Introducing… Ryan Hurd: Part 1

It wasn’t long ago that Ryan Hurd left his home of Kalamazoo, MI for the landlocked city of Nashville, TN to attend school at Belmont University. While his initial plan was to get a degree in economics, life had other ideas and he quickly delved into music and songwriting.

Hurd teamed up with some buddies and they swiftly formed a bond, writing song after song and eventually, playing songwriters rounds in a small Nashville bar, Belcourt Taps.

“We started doing songwriters rounds together here,” explained Hurd. “It’s this tiny little bar that we would fill up with all of our friends. We did it once a month. It was just something that people came to even though it’s such a small bar. It wasn’t like comfortable for people but the energy was so cool and it felt like we were building something.”

The friends spent three years playing shows in the compact space, but they were some of the best years of Hurd’s life and created some of his most special relationships.

“It’s more like a college atmosphere than it is like a music atmosphere sometimes because these are people that understand what you’re going through first of all and second of all, don’t really care if you’re successful or not. They’re still going to be your friend,” he said. “Artistically, they’re all people that care more about making great music than they do about anything else and that’s like the biggest blessing about doing this with other people is that you’re all in the same boat and when Joey Hyde wins, I win. When Aaron Eshuis wins, I win. When Maren [Morris] wins, I win.”

Watch as Ryan talks more about getting his start as a songwriter and time spent in Belcourt Taps in the video above.

Tune in every Wednesday at 11/10c throughout the month of October for more with the “Love In A Bar” singer. Be sure to follow Ryan on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and pick up “We Do Us” and “Love In A Bar” on iTunes.