Billy Bob’s proved to be a critical spot in the career of Mike Ryan – without him even being there. Renowned songwriter and producer Chris DuBois, who co-founded Sea Gayle Music Publishing in Nashville, said it was at the “World’s Largest Honky Tonk” that he first became aware of Mike and his music in 2013.

“We had two of our artists playing there on back-to-back nights,” says DuBois. “I was hanging out back in the green room, and I ran into Robert Gallagher, who had been the backstage manager at Billy Bob’s for years. We sat and talked a little bit, then the next night, he came back and said ‘I’ve got a CD I want to give you. I see a lot of artists pass through here, but this guy has something special. I stuck it in my pocket, and brought it back with me to Nashville. I get a lot of CD’s, and with all due respect to Robert, my expectations were not super-high. But, when I put the CD in my jeep, I thought ‘This guy is really good.’ So, we set up a meeting the next time he was in Nashville.” DuBois offered Mike a publishing deal with Sea Gayle right there on the spot.

With the number of discs that DuBois receives in an average week, what was it about Mike Ryan? DuBois says, “I’ve been in this business for going on twenty-five years, and when you hear something that is different, you can’t describe what it is that strikes a chord in you. You can just tell. He just had that thing in his voice that made him great.”

We welcome back the “New Hometown” singer Saturday, June 8th! Be sure to get your tickets early so you don’t miss out!