Ryan Ball is a North New Jersey based guitarist, bassist, composer, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, recording engineer/producer, and music teacher. For over 30 years he has forged a successful career as a performer, session player, and writer.

In his formative years, Ryan could be found playing in neighborhood bands and performing in local clubs. He eventually graduated to performing on the New York City circuit by his late teens. After high school, Ryan studied music composition and performance, earning a BFA degree from SUNY Purchase.

Ryan's guitar style draws from an eclectic array of players. Heavily influenced by classic rock, blues and metal, his early roots include greats such as Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ritchie Blackmore, Tony Iommi, Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, Slash, Eric Johnson, Mark Knopfler, Alex Lifeson, and of course, David Gilmour. In high school, Ryan briefly studied classical guitar and has an intense appreciation for the mastery of players like Andrés Segovia, Julian Bream and Chris Parkening just to name a few. As time progressed, Ryan soon expanded his musical tastes to incorporate the jazz and fusion stylings of Steve Morse, Pat Metheny, Mike Stern, Bill Frisell, and Alan Holdsworth, as well as the classic Americana and Jam styles of players such as David Rawlings and Jerry Garcia.

In addition to The Machine, Ryan also plays guitar with the popular Chicago tribute Beginnings, bringing to life both the 1970s guitar stylings of Terry Kath and the 80s era power pop of one of the greatest horn bands of all time. Creatively, Ryan has been a part of numerous original projects through the years including concept indie outfit Sleep Station and American roots rock-and-soul band Swerling. Ryan also frequently plays weddings, events, and solo gigs at many well known clubs, restaurants and bars - you might just catch him at your favorite watering hole!

In between performances, Ryan runs his New Jersey based recording studio The Gearbox and teaches at his own Bergen County Guitar Lessons. Throughout the years, Ryan has appeared as a session musician on hundreds of recordings and helped many musicians realize their vision as recording artists or students of the guitar.