Folk duo Ryanhood to perform in ABQ, Santa Fe on the heels of new album

Folk aficionados have two chances to see Ryanhood in New Mexico over Thanksgiving weekend. The award-winning folk duo, whose name is a portmanteau of the names of its members, Ryan Green and Cameron Hood, will play Fusion in Albuquerque on Saturday, Nov. 29, and San Miguel Chapel in Santa Fe on Sunday, Nov. 30.

Ryanhood’s latest album, “Yes & No,” is set to drop Friday, Nov. 28, the day before their New Mexico appearances. Green says the new album represents a return to their roots, with songs that are “very upbeat” and performance-oriented.

“It’s got 10 songs on it, and ... it’s very much written for the stage,” Green said. “If you’ve got a 10-song album, you don’t necessarily think that all 10 songs are going to make it into regular live rotation, especially when you’ve got eight albums, like we do. But we looked it over and thought, ‘Man, there might be nine of these 10 songs that could make it into our shows pretty regularly, because they’re just really strong live songs — really high energy, really good acoustic guitar interplay, really good harmonies.”

Green contrasts “Yes & No” with what Ryanhood’s last release, “Under the Leaves” (2021), which he calls their “COVID album.”

“‘Under the Leaves’ is very dreamy and very artistic and lush,” he said, “but not all the songs worked awesome as a duo onstage ... (since) it was recorded and released during a time when nobody was touring.”

Thematically, “Yes & No” deals with divisions, both socially and internally.

“We’re in an era where everything is ‘this’ or ‘that.’ It’s just very polarized,” Green said. “And the title of this album, ‘Yes & No,’ is really saying there’s parts of all of us that we need to accept. There’s parts of all of us that are both right and wrong.”

Hood writes most of the band’s lyrics, and Green is responsible for most of their musical arrangements.

“We do both contribute all elements, but generally he has the ultimate veto, or ultimate say, in the lyrical realm of what we do, and I tend to have that in the musical realm,” Green said, “and we’re happy to give that to each other.”

Hood’s lyrics on “Yes & No” give voice to emotions that both members have been feeling in recent years.

“He’s more of the philosopher of the band and the deep thinker, which is why he’s the lyricist,” Green said. “But certainly, we both feel the tension and the ache of the divisiveness of the world.”

Green and Hood attended the same high school in Tucson. When they met, they were lead singers in rival rock bands.

“We would compete in the Battle of the Bands against each other. His band at the time was called Fallout — this was before Fall Out Boy — and my band was called Swivelfish,” Green said. “As high school came to an end, we admitted that we highly respected each other’s work, and we became good friends.”

They started playing together during college breaks, eventually naming themselves Ryanhood. They’ve been together ever since.

“We started writing songs together right at the end of high school, so that would have been about 25 years,” Green said. “The miracle is really staying together that long. There’s not a long list of bands that do that. If you look at duos, for example — any duos you can think of — probably none of them are still together, whether it’s Simon and Garfunkel or Hall and Oates.”

Green attributes Ryanhood’s longevity to healthy communication.

“It takes being a mature human being, and being willing to look at your own role in situations,” he said.

Green, who has been married for 20 years, said it’s harder to keep a band together than a marriage.

“I think a band is actually more difficult, because Cameron and I chose each other out of musical and artistic compatibility, but not necessarily everything else,” Green said. “When you form a band, you don’t necessarily think, ‘Would I want to spend 50 years (touring) in an Acura with this person?’”

In the early years, they often bickered.

“Stuff happened really fast in the early days. We went from street performing to traveling with Jason Mraz, and there was just a lot of pressure,” Green said. “Sometimes, it would go fantastic, and we would sell tons of CD. Then, sometimes, the weather would be crummy, and nobody would buy anything, and we’d start to pick at each other.”

But such squabbles are now a distant memory.

“I would say, by the time you make it past 10 or 12 years — as a band or in a relationship — you’ve learned how to communicate, and you’ve learned how to work through things,” Green said. “You know how to walk away if you need space. You’ve learned how to bring something up if it needs to be brought up. And you’ve learned how to listen and show that you’re listening. So, at this point, I feel like we’re an old married couple — in a good way.”

As for his actual marriage, Green said, “I’m better in marriage because of the skills I learned in my band.”

Green believes his and Hood’s comfort with each other has a positive effect on their audiences, too.

“The audience sees the two of us being spontaneous, having fun, playing off each other, lifting each other up, and so they feel safe to sort of let go and have that relationship with us, as well,” he said.

Live music’s ability to bring people together and create a sense of community is more necessary than ever, according to Green.

“It’s the anti-internet,” he said. “Like, you go to a concert, and suddenly everybody in that room is your tribe, and you’re cool with everybody. You’re all together. Whereas the internet pulls people apart, music — and art in general — pulls us together.”