About Thorny

Thorny is the electronic music project of Vermont synthesist and bassist JD Ryan. Working from a deep palette of hardware synthesizers and processed bass guitar, he creates immersive, slowly evolving soundscapes that range from contemplative ambient to cinematic drone, dark ambient, and Berlin school-influenced sequencer work — music shaped by the fog, silence, and shifting light of the Green Mountains.

His 2025 solo longform A Long Dusk was nominated for a Schallwelle Award for Best Ambient Album, and his album Flood — a reflection on the devastating 2023 Vermont floods — was praised by Seven Days as "a fascinating study in musical reaction to environmental stimuli." His discography also includes See No Sky (2023), his debut Mostly Gray (2022), and collaborative work with ambient guitarist Matt Borghi, including Fragments of Distance and A Long Dusk: The Borghi Remixes.

Thorny has become an active presence on the New England electronic and ambient music scene, with performances at the New England Synth Fest (Boston), Sound X Light X Movement (Somerville, MA), Sound in Air (Cambridge, MA), and Stage 33 Live SynthFest (Bellows Falls, VT). His live sets blend hardware synthesizers, processed fretless bass, and Ableton Live into long-form, evolving pieces that move between stillness and momentum.

JD lives in the Green Mountains of Vermont with his wife and dogs. He is actively seeking performance opportunities, collaborations, and commissions.