In this KGNU interview, pianist and composer Ryan Benthall discussed his new album Sovereign Mind, released on Octave Records and recorded locally in Boulder. He shared insights into his musical journey from growing up in St. Louis to settling in Colorado, his shift from violin and voice to piano, and his process of balancing composition with improvisation. Benthall performed live in the studio, including the pieces Age of Aquarius and the title track Sovereign Mind, the latter inspired by Ukraine’s resilience during the war. He also spoke about recent performances, upcoming shows in Fort Collins, and his collaborations with other Colorado musicians. The conversation closed with a touching dedication to his grandmother through the track Ann V. (Studio Session: 8/26/25)
Joanne Cole: All right. That was a recording of Ryan Benthall. The CD is titled Sovereign Mind. We have Ryan in the studio with us right now.
Ryan Benthall: Good morning.
Joanne Cole: Good morning. Thank you for joining us on KGNU.
Ryan Benthall: Thank you, Joanne.
Joanne Cole: Ryan, tell us about yourself before we delve into this concert.
Ryan Benthall: Yeah. I’m a pianist and a composer, and I just came out with my new album. You just heard the second track off it, entitled Ice Spring, from the album Sovereign Mind. It was just released on Octave Records back in February of this year, which is the record label for PS Audio, a high-fidelity speaker system company.
They’re pretty amazing. They’ve been around for decades and started this label back in 2019, so I’m very honored to be a part of that. The album turned out great. It was recorded right down the street from here at Octave Studios, located at Alma and Sterling, so pretty close.
So yeah, this is all brewed up here in Boulder. I actually live close to here as well, so everything’s pretty local.
Joanne Cole: I was going to ask you—are you a native, or did you come to Colorado at a certain point?
Ryan Benthall: No, I’m definitely not from Colorado. I grew up in St. Louis.
Joanne Cole: Uh-huh.
Ryan Benthall: I lived in St. Louis for years. I grew up in Missouri, kind of in between—if you know where Hannibal, Missouri, is, it’s famous for being where Mark Twain is from. My dad’s side of the family had a farm on the way to Hannibal, in a small town called Bowling Green.
So I was kind of in between being in the country there, and my mom was closer to the city in St. Louis, so I grew up moving between both of those worlds. I grew up in St. Louis County, then I moved to the city when I turned 18, and I went to school there as well.
Joanne Cole: Is piano your first instrument? Have you been playing it forever?
Ryan Benthall: Well, piano became way more of a focus for me, especially going into college, because I was a composition major. I actually entered school as a vocal major, but I was writing so much music for the piano and for ensembles that it just made more sense to make piano my primary focus.
My first instrument was violin, actually.
Joanne Cole: Wow. I’m really thrilled that you’re here, so thank you for coming. Tell us what we’re going to hear first.
Ryan Benthall: I was thinking about that. I think I’ll play a song off my new album entitled Age of Aquarius.
It’s actually the oldest composition on the album—I wrote this about 10 years ago, back in 2015.
Joanne Cole: Great. This is Ryan Benthall live from our KGNU Cabaret Room, right here on KGNU.
That was beautiful. The name of that? Oh, Age of Aquarius.
Ryan Benthall: Yes.
Joanne Cole: And I was just wondering while I was listening—what’s more fun, composing or playing?
Ryan Benthall: They both take up a different kind of space—intellectually and as a practice. When you’re playing, you could be composing as you play, or playing something by memory that was already preconceived. When you improvise—there was a section where I was purely improvising—you’re composing and playing at the same time, which is what happens in jazz. But then I was also playing a very specific, composed part as well.
So, I just get into different phases. Sometimes I just want to sit and play, but when you go to compose, you need to be way more disciplined. It takes sitting down and really making a final decision on something, like “This is the way it goes.” Composing can be pretty hard.
You’re looking at a blank page, and I think what gets the notes moving on the page is playing them. I’ll record what I play and compose later, or I might sit down and just start writing and then play what I wrote. I’ll come up with completely different ideas depending on that process.
Joanne Cole: We do want to talk—you’ve got a gig coming up where we’re promoting the release of this CD, correct?
Ryan Benthall: Yeah. Well, the release already happened, actually. I did my official release at Dazzle in Denver. It went great. I had the full band—it was a six-piece band, including some pretty amazing players: Dave Watts on the drum set from The Motet, Todd Smalley playing bass, David Burnett on saxophone, Sean Applebee—who’s also on the record—on trumpet and flugelhorn, and Jason Greenlaw playing guitar.
So, a lot of phenomenal players.
Joanne Cole: Wonderful. Will you be playing again in the future somewhere?
