By Sunday, The Long Road Festival has already thrown almost everything at us. Rain, thunder, lightning and, finally, mercifully, a bit of sunshine. But there is another name that keeps cropping up as I walk around the festival. Ryan & Rory.
The Nashville-based duo have already introduced themselves to UK country fans at C2C earlier in the year, but The Long Road Festival marks their first time venturing this far outside London for a British show. And judging by the number of people telling me they are one of Sunday’s acts not to miss, word has travelled quickly.
There is no shortage of famous country duos to draw comparisons with. Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers immediately come to mind. Could Ryan & Rory be next? “Man, your lips to God’s ears. We hope so. That’s what we’re going to try to do, man. And we’re gonna do it here.” No pressure, then.
Ryan and Rory @ The Long Road Festival 2026
One Cold Call And The 19th Hole
For a duo whose chemistry feels remarkably natural, Ryan & Rory’s origin story is surprisingly straightforward. It starts with a phone call between two musicians who, at the time, do not even realise they have already met. “I literally cold called this guy, man. I wanted to start a band. I’ve been in bands. I didn’t know what he was up to. A family friend of ours was like, ‘I know you’re trying to do this thing. I know so many people you could meet, but really, you should just call this one guy.’”
Rory is living in Carolina and making regular trips to Nashville when the unexpected 615 number appears on his phone. “Y’all, cold calls, they definitely work.”
The pair talk for hours and continue chatting over text before making a rather strange discovery. They have already met. Seven years earlier. “He was opening for another country band in my hometown, and we ended up meeting at a meet and greet. And I was like, ‘Dude, you’re not gonna believe this, but we’ve met before.’ And he sends me a picture of us from seven years ago.”
Eventually, they get together for a round of golf. “And on the nineteenth hole, we came up with Ryan and Rory.”
As for who gets top billing, apparently there is no ego involved. “Honestly, we flipped a coin.”
Perhaps more importantly, the first time they actually sing together, something clicks almost immediately. “We filmed the first time we ever sang together. And it was like, man, we would be so crazy. First 30 seconds we were like, ‘Yeah, this sounds good. Like, wow.’”
That footage still exists somewhere. Consider this our request to release it.
Everybody’s In The Music Video
The timing of their The Long Road Festival appearance could hardly be better. Ryan & Rory have released their latest track, Beer Wants Me, that Friday, meaning the festival provides one of the first opportunities to put it in front of a British crowd. But they have something else planned. “Can we tell you a secret?”
Go on. “Everybody that’s in the audience, they’re going to be in a music video today.”
The pair have started filming almost as soon as they land in the UK, gathering footage around London before heading to The Long Road Festival. “We’ve just been getting clips all around London, the UK, and now they’re up here. This is like the main event.”
So anyone who finds themselves dancing along to Beer Wants Me at The Long Road Festival might want to keep an eye out. You could already have your first Ryan & Rory video credit.
Ryan and Rory @ The Long Road Festival 2026
Learning The British Audience
C2C has already taught Ryan & Rory one important lesson about playing over here. British country audiences can be unnervingly quiet. “We were surprised by that the first time. The first song we played, first set last time, and I was like, ‘Man, I don’t know if they like us.’ We were a little caught off guard.”
Thankfully, it does not take long for them to work out what is happening. “As a couple more songs went on, we were like, ‘Oh, okay, we get the programme here. They’re actually listening to the words.’”
For two songwriters, that is not a bad audience to have. Ryan & Rory do not necessarily sit down to write for America, Britain or anywhere else. The ambition is simpler: find something universal. “We want to reach out to everyone and say, ‘Hey, you guys are our people. You guys are our people.’ No matter where we are.”
For them, country music’s ability to travel comes from writing about experiences that are not particularly dependent on geography. “We’re just trying to write songs that feel like what we grew up and how we grew up. And that is a universal through line. That’s a feeling everyone can connect to.”
Test Driving The Next Record
The The Long Road Festival crowd is not only getting the songs Ryan & Rory already know work. They are about to become guinea pigs. With around 14 or 15 songs already released, the duo have been working through a considerably larger collection while deciding what will eventually make their next record. “Man, we had so many songs to pick from. There’s a couple we’ve put out recently that are making the cut. It’s mostly new, and we’re actually playing a good chunk of the new stuff today.”
Testing unreleased material at a festival could be considered a fairly brave move. Ryan & Rory do not seem particularly concerned. “We figured last time we were here, nobody knew most of those songs and it went over awesome. So if they like that, I really feel like they’re going to like what we’re going to do in general.”
