Mike P. Ryan Wins 38th Mid-Atlantic Song Contest

Mike P. Ryan has been named the grand prize winner of the 38th annual Mid-Atlantic Song Contest presented by the Songwriters’ Association of Washington. The Clifton, Virginia-based contemporary folk-Americana singer-songwriter was recognized for his song “Between Heaven and the Ground,” which was also the first place (Gold) winner in the contest’s Folk-Acoustic category.

“Between Heaven and the Ground” will appear on Ryan’s third album, Ghosts and Memories, to be released this spring. “The song tells the story of the Wright Brothers’ first powered flight – an event that changed history forever,” said Ryan. “To me, the most fascinating part of the story was that Orville and Wilbur didn’t set out to change the world. They weren’t scientists or engineers; they were just two ordinary working men with a dream and a talent for building things with their hands. Despite years of failures and frustrations they never gave up on their dream and, ultimately, they succeeded in a way they could never have imagined.”

Ryan told AcousticMusicScene.com that as a songwriter he tries hard “to explore ideas and stories I hope are both compelling and unique.” He believes “Between Heaven and the Ground” fits that bill. “Story songs are always a challenge because you have a very limited amount of time to introduce characters and tell their story in a meaningful way,” said Ryan, a rural Oklahoma native whose evocative lyrics, keen eye for detail, and capacity for crafting songs replete with vivid imagery has drawn comparison to such noted songwriters as Slaid Cleaves, Jeffrey Foucault and Robert Earl Keen. “In this song, I tried to capture the human emotions of the story by telling it in the first person from Orville Wright’s perspective,” he continued.

From a musical perspective, Ryan couldn’t be happier with the way the song turned out. “It features some really unique guitar chord voicings over a lovely piano part,” he said. “I was lucky enough to have some incredible musicians contribute to the track — including Kipyn Martin, who sang beautiful vocal harmonies and Tiffany Shanta, whose fiddle part set the perfect mood for the story,” he noted.

“It’s an understatement to say I’m humbled and thankful to know my song was selected as the very best from all the great songs submitted by talented folks from all over the world,” said Ryan, who previously won both the Grand Prize and took the Gold (first place) in the Folk-Acoustic category in the 36th annual Mid-Atlantic Song Contest, as well as Gold in what was then the Folk-Rock/Americana/Roots category two years earlier.

Ryan has received a bevy of other awards and accolades. Among them, he was the First Place overall winner in the Dallas [TX] Songwriters Association Songwriting Contest and a two-time finalist in the prestigious Kerrville New Folk Competition. He has been a Silver and Bronze Medal Winner in American Songwriter Magazine’s Lyrics Contest, was a finalist in the Grassy Hill-CT Folk Songwriting Contest (2014), secured an official juried showcase at the Southwest Regional Folk Alliance (SWRFA) conference in Austin, TX, had two songs selected for inclusion in the Top 20 Songs of the Year in 2018’s Texas Troubadour Songwriting Competition, and was the third-place winner in the 2020 Songwriter Serenade in Schulenberg, TX.

Here is a link to listen to Mike Ryan’s grand prize-winning song:

https://soundcloud.com/mikepryanmusic/between-heaven-and-the-ground-1?si=992d2ea46e4b456fafea2a24a8e0e61c&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

More information about him and his music may be found at mikepryanmusic.com.

Individual category winners in the 2021 contest include:

Americana: “I Will Follow You” – Josh Orange – with Gordon Burke, Andrew Weiss, Alex Miller, Shane McLaughlin, and Bruce Munnings (Gold); “Painted Sky Café” – Andrew Wolf (Silver); Country/Bluegrass: “For Sale Sign” – Kevin Dudley (Gold), “Missing My Baby Blues” – Jeff McClellan; Folk-Acoustic: “Between Heaven and the Ground” – Mike Ryan (Gold), “Politics” – Robinson Treacher (Silver); Freedom Songs: “The True Story of Civil Rights Martyr Viola Liuzzo” – Ray Gamse and Joseph DeNatale (Gold), “Liberation Music” – Dumi Right (Silver); Instrumental: “Natural Compromisation” – Yana Nikol (Gold), “Zig’s Groove” – Michael Potts (Silver); Lyrics Only: “Trestle Walker Blues” – Charles McCullough (Gold), “Stolen Moments” – Tim White (Silver); Open: “Think Too Much” – Breezy Love (Gold), “Wasting Time” – Chris Hardy (Silver).

A group of video categories also was included in this year’s contest, with “Tavi’s Song” by Carrie Ferguson capturing the Gold, and “Dinosaurs” by Jessica Smucker the Silver in the overall Video category. Ferguson – along with Samara Sawyer and Garrett Sawyer – also was honored for Best Animation for “The Grumpytime Club.” Louisa Hall and Annie Nardolilli’s “Sexy Sea Shanty” was named Best Comedy; White”s “I Didn’t Know” received the award for Best Single Camera, while Lynne Swisher Spears, Jon Shain, Diana Thalheimer, Andrew Berinson, Omar Ruiz-Lopez and FJ Ventre’s video for “Bump” was honored for Best Found Images.

A full listing of the winners, finalists and honorable mention recipients in the preceding and other categories may be found at saw.org/masc.

Established in 1979, the Songwriters’ Association of Washington (SAW) is a nonprofit organization that seeks to develop, promote, and encourage songwriters through education, networking, and performance opportunities throughout the Washington, DC metropolitan area. SAW hosts open mics and showcases, workshops on the art and business of songwriting, peer critique sessions, and social events, and its SAW Serves community service program.