Ryan Benthall: My next show doing this music, under my own name, will be at the Magic Rat in Fort Collins. I actually did an interview up there at KRFC, and that went great. That’s September 4th at the Magic Rat in Fort Collins.
Joanne Cole: Coming right up. Never heard of the Magic Rat—what kind of club is it?
Ryan Benthall: It’s a really beautiful speakeasy bar area in the Elizabeth Hotel. It’s a little fancy, but a really fun hangout spot. And they have a grand piano on stage—that’s what really drew me in. I’ll be featuring Dave Watts on drums and David Burnett.
Joanne Cole: September 4th if people want to hear you live.
Ryan Benthall: Yes, September 4th in Fort Collins. That’s my next show. I just played solo at Dazzle this past week on Thursday. And I’m also playing tonight. If anyone’s looking for something to do, I’ve got two shows: I’ll be here in the studio later for the Cabaret with a rock band I play with called Phoebe Nicks. That’s all original music with my very good friend Christopher Klaus—great guitarist, singer, and songwriter.
After that, I’m going to jet over to Roots Music Project and play with my very good friend Jason Brandt for his album release show.
Joanne Cole: Oh, very cool.
Ryan Benthall: Absolutely.
Joanne Cole: Our guest is Ryan Benthall. He’s a wonderful pianist, and we’re featuring him solo today. Ryan, let’s hear another live one if we can, if you’ll introduce it for us.
Ryan Benthall: Yeah. I’ll do the title track of the album.
Joanne Cole: Cool.
Ryan Benthall: This is Sovereign Mind, the title track, which is one of the pieces I wrote after I moved here to Colorado.
Joanne Cole: Wonderful.
Ryan Benthall: The piece I played before is the only one on the album that was written in St. Louis. So here we go to Colorado.
Joanne Cole: Ryan Benthall, right here on KGNU.
Beautiful. And what was going on in your mind when you wrote that song?
Ryan Benthall: When I wrote it—let’s see—I actually dated it when I wrote it. It was 2022, early in the year, right when Russia announced its war on Ukraine. I was following that pretty closely, and I still do. I was inspired by Ukraine’s resilience and their strength—the people really rising up, and their leader, Zelensky, really stepping up. I thought, “Wow, they’re fighting for their sovereignty. They’re fighting for something they believe in.”
I had this melody come up, and it was about the clashing of one scale against another. So at the beginning of that piece, you have these two chords—maybe like two countries right next to each other—but you can’t have both at the same time. I go in between these two chords, and I use one note, the one strand that they have in common, and that’s how they melded.
Joanne Cole: Pretty amazing—that beautiful melodic sound we know as jazz representing conflict and destruction. It’s just really spectacular. Thank you, Ryan, for explaining that. Our guest is Ryan Benthall. We are talking about his new release, Sovereign Mind. Ryan, have you played on KGNU before?
Ryan Benthall: Yeah.
Joanne Cole: Oh wait—George, where’s that microphone? There you go.
Ryan Benthall: I have done a couple of performances. My first one was with Ari Mellinger-Cohen, a good friend of mine. He’s a bass player, singer, and composer. I was playing in his band at the beginning of 2024, and that was my first time here. And then I was here recently with Canyon Collective as well, which is another band I play in.
Joanne Cole: So what we’re seeing on your website and bio is that you play around a lot—you’re in demand with other bands. But is this your first solo release, or no?
Ryan Benthall: I have one other solo release that’s available on all platforms. It’s just something I put out to say, “Here’s me, and here’s something you can listen to for free.” I put it on all the streaming platforms—you can find it on Spotify, Apple Music, all of that.
It’s called The Ryan Benthall Trio, and it’s just a trio record of all my original stuff dating back from 2012 to 2015. But this is my first official release under my name, under a record label. I love this record, so I’d like to make this my first official one.
Joanne Cole: There we go. And we love having you here. Thank you so very much for being here. People can find you…?
Ryan Benthall: Just Google me—it’s pretty easy to find me.
Joanne Cole: Very good. We’re going to go out with another song from the CD, Ryan, called Ann V. Do you want to tell us about that one?
Ryan Benthall: This is a very special song that’s very dear to my heart. This goes out to my family who’s listening—I think I’ve got some family tuning in. This is a piece I wrote in dedication to my grandmother, Ann Vehi, a very beautiful individual I got to spend a lot of time with as a kid. I wrote this when she passed away a few years ago.
Joanne Cole: How lovely. Thank you, Ryan. Ryan Benthall, right here on KGNU Live. How often do we have fabulous live music? We’re going to go out with his song for his grandmother, Ann V, from the CD Sovereign Mind, right here on KGNU.
