Hi everybody!
My name is Ryan Gravesande. I was born in Queens, New York on September 24, 1982. (Please remember my birthday and send me many gifts). I grew up in Woodstock, GA. I also graduated from Liberty University in 2007 with a Bachelor of Science in Religion (Jerry Falwell-R.I.P.).
My musical beginnings.
I started playing the guitar when I was 13. I didn't own a guitar then. I just went over to my buddy Zach's house about every day and played on his guitar. I started off playing every Nirvana song that I could learn, because then, as far as I was concerned, Nirvana was the only music in existence (I have since learned better). Then, I bought my first electric guitar and amp from a friend in school, who I think ripped me off, and it has been rock and roll ever since.
Over the years, I have matured in my musical tastes. I went from grunge rock, to punk, to metal, classic rock, virtuoso players, blues, jazz, alternative, to basically anything now. I must say that I am no virtuoso on the guitar. I am still learning like everybody else, and I have a long way to go. It just so happens that I have been fortunate enough to have a career in music, and so there has been much that I have learned along the way.
My life change.
My musical career started when I was a freshman in high school. Prior to that year, I began going to a local church called First Baptist Church of Woodstock (www.fbcw.org). My buddy Zach (the one who let me jam on his guitar) had been inviting me for a while, and so I decided to go with him. I started attending FBCW's youth group on my own will soon after, but I was basically there for the friends (and the girls). During those couple of years, I had heard from tons of pastors about a man named Jesus who could change my life. I had known about Jesus and God and all that, but only as a bunch of religious stuff that makes you feel better when you go to church. At the time, I had a pretty weird and skewed concept of what was beyond our universe, which was nothing close to what these preachers were talking about. But I assumed that I was a decent person at heart, and so God wouldn't be so cruel as to send me to Hell, if there really was such a thing. Additionally, I figured that at some point, all roads lead to the same direction anyway.
It took about two years for common sense to really sit in. I began to notice that there were a lot of things about me that weren't so decent. Although most people never saw it, I was a very angry and depressed person. I began to realize that my mind would often be filled with thoughts and desires that were less then righteous. I realized that I was more self-centered than I thought. All of this started to line up with what all those preachers were talking about, until one day, it all came to a head.
I was at Stone Mountain National Park with my family. I remember I was walking up a trail, and my mind started to reflect on the kind of person that I was. As if everything became clear, I realized that things weren't as great with me as I thought they were and that if I were to die at that very moment, I would be in Hell. It was at that moment that I remembered all of those "sinner's prayers" that I had repeated over and over again, as if they were some magic sayings that could get me to heaven, just in case the universe didn't turn out to be exactly what I thought it was. I knew at that point that I needed to literally give my life to Jesus Christ, just like a servant would. I realized that I was a sinner, and because of that fact, I was separated from a relationship with God, the Creator. I realized that it was very true that Jesus Christ came to our Earth to live a perfect life, so that He could die a perfect, sacrificial death on the cross as a substitute for the punishment that I deserve for my sin. I, at that point, admitted to Jesus Christ how sinful I was, asked for forgiveness, and invited Jesus to take control of my life. The thing I've learned since then is that being a Christian has almost nothing to do with being religious. In fact, Jesus' main opposition were those who were the most 'religious' during His time on Earth! Being a Christian, rather, is having a relationship with the Creator of everything that we know. Having a relationship with God was God's reason for creating mankind. This is not unlike the desire for a man and a woman wanting to have a child. They desire, over all the financial, emotional, social, and physical stresses, to have a child so that they can have a parent/child relationship with him or her, which is something that can't be explained until one goes through it. When you stop and think about the fact that it's possible to have a REAL relationship with the being that created the plants, animals, stars, planets, galaxies, and us, that's a real heavy and amazing thing!
The beginning of my career.
Now, you may be thinking, "what does that have to do with your musical career?" Well, it was soon after I gave my life to Christ when the associate music director at my church, Dan Liles, asked me to play in a worship band for the youth group. That was very cool for me, because I finally got to play with a band instead of playing in my room by myself. That experience became the starting point of my musical career. Had I not accepted Christ when I did, I believe, for several reasons, that opportunity would never have come about.
At the time, worship music was not really my thing. I loved playing straight up rock and roll. But those four years of learning the style of worship music, reading and understanding music and chord charts, and learning the nuances of playing with a band became foundational in me joining a worship band called Orayi (Oh-rye) at Liberty University, which provided me almost a full scholarship, and the experience of traveling around the southeast as a musician. I must say that traveling in a band is one of my most favorite things to do. There's nothing like traveling with a bunch of people you love to hang out with, visiting new places, meeting new people, and doing the one thing you love doing: playing music. That's an even better deal when you don't have to pay a dime to do it! We were even able to buy our own recording equipment and record a CD ourselves; which had always been my dream since I started playing guitar. That was another learning experience altogether!
Where I'm at now.
I have since returned from Liberty University. My experiences in Orayi paved the way for more opportunities in Atlanta. I have played in The Will Goodwin Band for four years now, where we have traveled throughout the east coast, recorded a CD and are working on our second, and I now have more creative opportunities then ever before. Additionally, I get to play at several local churches including North Point Community Church (Alpharetta, GA), First Baptist Church of Woodstock (Woodstock, GA), Oak Leaf Baptist Church (Cartersville, GA), among several other churches. Worship music has become more of a joy for me over the years because I have learned how there is much more to it than just playing a bunch of simple songs. When worship music is led selflessly, with the intent to interact with the Creator, you experience something almost surreal in that you use music, an entity of this Earth created by God, to communicate with and love on God. You can think of it like writing a love song for the person you love the most. Additionally, I get to enjoy and make a career out of one of my passions, which is teaching guitar privately for my own business (Sandgravy Music) and for Donley's Music in Holly Springs, GA (and now in Hickory Flat, GA).
I do truly mean it when I say that I enjoy teaching guitar. I would love to teach music, to some degree, as long as I live. That being said, I hope you enjoy using this website. My goal in Sandgravy Music is to create a music learning venue that is very intentional in giving every student the opportunity to hone in on their talents. It is my desire to grow this business to make available more teachers and more instruments to learn.
Also, if you have any questions or would like to talk to me more about the spiritual aspect of my life, I would love to talk to you. You can e-mail me or we can meet for coffee, if possible, and chat about it. I would absolutely love it.
Anyway, enjoy the website!
-Ryan