My new single Together is on Bandcamp and available to stream wherever you listen to music.
Emmy Ryan wants to tell you a story. Her award winning songs carry truth like a heartbeat — stories of love, loss, belonging, and the land that holds us. Following in the footsteps of troubadours like Joan Baez and Paul Kelly, Emmy sings with fierce tenderness about what it means to find home, to face history, and to stay open-hearted in a complicated world. Rooted in the folk tradition of storytelling, her music lives at the meeting place of protest and poetry.
Emmy tours nationally, curates songwriting showcases, and believes songs can build bridges, soften edges, and connect. Whether she’s singing about the land, the ache of leaving, or the simple hope of starting again, Emmy Ryan’s songs remind us that truth and beauty can still share the same bed. Whether playing solo or with her band The Hard Times, Emmy weaves deft musicianship with a voice that sits somewhere between a lullaby and a reckoning.
Music and video
I wrote Together in Mparntwe Alice Springs at the tail end of a long, hot, dry summer about feelings of loneliness and isolation, not being part of community, frustration that the rain wouldn’t come, and then seeing the Read more
I wrote Together in Mparntwe Alice Springs at the tail end of a long, hot, dry summer about feelings of loneliness and isolation, not being part of community, frustration that the rain wouldn’t come, and then seeing the river flow for the first time and realising that I was already part of community because we are all right here together. It’s also a call to action to people of the world to stand together against hate.
Dundurriga is the Gumbaynggirr word for ‘stringybark’ and there is speculation that the name of the town Dorrigo is derived from this word. I wrote the tune the day I got home from a beautiful weekend playing at Dorrigo Read more
Dundurriga is the Gumbaynggirr word for ‘stringybark’ and there is speculation that the name of the town Dorrigo is derived from this word. I wrote the tune the day I got home from a beautiful weekend playing at Dorrigo Folk & Bluegrass Festival 2025. How delightful to have Erin and Lach playing this tune on the record when it was partly inspired by our time playing together at the festival. You can hear the magpies in the morning, the waterfalls cascading down the mountain, and the tension of heartstrings being pulled, which is a bit of foreshadowing for the story that unfolds over the album.
Jackadgery Gap is a landform that the road runs through just west of Grafton NSW where a number of national parks converge. Every tune writer’s gotta have a tune about a gap or a ridge or a forge of some description, and this is mine. There’s speculation that the word Jackadgery means ‘a foolish act’ in Gumbaynggirr, and the band really leaned into this when recording the tune.
Jackadgery Gap is a landform that the road runs through just west of Grafton NSW where a number of national parks converge. Every tune writer’s gotta have a tune about a gap or a ridge or a forge of some description, and this is mine. There’s speculation that the word Jackadgery means ‘a foolish act’ in Gumbaynggirr, and the band really leaned into this when recording the tune.
“Emmy’s lyrics are so thoughtfully crafted, with a real sense of authenticity and depth. Each line feels both personal and universal, really drawing the listener in.”
— Andrea Stolpe, multi-platinum songwriter for Faith Hill, Julianne Hough, and Jimmy Wayne