It all started with a toy.
“When I was 18 I got this toy accordion for Christmas. It’s this little $30 accordion from somewhere like Toys ‘R’ Us, but it’s a real instrument,” said Ryland Burhans. “I played the hell out of it, and just annoyed my parents till we decided to get a real one.”
Burhans and his parents began looking for a real accordion. A family friend recommended a chromatic button accordion, which is slightly different from the more traditional piano accordion, and Burhans ordered one.
“I just thought, ‘This is the thing for me,’ and it was. I took to it pretty well,” Burhans said.
In the hopes of earning some extra cash, Burhans took to busking, or street performing. Since 2003, he has entertained the drunken crowds of Court Street, although he recently began to consider calling it quits.
Even though he has started to cut back on his street performances, music is still a huge part of Burhans’ life. He began playing in sixth grade and grew up with very supportive parents.
“They were the parents who, if I wanted an N64, it was, ‘Save some money and buy it yourself.’ But if it was an instrument, it was, ‘Here you go,’ and I just ended up with a bunch of instruments,” Burhans said. “And now, I play music every single day.”
Despite his dwindling passion for busking, Burhans said it does have its perks compared to performing on the stage. When you perform on stage, there’s much more pressure, he said, whereas the street audience expects a little less. In addition, with a constantly rotating audience, a set list is not even a worry.
“Athens has a really great vibe for this kind of thing, too,” Burhans said. “In a town like this, one guy tries to steal your money and there are three guys in a second trying to tackle him. It’s a pretty supportive audience.”
Meaghan Basilone, an Ohio University freshman, is one such audience member. In addition to appreciating Burhans’ talent, she also said it’s great to have someone playing a different instrument.
“I’m quite an accordion enthusiast, so it really excites me to see him here on weekends,” she said. “He’s pretty good at the instrument, and he throws jokes into his music, which is also entertaining.”
Entertaining is Burhans’ prime reason for performing, regardless of whether or not he impresses the audience.
“It’s not that I want to impress them, I just want to entertain people,” he said. “I want to be in the background when two people fall in love, you know? I just really enjoy playing for people and seeing the looks on people’s faces when they like what they hear.”
More than anything, though, Burhans’ passion is for music and creating it. Through playing music, he gets the opportunity to play and listen to music. Although he prefers French music, he mostly plays pop songs for the crowds on Court Street. He writes a lot of his own tunes as well.
“Music just gives you those goosebumps, you know?” he said. “And it just really hits me, so when I’ve got something in my head I’ve just got to play it.”
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