Maverick Country spoke to rising country duo, Ryan and Rory, when they were fresh from performing for the first ever time in London. Our editor caught up with them at Country to Country (C2C). Nashville-based Ryan and Rory‘s career thus far has been fairly short, but their impact has already been felt. They’ve toured with Sam Hunt, Jamey Johnson, Brett Young and Tyler Braden. They also made their Grand Ole Opry debut at the end of 2024. However, they are certainly no newcomers to the music industry; Ryan Follesé is an American Music Award-winning Nashville native and twice platinum-selling songwriter who was the frontman of Hot Chelle Rae. Their song, Tonight Tonight was a Billboard Top 10 hit in 2011. Meanwhile, Rory John Zak is a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist hailing from North Carolina who performs over 300 shows annually. They’re working on their first studio album under BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville, but in the meantime, there’s plenty of tracks to get into if you want to get a flavour of Ryan and Rory. Wasn’t Thinkin is a rowdy honky-tonk anthem built for the last call and stories worth reliving, whilst songs such as Together Again (featuring Jamey Johnson), Them Boots, Girls Are Pretty and Lawn Chair In The Living Room, showcase lightness and fun. You’re fresh from performing at C2C, how are you feeling? Rory: This is our first time performing in London, first time at C2C, and we are still buzzing off the adrenaline from that stage. We have really had a blast over here. So I would say, 11 out of 10. What could you say about the atmosphere and the crowd? Ryan: I’ve been hearing about it for so long and to see it in person, it’s far exceeded even what I’d heard. I can’t believe how big the fandom is for country music here. Rory: And besides that, we couldn’t believe how many people were singing the words to our songs! So we are overwhelmed a little bit. What would you say is the difference between crowds here and ones that you’re used to performing in front of? Ryan: We’ve been getting this sense that the people here are not only excited, but they’re super grateful that people have made the effort and made the trip and crossing the pond, and you can kind of feel that. You feel it on the stage. What’s next for you? Have you got any projects coming up? Any tours? Rory: Yes, we’re recording our first full-length album this year, and so that’s gonna come out later on. We’ve been writing, trying to beat the songs out for that. And hopefully we can schedule another trip over here to the UK sooner than later. Ryan: Yeah. And by that time, we’ll be playing that music, so we’ll be real pumped about that.
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