Rising Stars: Meet Brett Ryan Stewart

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brett Ryan Stewart.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I was born in Claymont, Delaware to two postal workers. There’s probably a “special delivery” joke in there somewhere… Having grown up in the Catholic school system, I was indoctrinated with 2 things: the power of music and the written word. When I was 7, I lost my father to cancer, and at age 9 was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. It was a really, really difficult time. I was young and malleable, so it wasn’t until many years later looking back that I could fully grasp the gravity of what I had gone through, and what my mother had gone through.

So, I suppose it’s no surprise that I was drawn to music, something that both my mother and my older brother who’d left me with his massive vinyl collection, embraced and encouraged. At 13, they went in together on my first guitar. I remember spending all Christmas day, and the days that followed, attached to that black Washburn acoustic, which I still have…

In high school, I started a band, and by my late teens, after spending all my saved-up allowance on renting recording studios to make tapes of our songs, I decided to start building my own. It was in my mom’s basement, the same room where my dad’s old 60’s Seeburg Jukebox resided, and where he’d dance with me as a little kid and rock me to sleep.

I got a job in a warehouse and started stalking eBay for the equipment I’d need. These were the days of dial-up, ya see, so I’d almost always lose bids at the last minute to someone with a bigger wallet and faster internet. My good friend, and drummer in my band, helped me in a big way by letting me put some of the equipment on his credit card. He and numerous other friends would spend hours with me applying our amateur carpentry skills to hang drywall, run audio cables, etc. It may have been my mom’s basement, but it felt like it belonged to all of us.

Once I was operational, I went on to spend about 5 years honing my recording chops with local Delaware and Philadelphia-based bands. All the while, I was writing music of my own which came pouring out of me as I entered adulthood, processing all the loss I’d experienced as a kid. Needless to say, I’ve always connected most with songs that contend with tough subjects. I want the hairs to raise up on your neck when you hear a certain lyric or the sulking cry of a cello. To me, that’s where the healing begins, and I want to create music that heals, both myself and, hopefully, others.

Fast forward to today. I’m in Madison, TN, just North of Nashville proper, and have been lucky enough to make a living at the thing I set out for as a teenager. I produce and record artists and bands that I love, from here and abroad. I have an ever-growing body of work that has gone on to do really cool things such as appear on shows like Netflix’s Queer Eye, films on A&E, The Oprah Winfrey Network, etc. It’s all surreal thinking back on how it started, with my friends making things together in the basement.

That’s never changed. It’s always been about bringing people together for me, more than anything. I’d like to think that that’s the most colorful feather in my producer cap. I’ve got a wonderful wife, Rosemary, who is an incredible singer and actor. She’s also my left brain, and my company, WireBird Productions, is just as much her’s as it is mine. We have 3 cats, currently, and more keep showing up. Cricket, who moved down here with me, has become a bit of a beloved mascot and cheerleader here at the studio.

In recent years, I’ve become more and more vocal about the brutal realities of life with Type 1 Diabetes. After realizing that a lifetime of playing it down for others’ comfort was not only hurting me but was also stifling progress in medical technology because this downplaying was a widespread tendency in our T1D community, I decided to be more honest. It’s taken a lot from me, this disease. And I’ve also done a lot IN SPITE of it. It’s without a doubt been a major obstacle in reaching just about any imaginable goal.

So I’ve been advocating as loudly and as often as possible in hopes of changing the long-standing narrative that “Diabetes Is Manageable.” I don’t think that kind of message is fair to the people who live with it. At least it’s not to me and to the hundreds of people who’ve resonated with my transparent messaging (both on social media posts and public panels for advocacy groups).

The best has been when my worlds collide and I get to use music as a vehicle to support the T1D non-profits, which I’ve done several times and hope to do more. Crystal Bowersox and I recently collaborated on a song which raised funds and awareness for Beyond Type 1.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
What kind of mythology would that be? Haha!

No, this path, the creative path, is not for the weak of heart. I have to convince myself nearly every day that it’s worth the hardships that’ll inevitably come. The uncertainty is the part that will get you. There are no guarantees in any career, though some, I’d estimate, have at least a fairly clear-cut trajectory of potential outcomes given a certain degree of time and commitment.

In music, and the arts in general, those systems do exist, but the foundation is much more fickle. I could give you any number of examples, but the shortlist would include:

Having to make the hard choice to retire the option of live performance / touring as part of my “career plan” as it was proving detrimental to my health as a T1D. (Touring is really the only proven way to consistently make a living as a musician/songwriter, and even that comes at high risk).

Spending 7 years building a studio business (my former studio) and losing the space in a flash due to something known as “New Nashville Syndrome.” I’ll leave it at that.

Ya know, I started listing my grievances, and there are some, but at the end of the day, I’m still lucky to be here doing this and there are so many people with much fewer options so I’m going to stop the list here.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
These days I primarily produce and mix music out of my studio, working with a variety of incredibly talented musicians of all styles. Over the years, I’ve recorded just about every genre of music, but I’d say, my specialty usually involves at least ONE acoustic guitar.

I recently produced an album called Whispers And Sighs which afforded me the great privilege to work with the legendary folk hero, David Olney, just before his abrupt passing. It’s some of my proudest work to date, and I sure do wish he was here to see how well it’s been received.

There is a deep sense of longing, dread, and also triumph in that album which is probably the emotional blend I’m most known for helping capture in recorded music. As I sortuv hinted at earlier, I’m the type who likes to take things head-on, however rough a ride it may be, in order to heal whatever needs healing. I suppose you could say I’m proud to be able to make listeners cry, haha!

I suffer no illusions that I’m a natural at self-promotion, but I’d say I’m also very proud of some of my own most recent songs, and I’ve got an album in the works to be released next year (2023).

“All Or None” is one of the most personal songs I’ve released in recent years, and came with addressing a whole lot of grief. The video for that, which was made by Duende Vision (Anana Kaye) and my wife, Rosemary Fossee, still gives me chills.

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I’m trusting, straightforward, and also sensitive. I believe in the goodness of people. That all makes the creative process much more fun, when you trust each other’s intentions both creatively and personally, and let the process happen naturally, without the relent of ego clouding the path.

Aside from that, to borrow from the great sage that is Rocky Balboa, you just have to keep getting back up again.

Contact Info:

• Email: wirebirdproductions@gmail.com
• Website: wirebirdprod.com (my work as a producer)
• Instagram: instagram.com/wirebirdproductions
• Facebook: facebook.com/wirebirdproductions
• Brett Ryan Stewart’s Music: brettryanstewart.com (my music)
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/QvTqWwo67HQ
• T1D Advocacy Work: https://beyondtype1.org/crystal-bowersox-and-brett-ryan-stewart-release-new-single-the-stuff-to-raise-awareness-for-type-1-diabetes/

Image Credits
Anana Kaye (Duende Vision) and Madison Thorn