Rory Sullivan
Chicago, Illinois, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2013 | SELF
Music
Press
"Out Of Here..... fabulous!!! I certainly was inspired by your music." - T-Bone Wolk
Album is full of very solid songwriting, featuring some really skilled and tasteful musicianship. - Drew Biscardi - New Sound Magazine
"This singer/songwriter is one of the rare old souls that plays for no other reason than that it's his passion." - Pete Howard - Pete Howard
"Rory Sullivan has an effortlessly smooth and comforting voice, backed by the natural warmth of a finger picked acoustic steel string, steeped in the swampy roots of where traditional Americana mixes with contemporary." - Brian Thompson - Brian Thompson @ thornybleeder
"Lush guitar harmonies, beautiful lyrics, and powerful singing had everyone in the room hypnotized." - Jordi Oliveres - Feast of Music
In a style of music that can sometimes feel passé, Rory Sullivan makes it clear that there are still great folk songs to be written. - Jordi Oliveres
With Rory's brilliant song writing, guitar skills of a soloist and a disciplined voice as big as a house you have one of the most impressive young singer/songwriters I’ve heard in a long long time." -Will Ackerman (Grammy Award Winning Artist/Producer & Founder
Windham Hill Records) - Will Ackerman
Rory Sullivan- Out Of Here | Finalist | Expose Yourself Song Contest
“An impressive and enjoyable song performed by an emerging master songwriter” -Sylus Brown
” Excellent song that reminds me of what a young James Taylor might be doing if he was starting out today and had more energy.” Rob Ritter
Rory Sullivan shares his wonderful flair for songwriting on “Out Of Here” , a track from his debut EP entitled “Here All Along” a must get release. An irresistible track which showcases Rory’s inspired music, flavorful vocal style, memorable melodies with strong poetic lyrics and a natural guitar talent, all qualities Rory Sullivan brings to bear on this song “Out of Here” . An impressive young talent, artist Rory Sullivan is gaining momentum in a business that is hard to get traction in, we suspect that is because there is a passion and sincerity that is captured in Rory’s music that is a refreshing example of pure songwriting. Rory has this genuine quality and approach in his music and when you add in an array of legendary players including Paul McCartney’s Drummer Steve Holley and legendary bassist T. Bone Wolk plus Will Ackerman Grammy Award winning producer and founder of Windham Hill Records you have got a powerful pool of talent involved in the Ep and backing up Rory.You will enjoy this track as much as we did and want to pick up the EP “Here All Along” right away at Itunes or from Rory’s website . Do it and you will be glad you did. - ReviewPosse.com
"Rory Sullivan is the real deal. If the music industry were solely based upon talent, Rory would be a household name so do yourself a favor and discover him." (Award Winning singer/songwriter) - Gregory Douglass
"Young singer/songwriter and guitarist Rory Sullivan exemplifies a genuine passion and commitment for his music." - Jennifer Popiel
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
Chicago singer-songwriter Rory Sullivan, has received abundant acclaim from everyone from country music star Sara Evans to Grammy Winner/Windham Hill Records Founder, Will Ackerman. Sullivan took the grand prize for the CD Baby and Sarah Evans songwriting competitions in 2013 and 2nd place in the recent Indie International Songwriting Contest.
Since quitting his day job at The Post House Diner back in 2005, Rory hit the pavement and has played over 550 clubs, colleges and festivals, opened for acts Stephane Wrembel, Luke Brindley, James Maddock, Eric Andersen, Royal Southern Brotherhood, Craig Bickhardt, Mutlu, Todd Carey, Curtis Peoples, and many others. His songs have been featured on a compilation album with Emmylou Harris, John Oates, Neko Case, Cyndi Lauper, and Shelby Lynne to benefit animal awareness, and he has seen steady airplay on NPR, satellite, internet, and college radio.
His song “Better Now” was featured in the powerful documentary film series, “Finding Seoul”, which was co-written with filmmaker, John Sanvidge. Tim Westergren of Pandora Radio says, “Rory’s music represents a particular part of our catalogue, independent artists who are getting a lot of exposure.”
Sullivan spent the majority of 2014 in preparation for his Kickstarter campaign, entitled ‘The Fan Project’, which was successfully funded on May 1st raising almost $14,000. ‘The Fan Project’ consisted of Rory writing, recording, and releasing 2 songs a week to the backers of the campaign, in which pledgers would then vote on their favorite 7 of the 14 songs sent to them. The songs will appear on the new album in the fall of 2014.
His debut EP “Here All Along”, produced by Grammy Winning Producer Will Ackerman, features Sullivan’s acoustic roots and songwriting and features an all-star lineup of musicians, including T-Bone Wolk (Hall and Oates, Carly Simon), Steve Holley (McCartney and Wings/Elton John), and Eugene Friesen (Berklee School of Music). His latest studio release “Rory Sullivan and the Second Season” produced by Justin King in Brooklyn NY, features his music with full band production and NYC backing band, “The Second Season”.
In pursuit of his career, Sullivan relocated from his hometown of Newark, Delaware to NYC in 2011 and then again to Chicago in the Fall of 2012 to begin the next phase of his artistic journey. These past few years Rory has taken home four grand prize songwriting awards, including the CD Baby Songwriting Contest, which ranked over 3,000 songs winning him over $10,000 in prizes, including a flight to NYC for a recording session. He also won grand prize for the Sara Evans Songwriting Competition, awarding him a Facebook feature on Sara’s page, thousands of dollars worth of prizes, and a message from Sara herself. “I’m always drawn to songs with amazing lyrics, songs that really make you feel emotion or you feel like you’re right there in the middle of it. “Ride The Rails” by Rory Sullivan really struck me the first time I heard it.”, said the country music singer.
Band Members
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