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Since ICSF's release, Ahlwardt has huddled gratefully next to such new-wave singer/songwriters as Ari Hest, Dave Barnes, Matt Wertz, and Marc Broussard in his twenty-something fans' iPods. He has not, however, forgotten the impact of the music of his parents' and grandparents' generations upon his songwriting style.
"I was fortunate enough growing up to have my parents introduce me to the music of James Taylor, Seals & Crofts, America, Little River Band, Hall & Oates..." Ahlwardt rattles off, musing of earlier times. "My sister and I would be buckled up in the back seat of the Ahlwardt family camper singing everything from Kool & the Gang to Alabama at the top of our lungs as we rolled around Europe when I was a little kid," Ahlwardt remembers, laughing (Ahlwardt's father served in the Navy and was stationed in Germany at the time). "My grandparents also seasoned my musical palate with the likes of Elvis, The Beach Boys (which Ahlwardt adds was "completely full-circle when I got to open for them"), the Gershwin brothers, Cole Porter, Hoagy Carmichael, Mel Torme, Glenn Miller, Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky...you name it, I heard it." Ryan pays a sweet tribute to his grandparents on ICSF's "Turn My Head to Home" with its nostalgic imagery of nights along warm Florida waters underneath star-laden skies.
"Once I started playing guitar back in 7th grade, I naturally gravitated back towards those artists' tunes," Ahlwardt continues. "Whether I knew it was happening or not - and I don't think I did - those formative years marked the onset of my career as a songwriter and musician. It's still second nature for me to listen to James Taylor's 'Sweet Baby James' record to get me back on track when I'm in a writing slump or any of John Mayer's albums when I need some inspiration," Ahlwardt reminisces, something that is evident that he enjoys - if not has a need to do, from hearing his collection of stories on ICSF.
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