a
spiritual healer
Energy medicine is a branch of alternative medicine based on a pseudo-scientific belief that healers can channel "healing energy" into a patient and effect positive results. Practitioners use a number of names including various synonyms for ...
. Her first album, ''Winds of Good Fortune'', was released in 1993, and she has since released six more albums: ''Lay Me Open'' (1995), ''Like A Tree'' (1998), ''Falling Down to Heaven'' (2002), ''Earthbound'' (2007), ''Catch the Sunset'' (2012) and her most recent, ''Breathe'' (2019), respectively.
Musical career
Ryman began playing at Twin Cities coffeehouses but as her career took off, she nationally toured the folk circuit playing at such venues as Boston's
Club Passim
Club Passim is an American folk music club in the Harvard Square area of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was opened by Joyce Kalina (now Chopra) and Paula Kelley in 1958, when it was known as Club 47 (based on its then address, 47 Mount Auburn Str ...
, her hometown's
The Cedar Cultural Center
The Cedar Cultural Center ("the Cedar") is a music venue in Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States near the West Bank campus of the University of Minnesota. It is a 501(c) organization, 503(c) non-profit organization ...
, Nashville's
Bluebird Café
The Bluebird Café is a 90-seat music club in Nashville, Tennessee that opened in 1982. The club features acoustic music performed by both established singer-songwriters, and cover artists. The Bluebird receives over 70,000 visitors annually. T ...
, Portland's Folk Music Society, and Texas' Uncle Calvin's. Her music has since charted nationally o Folk-DJ’s top albums chart as well as on NACC. Ryman has been featured on The Midnight Special, a syndicated radio show, and The Morning Show. She headlined the first rural
LGBT Pride
LGBT pride (also known as gay pride or simply pride) is the promotion of the self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people as a social group. Pride, as opposed to sham ...
,
East-Central Minnesota Pride
East-Central Minnesota Pride is the yearly celebration of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) residents in the rural area near Pine City, Minnesota, United States. At the time of its inception, it was the first rural community in th ...
. In 2006, the ABC TV show '' Sons & Daughters'' licensed Ryman's song, ''All American Dysfunctional Family''. Ryman had artist and album reviews published in the StarTribune, and on TwinCities.com, as well as national folk and world music media including
Dirty Linen
''Dirty Linen'' was a bi-monthly magazine of folk and world music based in Baltimore, Maryland. The magazine ceased publication in the spring of 2010. The magazine offered extensive reviews of folk music recordings, videos, books, and concert ...
Minnesota Music Academy
The Minnesota Music Academy is a non-profit music institution in Minnesota. The Academy promotes the Minnesota Music Awards, which it gives out, and also operates a music festival
A music festival is a community event with performances of sing ...
, including: Songwriter of the Year and Folk Album of the Year. She was past winner of th McKnight Composer Fellowship from the McKnight Foundation (2002). In 2007, Ryman was a ''NewSong Showcase Winner'' at the Walnut Valley Festival in the ''Feeling Good'' category with her song, ''Strawberry Pie''. She was a finalist in other competitions, such as at
Big Top Chautauqua
The Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua is a 900-seat music venue and performing arts center, located near Bayfield, Wisconsin. It is an all-canvas tent-theater which has operated since 1986, primarily during the summer, and has hosted such enterta ...
Besides being a performing songwriter, Ryman also carries out energy work on individuals and with rivers. Ryman's son is comedian
Tommy Ryman
Tommy Ryman (born March 17, 1983) is an American stand-up comedian who was a semifinalist on Season 8 of the TV show Last Comic Standing.
After getting his start in the Minnesota comedy scene, '' Paste'' magazine named him one of ''12 Great Stan ...
.
Discography
* Winds of Good Fortune (1993)
* Lay Me Open (1995)
* Like A Tree (1998)
* Falling Down to Heaven (2002)
* Earthbound (2007)
* Catch the Sunset (2012)
* Breathe (2019)