Strabane singer keeps the listeners satisfied

Strabane singer, Ryan Lynch, truly has been keeping his listeners satisfied following the release of his debut single as a solo artist.

The track, ‘Keep The Customer Satisfied’, originally penned by Paul Simon, has been revitalised by Ryan with a distinct Irish folk twist, highlighting his stunning tenor voice, and has also gained recognition from none other than Daniel O’Donnell.

The track was produced by sound engineer, Jonathan Owens, who is best known for his work with Nathan Carter and Lisa McHugh, and has been described as a ‘milestone’ in the Strabane man’s career.

The 35-year-old singer, who is currently performing on a cruise ship heading towards the coast of Portugal, spoke with the ‘Herald this week, reflecting on his life on the stage and the success of his new single.

“Growing up, I sang in plenty of local talent shows around Strabane and took part in shows at school,” he recalled.

“If there was anything I could get stuck into, and any opportunity to get up on the stage and perform, I would take it.

“I have always been singing since as far back as I can remember.

“It’s all I have ever done, so I decided to go down the musical theatre route when I was younger.”

Having taken roles in such iconic productions as ‘West Side Story’, ‘The Full Monty’, and ‘The Clockmaker’s Daughter’, as well as numerous pantomimes and commercials, Ryan eventually found himself travelling the world pursuing his passion.

“It all started in London, really, but since then I have had the opportunity to tour the UK, perform in Dubai, and travel much of the world doing the theatres,” he explained.

But, after 10 years of entertaining people on the theatre stage, Ryan decided he needed a change, and decided to put more focus into music.

It was around this time that he decided to form ‘The Celtic Harps’, a group that fuses Celtic classics with modern pop and folk, and have been reviewed as ‘Ireland’s hottest male vocal harmony group’.

Ryan confessed that, throughout his youth, he had no interest in pursuing Irish music, however, as he matured he found himself drawn back to it.

“Irish music is just something that people love, no matter where you are in the world,” he said.

“A lot of people around the world have some form of connection to Ireland – and even if they don’t, they still simply enjoy the feel of Irish music.

“I remember performing on a cruise ship in Miami and meeting a group of South American’s who spoke to me of their love of Irish music.”

Around the time that Ryan decided to form the Celtic Harps, he was working in a resort in Cyprus.

“I was actually working with one of my old cast mates from The Clockmaker’s Daughter at the time, and we talked about starting something that we would describe as ‘The Pogues meet Il Divo’, and it all took off from there,” he detailed.

“We don’t take ourselves too seriously, and we like to have a bit of craic with it all.

“But also, we do have a lot of interesting stuff going on at the minute, so please keep an eye out on that!”

Following the success of the Celtic Harps, Ryan has now branched out on his own and released his first single single as a solo artist.

With ‘Keep The Customer Satisfied’ currently charting at number two in iTunes, singer-songwriter chart, Ryan said, “It’s quite funny to be topping the singer-songwriter chart, considering I didn’t even write the song.

“However, I’ll let myself away with it as it does also qualify as a genre in its own right.”

Ryan said that he has been ‘blown away’ by the reaction to the single.

“I really put my heart and soul into it,” he said.

“It was such a privilege to work with Jonathan Owens and I am so thankful to everyone who bought it and pushed it up the charts.

“The local support has been unbelievable.”

Looking ahead, Ryan has several performances lined up across Ireland, though he has yet to announce a local solo show.

He did, however, hint at a hometown performance towards the end of the year.

For more updates on Ryan’s performances and new releases, you can follow him on social media at ‘ryanlynch_music’.

Keep The Customer Satisfied’ is now available to stream on all major platforms, including including Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music.