A CirdecSongs Chat with RYO OKUMOTO (Spock’s Beard, Progject)

I’ve heard a lot of music over the years. Yet there are still some bands that get past me. Either I don’t know about them or I know just enough to recognize a band name and that’s pretty much it. A friend of mine once reminded me that I can’t hear everything out there. I told him I was trying my best all the same.

Such is the case with progressive rock stalwarts Spock’s Beard. I have one of their albums, but I haven’t spent a lot of time with it, much to my own detriment. Had I been listening more intently, I would have heard the talents of RYO OKUMOTO. Who knows what avenues would have opened up from there? But I didn’t, and now I’m scrambling to catch up. Because Ryo is a spectacular player.

Ryo came to my attention by way of Progject, a prog rock super group that includes my friend Mike Keneally. I went to the Arcada Theater in St. Charles, Illinois to catch this band in action, as they reproduced prog rock classics from the likes of King Crimson, Genesis, and Rush. It was quite the performance.

Ryo caught my attention because he was so unassuming for the majority of the show. He was just back there on the keyboard riser, doing his thing with precision and passion. What pushed me firmly into “I’ve GOT to talk to this guy” territory was seeing him break out a key-tar and make his way to the front of the stage, where he proceeded to burn the house down! It was something else.

I caught up with Ryo after the show, saying that I admired his work and wanted to talk to him for my YouTube channel. To my delight, he agreed right away. And now, here we are. Ryo is a kind-hearted and affable man. He was a real pleasure to speak to. And his resume goes much deeper and in far different directions than I would’ve thought. But I’ll let him speak on that.

I’d like to thank Ryo for this very pleasant CirdecSongs chat.