Audrey Ryan does not mince words when it comes to what she thinks of “hipster posers,” her generation of the “apathetic age,” armchair critics, and stalker fans.

By Kathleen Burke

New England musical renaissance woman Audrey Ryan announced early this week that her book The Need to Be Heard (published in April 2011) is now available digitally through the Amazon Marketplace. Ryan’s debut book is part memoir and part cautionary tale for aspiring and professional musicians. She does not mince words when it comes to what she thinks of “hipster posers,” her generation of the “apathetic age,” armchair critics, and stalker fans.

Ryan originally hails from an island off the coast of Maine but now resides in Cambridge, MA. When she isn’t hosting DIY style shows at her loft space, which has featured acts such as Dana Colley of Morphine, The Shills, and Justin Shorey, to name a few, she’s often on tour promoting her music. This past May she traveled to Ireland and France for an 11 show stretch. This month Ryan is back in New England as she prepares for her stateside release of Sirens, a full-length endeavor comprised of songs recorded between 2005 and 2010 that somehow never made their way on to a proper album.

Audrey Ryan — a one woman band whose unafraid of taking risks.

Sirens marks Ryan’s fifth official release since 2004’s Passing Thu, but it was the quirky and dynamic Dishes and Pills released in 2007 by UK based label Folkwit Records that solidified her place in the New England folk-rock scene. Known to many as the female Beck, Ryan performs as a one-woman band. Her instrumentation can include acoustic guitar, banjo, accordion, a loop machine, glockenspiel, ukulele, and drums. Yes, she performs all of these (some simultaneously) solo. It is refreshing to see a woman so dedicated to creativity and songwriting take musical risks during a live performance.

Ryan performs Saturday, June 16th at the Clarendon Hall Presbyterian Church in Somerville, MA at 7:30 p.m.