Singer/songwriter Ryan Dunlap on The Wake.Show with Fisher and Jonny Torres
Channel: The Wake.Show
Date: 2017-12-20

Ryan Dunlap is a 28 year old singer/songwriter from Perrysburg Ohio. At age 17 he took a friend's advice to take the poetry that he'd been writing for years and put it to music. With this spark, Ryan saved up his money and purchased his first guitar.

Everyone has some sort of sad story and Ryan's experience of loss at a young age, propelled him to write about his grief, fears, and finding the strength to face the future without his father’s guiding presence in his life. The songs borne out of his fathers' too-soon passing, completed his first album, released in 2011 and titled: "Sometimes The Worlds Just Ugly." The title just seemed to fit and served as a vehicle for him to write and play more.

In the past several years, Ryan has had to undergo multiple operations on his eyes due to a rare congenital eye condition called Cadorax. Subsequently, complications have stemmed from those surgeries including an aggressive form of glaucoma that has resulted in Ryan losing all vision in his right eye. In spite of this, he has not let it slow him down and though being legally blind has proved challenging, like being unable to drive himself to gigs, Ryan has not let this get in the way of him making music and regularly playing in front of others. He most recently managed to get himself to and from Ohio to Austin, TX to play in showcases at SXSW all on his own.

In 2014, Ryan released his second full length album, "It Is What It Is." In less than a year this album has found him new fans across the country and has led to invitations to play in New York, Chicago, and Austin, TX. This year, he was selected to be a featured artist on Reverbnation which resulted in Ryan being showcased at several music conferences as well as having recently performed on the legendary NYC stage at "The Bitter End" where he brought the house down.

Ryan continues to write, record, and tour in spite of the ongoing challenges he has before him. What he wants people to take away from his music is that in-spite of the life's obstacles, its' ups and downs, and seemingly devastating setbacks at times, that there are good people, much love, and wondrous things in this world to marvel upon.

About The Wake.Show
The Wake.Show is a Tampa Bay-based morning show featuring radio personalities Chris "Fisher" and Jonny Torres. The show covers  the day's headlines, pop culture, local news and newsmakers.

About Fisher
 Chris Fisher, known to his radio fans simply as "Fisher", has been entertaining the masses since childhood. With over 20 years of radio broadcast experience, his first exposure to announcing came at the age of 7, when he won the part of Narrator of his church's Christmas play, "It was an amazing feeling, standing at the preacher's podium and knocking that shit out of the park! I'll never forget it." He started his own mobile entertainment/Dj business at 16 and procured a spot on Orlando's number one rated "Doc and Johnny Morning Show" as "College Boy" by the time he was 20. From there Fisher traversed the state honing his very limited skills in Tallahassee, Daytona Beach when he finally landed in Tampa in 1998. 

Currently the voice of The Best Damn Race series, Fisher represented 97X (WSUN-FM) in Tampa for over 11 years as the face of the station, primary host at station events, and lead the station in endorsement and live- remote revenue.

For over 20 years businesses, organizations, and people heave trusted Fisher with their events and their brands. He's been a paid endorser for such brands as Apple, Miller Lite, The Tampa Bay Times, AT&T, and dozens more. 

About Jonny Torres
Jonathan Torres is a born and raised Floridian, and the first in his family to be born in the United States. His career started in 2001 as a radio personality and production director overseeing radio station branding and messaging producing hundreds of commercials and branding elements. Jonathan has lived in Tampa Bay since 2006, where he turned his career to focus on marketing and advertising and has been heavily involved in the community's business and political circles. While working as a marketing coordinator in the homebuilding industry during the housing crisis that began in 2007, Jonathan turned to social media as a cost-effective and groundbreaking initiative. As competition, industry leaders and publications began to take notice, Jonathan maintained his focus on this emerging industry. In 2012, he was tapped to be the first Director of Digital Integration for the 2012 Republican National Convention. He's currently the Director of Communications at Bake More Pies, where he hosts a variety of online programs and can often be seen on English and Spanish language television stations discussing politics.