High Road by Ryan Sterling

Ryan Sterling is a Melbourne singer-songwriter and musician. His new album High Road (2025) follows on from 2022’s acclaimed Specks of Golden Dust (Half A Cow), songs from which were featured in The Guardian’s best Australian songs of June 2022. High Road shows the range of musical styles that Sterling loves. His honest storytelling combined with earnest delivery and a unique fingerpicking guitar style helps the songs soar.

High Road’s 22 songs range from loose rock and roll numbers to fingerpicked folk inspired tunes. Songs which blend elements of folk, country, blues, rock, jazz and pop. Like most of Sterling’s releases, it was self-recorded with Ryan writing, recording, playing, singing and mixing all instruments. A Fender Stratocaster obtained from a good friend was a fresh source of inspiration. It inspired a number the of songs on High Road to be based around the electric guitar. The album features many non-standard recording techniques such as found percussion rather than drum kits and many of the instruments recorded through an ancient Tascam 244. As with all of Sterling’s albums, there are plenty of songs played in Keith Richards’ open G tuning.

Songs written in dreams, songs written in the shower, songs about illness, Australian history and most significantly, songs that are the result of the accumulation of experiences, conversations and Ryan’s everyday life. High Road is certainly Sterling’s most lyrically upbeat album.

Years collecting records and working in a second-hand record store have helped Ryan combine a broad range of influences across many genres. Ryan has a melodic fingerpicking style which draws as much from Joni Mitchell and Nick Drake as it does from Keith Richards’ open G playing and Neil Young’s loose electric attack. His evocative harmonica playing is inspired by the melodic single note playing of Young as well as the loose playing of Dylan. His honest lyrics often tell a story with clever phrases and rhymes.

2022’s Specks of Golden Dust, released by Half A Cow Records, received significant airplay around Australia and overseas. Every single track was played on Australian radio. In 2007 Ryan released his first fingerpicked/harmonica vocal album, Never Really There, to some acclaim and radio play on community radio and Triple J. Since then, Ryan has released 19 albums ranging from solo acoustic guitar instrumental records, vocal/guitar and harmonica records and full band indie/country/rock records.

Ryan has recorded and played live with Cash Savage and the Last Drinks (harmonica), The Rebelles (Johnny Thunders style lead guitar) and hip-hop stars Remi and Sensible J (live acoustic guitar).

All of Ryan’s albums have received play on community radio around Australia. He has had videos played on Rage. 2022’s Specks of Golden Dust received high praise in The Guardian and received significant airplay. His music made up the entire soundtrack to the TV series Leongatha and he provided both the theme song and incidental music for the TV series Community Kitchen. Ryan was honoured to be asked to provide the soundtrack to the AIDS Action Council’s Candlelight Memorial in 2020.

“Half a Cow has an incredible history of putting out fantastic, unique albums. Albums that I love. I’m so proud and excited to have my new album, High Road, come out on a label that is so passionate about Australian music and has done so much for music in this country.”

A combination of influences that culminates in a sound that is unique and yet has a familiarity that is appealing. A guitar that can at times sound like three guitars and melodic vocals and harmonica that weave in and out of the guitar lines creating an intriguing sound that gains more depth with each subsequent listen. Ryan's latest album, Specks of Golden Dust is available via Half A Cow

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