Ryan Burnett
Artist, Session Musician
Ryan has performed on both sides of the Atlantic as frontman to The Crave, as a solo artist fronting his own band the Vanguards, and most recently, joining fellow BIMM Brighton graduates The Xcerts on tour as their lead guitarist.
Ryan moved from Manchester to Brighton when he was 17 to study Vocals at BIMM – courtesy of a scholarship he received from Ronan Keating.
After graduating, he continued his study at BIMM with a Higher Diploma in Songwriting, and formed his band, The Crave, with fellow BIMM students Carlos Garcia, Tom Swann and CJ Evans. The group signed to The Agency Group and were managed by Phil Nelson (The Levellers, Longpigs), recording two albums, and touring the UK and Europe with major acts such as Shinedown, 3 Doors Down, Lifehouse, Buckcherry, Feeder and The Darkness, and undertaking an arena tour with Deep Purple including two sold-out nights at the Hammersmith Apollo.
The Crave toured the US three times and were the only English band to perform at the Harley Davidson 105th Anniversary show alongside Bruce Springsteen and Foo Fighters. Large festival performances followed, including MTV’s Rock am Ring in Germany, the Download Festival at Donington Park, and two appearances at Sonisphere Festival at Knebworth.
After a writing stint in Nashville in 2014, Ryan went on to form Ryan Burnett & The Vanguards with fellow BIMM graduates CJ Evans, Ben Johnsen, and former The Kooks/The Ordinary Boys bass player, Dan Logan. The band signed to Metropolis Studios and released their first single ‘Killers’, with their EP due to be recorded in early 2016.
Ryan spent six months filming for the hugely popular video game, Guitar Hero Live, after being chosen to play the frontman of one of the game’s virtual bands – Broken Tide. A trailer featuring Ryan was uploaded to YouTube shortly before the game’s release, receiving over 7.5 million views.
Most recently, Ryan joined fellow BIMM Brighton graduates The Xcerts on tour as their lead guitarist.
