Matthew Ryan for almost two-decades. In that time, he's been compared to everyone from Bruce Springsteen to U2's Bono and Tom Waits and fans of his work include Lucinda Williams.
But with each release, Ryan has been leaving those comparisons behind. His most recent record is "Boxers" and he's also writing music for movie soundtracks including the upcoming "The Girl Who Invented Kissing" starring Luke Wilson and Abbie Cornish.
"In a lot of ways, my sensibility was kind of ethereally infused with the story," Ryan said. "It seemed natural to him to reach out to me when it got to this point and I'm so glad they did because its a beautiful movie and it really played to some of my strengths as a composer."
Matthew is playing at Neptune's Parlour in Raleigh tonight.
