{{Infobox musical artist | name = Deb Ryder | image = | caption = | alt = | image_size = | birth_name = | alias = | birth_date = | birth_place = Peoria, Illinois, United States | instrument = | genre = Blues | occupation = Singer, songwriter | years_active = 1980s–present | label = Bejeb Music, VizzTone Records | website = [https://epresskitz.com/kit.php?p=bio&u=35263917 Official website] }}

'''Deb Ryder''' is an American blues singer and songwriter. She has released five albums since 2013, although her involvement in music spans decades in various capacities.

==Life and career== She was born in Peoria, Illinois, United States. Early in her life, her family relocated to Chicago, where her father, Allan R. Swanson, became a local nightclub crooner.<ref name="Guide">{{Cite web|url=https://bluesfestivalguide.com/wp_blues_news_archive/deb.php|title=Deb Ryder : MIGHT JUST GET LUCKY|website=Bluesfestivalguide.com|access-date=September 27, 2022|archive-date=August 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804060224/http://www.bluesfestivalguide.com/wp_blues_news_archive/deb.php|url-status=dead}}</ref> The family moved again to Ohio, and onwards to Malibu, California. Ryder's parents then divorced and her single mother of five, Maryanne Swanson, relocated the remaining family in 1968 to Topanga, California.<ref name="Messenger"/> Among their neighbors was Canned Heat's Bob Hite, whose massive collection of blues gramophone records was a magnet and inspiration to the adolescent Ryder.<ref name="Guide"/>

Her mother remarried a local contractor, and they jointly opened Topanga Corral, which hosted an array of musicians including Canned Heat, Spirit, Neil Young, Buffalo Springfield, and the Eagles. Effectively living next door to the club, meant Ryder got to liaise with visiting musicians, including Big Joe Turner, Etta James and Taj Mahal, who all acted as mentors.<ref name="Bluesmuse"/> Encouraged and with easy access to the premises, while in her teenage years, Ryder and her small band regularly opened the show at Topanga Corral for Charlie Musselwhite, Big Joe Turner, Etta James, and Taj Mahal.<ref name="Guide"/>

Ryder went on to study at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her musical background proved invaluable as she then worked as a session musician, who performed on television advertisements, as well as providing backup vocals on a number of other musician's recordings. Her voice was used in the lead role for the Las Vegas-based musical show, ''Splash''.<ref name="Guide"/><ref name="Bluesmuse"/> Settling back down to her blues roots led to her meeting her husband, and bass guitarist, Ric Ryder. He encouraged her to write blues material and together they formed an ensemble, the Bluesryders, who performed in local clubs and at music festivals for over two decades.<ref name="Guide"/><ref name="Messenger">{{Cite web|url=https://messengermountainnews.com/deb-ryder-cd/|title=Deb Ryder Sings the Blues|first=Annemarie|last=Donkin|website=Messengermountainnews.com|access-date=September 27, 2022}}</ref>

In 2013, she returned to a series of songs written over the years, and then re-worked upon with her husband, and recorded her debut album, ''Might Just Get Lucky''.<ref name="Guide"/><ref name="Bluesmuse"/> She later met up with the record producer Tony Braunagel, who oversaw her next release, ''Let It Rain'' (2015). The musicians on the recording included Braunagel who played the percussion and James Hutchinson on double bass, plus Kirk Fletcher and Johnny Lee Schell on guitar while Mike Finnigan played keyboards. Ryder wrote all of the 11 tracks.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/let-it-rain-mw0002829332/credits|title=Let It Rain – Deb Ryder &#124; Credits |website=AllMusic|access-date=September 27, 2022}}</ref> ''Grit Grease & Tears'' followed in 2016, with Braunagel producing and Bob Corritore played harmonica as a guest musician on the album with Sugaray Rayford supplying some additional vocals.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/grit-grease-tears-mw0002965522/credits|title=Grit Grease & Tears – Deb Ryder &#124; Credits |website=AllMusic|access-date=September 27, 2022}}</ref>

By 2018, Ryder had signed a recording contract with VizzTone Records, who released her fourth album, ''Enjoy the Ride'' on June 11 that year.<ref name="Bluesmuse"/> It was also produced by Braunagel, who played drums with Coco Montoya supplying lead guitar alongside Schell on rhythm.<ref name="Muse">{{Cite web|url=https://www.rockandbluesmuse.com/2018/05/30/album-review-enjoy-the-ride-by-deb-ryder/|title=Album Review: Enjoy The Ride by Deb Ryder|first=Martine|last=Ehrenclou|date=May 30, 2018|website=Rockandbluesmuse.com|access-date=September 27, 2022}}</ref> ''Enjoy the Ride'' appeared on ''Living Blues'' magazine's annual list of top 50 albums. Recording work for her next album was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, which necessitated the use of three separate recording studios and digitalized exchanges of ideas. All 13 sides on ''Memphis Moonlight'' (2021) were written by Ryder, who again used Braunagel to oversee a cast of musicians, including Schell (guitar, bass and keyboards), Finnigan (keyboards), plus guest appearances from the guitarists Ronnie Earl, Joey Delgado and Alastair Greene, and Steve Berlin (saxophone) along with David Hidalgo (accordion and backup vocals).<ref name="Bluesmuse">{{Cite web|url=https://www.rockandbluesmuse.com/2021/05/27/interview-with-blues-diva-deb-ryder/|title=Interview with Blues Diva Deb Ryder|first=Martine|last=Ehrenclou|date=27 May 2021|website=Rockandbluesmuse.com|access-date=September 27, 2022}}</ref><ref name="Blast">{{Cite web|url=https://www.bluesblastmagazine.com/deb-ryder-memphis-moonlight-album-review/|title=Deb Ryder – Memphis Moonlight &#124; Album Review|first=Marty|last=Gunther|website=Bluesblastmagazine.com|date=July 17, 2021|access-date=September 27, 2022}}</ref><ref name="Lahoradel">{{Cite web|url=https://lahoradelblues.com/en/deb-ryder-memphis-moonlight/|title=Deb Ryder "Memphis Moonlight"|website=Lahoradelblues.com|date=June 1, 2021|access-date=September 27, 2022}}</ref>

==Discography== ===Albums=== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year || Title || Record label |- | 2013 || ''Might Just Get Lucky'' || style="text-align:center;"|Bejeb Music |- | 2015 || ''Let It Rain'' || style="text-align:center;"|Bejeb Music |- | 2016 || ''Grit Grease & Tears'' || style="text-align:center;"|Bejeb Music |- | 2018 || ''Enjoy the Ride'' || style="text-align:center;"|VizzTone Records |- | 2021 || ''Memphis Moonlight'' || style="text-align:center;"|VizzTone Records |- |}<ref name="Albums">{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/deb-ryder-mn0003302077|title=Deb Ryder Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More|website=AllMusic|access-date=September 27, 2022}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[https://epresskitz.com/kit.php?p=bio&u=35263917 Official website] *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVR7JIEW6vQ Deb Ryder – "Bad Bad Dream" @ YouTube]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryder, Deb}} Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:American women singer-songwriters Category:American blues singers Category:Electric blues musicians Category:Singer-songwriters from Illinois Category:Musicians from Peoria, Illinois Category:21st-century American women musicians Category:21st-century American women singers Category:21st-century American singer-songwriters