Musician versed in beating the odds

AMERICAN FORK — In at least one aspect, the LDS music industry differs little from the mainstream music business — it relies heavily on advertising and name recognition.

On one hand, there are the well-known and heavily-marketed names like Michael McLean, Cherie Call, Jericho Road and Kurt Bestor. On the other hand, there are the talented — yet relatively unheard of — artists like J. Ryan Moody.

Who?

Exactly.

Moody is an aspiring musician and BYU grad who has learned at the feet of some of the better-known names in the LDS music industry including Bestor. But he's yet to land a major recording deal.

That's not to say that he hasn't released an album yet. His first CD, "Sunshine From My Soul," was released last summer by Juel Productions, a small label created by Moody and his family.

Juel Productions hooked up with a distribution company, Sounds of Zion, to make the CD available, as the commercial goes, "wherever fine LDS products are sold."

As it is in the mainstream book and recording industry, LDS products marketed by the "biggies" (in this case, Deseret Book, Covenant, etc.) tend to sell better than those that aren't. Preferential

positioning and display privileges go to products marketed by the big publishing and recording companies. In other words, if one of the "biggies" isn't behind your product, chances are it's not going to get noticed and, consequently, will not sell very well.

This doesn't bother Moody much. He's faced bigger challenges than that in his 34 years.

Moody, born with spina bifida, dreamed of being a BYU quarterback. His parents, however, steered him toward music.

As with most young children, getting him to practice was a problem because there were other things he'd rather be doing — like throwing passes to friends from his wheelchair.

Even learning to play the piano presented problems.

"I was told Ryan should steer clear of the piano because he could not touch the foot pedals," his mother Connie said. "But I disagreed. I liked the sound he could get from the piano without (touching) them. Ryan's music has a very pure, sweet and individual sound."

By the third grade, Ryan was able to play movie themes by ear. As he started studying violin, his mother realized he had perfect pitch (the ability to identify any note heard).

His inability to reach the piano pedals are a result of his physical condition, the same physical condition that he feels gives him a unique musical perspective.