And with two sets to play at The Long Road Festival, there is even room to change things depending on the reaction. “If they explode during our set at two o’clock for one of the newer ones that we may not have in our thirty-minute later, maybe we’ll throw that in. You never know.”
As for the later set? “It’s all gas. All gas, no brakes, man.” Heartbreak songs at 11pm are apparently off the table.
Ryan and Rory @ The Long Road Festival 2026
Country Comes Before The Hook
Both men have musical lives before Ryan & Rory, and that previous experience inevitably feeds into what they are making now. One particularly interesting influence comes from having worked in pop, where the priorities of songwriting can be very different. “In pop it is so much less about the lyric and more about the – I mean, sometimes there’s good ones – but for the most part, melody is king.”
Country reverses that hierarchy for them. “In country, I really feel like I try to do the best melody ever that I can, but the lyric is the most important thing. So I will sacrifice a great melody for a better lyric.”
That focus seems particularly relevant for an act trying to establish itself on both sides of the Atlantic. The hooks might get people through the door, but Ryan & Rory know audiences here are listening closely to what they are actually saying. And after roughly two and a half years together, they are already hearing their own sound evolve. “When you just cold call somebody and you start making music together, you still gotta figure each other out musically.”
That process has happened quickly. “We both know what we do really well. And that has changed the music and it really shows. We’ve been in business for about two and a half years now and I’m shocked that we’ve not only accomplished, but figured out in just a short amount of time, who we are and what we’re trying to get after.”
There is an impressive clarity behind the apparent chaos. The music sounds instinctive, but the identity behind it is becoming increasingly deliberate.
Leaving The Ego At The Door
Of course, musical compatibility is only half the battle when your entire career involves spending an extraordinary amount of time with one other person. Plenty of famous duos have discovered that the hard way. Ryan & Rory seem determined not to join them. “The thing that poisons the well is always ego. And I really feel like that is something we leave at the door.”
There is plenty of confidence between them — you need only watch them on stage to see that — but they draw a distinction between confidence in what they are doing and everything that can come with success. “To us, it is not about being famous. It’s not about money. It’s not about girls. It’s about making the best country music that we can and doing what we love for a living.”
And they are thinking beyond the next single or next festival. “We’re in it for the long haul.”
For a partnership that began with a cold call and a round of golf, that long-term ambition feels significant.
A Little British Collaboration?
Their UK visits have also introduced them to a growing British country scene they had not necessarily been aware of before. Asked who they would like to work with, one name comes up particularly quickly: Kezia Gill. “I’ve heard a lot of great things about Kezia Gill. She’s great.”
The list does not stop there. They also mention The Shires and artists they have encountered during previous trips, with the conversation quickly turning from a potential collaboration into something approaching an entire UK tour. “Not one artist we’d like to do. Sounds like about five.”
Ryan & Rory with a collection of British country artists? We’ll take it. The idea also makes sense. The duo are clearly interested in the country scene beyond Nashville, and their own approach already sits comfortably alongside the increasingly confident British country movement.
Ryan and Rory @ The Long Road Festival 2026
Boots Back On The Ground
After The Long Road Festival, there is not much chance of Ryan & Rory disappearing. First comes finishing the Beer Wants Me video they have spent their UK trip shooting. “We go back home to cut this music video and hopefully drop that, like, ASAP. And then we’ve got songs coming for the rest of the year until the new year, and then we’re gonna go on a radio tour.”
There might just be time for a few days off first. After months spent writing, recording, promoting, travelling and playing shows, one half of the duo is planning to squeeze in a few days backpacking around Europe before it all starts again. “I think it’s important that you get at least, you know, five or seven days to just do like a nice little reset and then we’ll be right back at it.”
Then, as they put it, it is time to “hit the boots running”. For a duo that began with a cold call, discovered they had already met seven years earlier and eventually came up with their name over a round of golf, things are moving remarkably quickly.
The Long Road Festival is about to give them two chances to show British audiences what the fuss is about, a first listen to plenty of new music and, whether they realise it or not, a starring role in Ryan & Rory’s next music video. And then, just as we are wrapping up, the pair manage what they claim is another career milestone. “That was our first disagreement.”
So much for leaving the ego at the door. With Beer Wants Me now out and more new music on the way, Ryan & Rory are clearly not interested in easing their foot off the accelerator. It is, as they put it, all gas. No brakes.
Ryan and Rory @ The Long Road Festival 2026
Interview and photography with Ryan & Rory by Henry Finnegan at The Long Road Festival 2026 on 30th August 2026. Instagram: @finneganfoto | Facebook: @finneganfoto.
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