Ryan Traster
90s country meets pop-country, with a heartland Americana core — Ryan Traster is a Minneapolis-based songwriter whose career spans more than two decades. He’s the kind of writer Red Dirt bands call when they need a song that sticks: big choruses, lived-in stories, and a craftsman’s sense of what a vocalist needs.
His July 2026 EP Lifers — produced by veteran songwriter Kevin Bowe after BMG-requested demos — returns to heartland Americana in the vein of Kris Kristofferson, Jakob Dylan, and Tom Petty. It follows earlier forays into cosmic country, jangle pop, and power pop with collaborators including Chris Walla, Marc Perlman, Tim O’Reagan, and Ed Ackerson.
Considerable sync & licensing experience
Traster’s songs have earned nearly 20 film and television placements, according to First Avenue’s bio — a track record most unsigned writers would envy:
- Songs licensed to the Discovery Channel, E!, MTV, and VH1
- Featured on Keeping Up with the Kardashians
- Music placed across reality, cable, and network programming over a 20+ year career
- Writing shaped by years of making songs work to picture — economy, hook, and emotional payoff
Why we’re featuring him
Because the writers behind the hits deserve their own spotlight — and because Traster’s lane is exactly where country is headed: 90s-country songcraft with pop-country reach, grounded in the heartland Americana of Petty and Kristofferson. If you like Luke Dick’s Texas-rooted writing on “Choosin’ Texas,” Ryan Traster should be on your radar.
Bio aggregated from confirmed public sources including First Avenue and the artist’s official site.