Getting to Know Gary Ryland!

Do you have a nickname?
Ragsy.

Where are you from?
Aberdare.

What would you name the autobiography of your life?
Rags to Stitches.

What’s something you think everyone should try at least once?
Bara Brith, butter and blue cheese.

If you could meet anyone, who would you meet?
Pearl Jam founder/grunge elder, Eddie Vedder.

What is the greatest song ever recorded and why?
So many but at this very moment I’m going to go with ‘Just Breathe’ by Willie Nelson but I prefer the Eddie Vedder cover version.

What is it about music that sets your heart racing?
How a beat, a riff, a melody, a simple strum of a chord, or the spaces in between, a lyric, or the way one line is sung t can capture your imagination. It can capture how you feel, relate to your emotions, a time in your life or simply make you feel that everything is going to be okay.

How do you think music can help a community?
Music can help a community by bringing unity, belief, confidence, and pride. Encouraging creativity and giving a sense of belonging as well as the ability to build stronger relationships by connecting and communicating with others. Music is cathartic and therapeutic which also brings many other benefits such as emotional, physical and can help with other various issues.

What do you hope to get out of Cornerstones?
I hope to make a difference by showing how music can help people who live with dementia (memory loss or brain trauma), as well as their families and carers. I hope to make the lives of these people involved a little easier, more enjoyable, and hopefully help bridge the gap between what can be remembered from what has been forgotten. On a personal level I hope to become a better music facilitator, project officer, and manager to be able to develop further in life and my music career.

“Music can help a community by bringing unity, belief, confidence, and pride.”