King Canyon

Melbourne guitarist James Ryan and vocalist Jimmy Cupples have combined to create a blues-fuelled rock album, featuring blistering guitar riffs and soulful vocals - influenced and reminiscent of the organic guitar band sounds of the 60s and 70s like legendary British rock pioneers Free and Led Zeppelin.

James Ryan is a well-respected and sought after guitarist, having toured internationally with Men At Work in their heyday, and has since been performing with industry heavyweights Russell Morris, Ross Wilson, Jon Stevens, Kate Ceberano, Vanessa Amorosi and Tina Arena.

His YouTube channel ilovenoise is about all things guitar and has almost 15k subscribers and has accumulated over 6 million YouTube views.

Jimmy Cupples is known for his huge vocal chops and energetic stage presence.

One of his original songs “Sunset Hills” was featured in the Australian movie Rise. He has been an active part of the Melbourne music scene most of his life, having learnt his craft from watching his famous uncle Peter Cupples, who was the voice and driving force behind popular 70’s Australian blue-eyed soul band Stylus.

So how did James and Jimmy connect and what was the motivating force to create their new project King Canyon? – Ryan explains; “When the worldwide quarantine kicked in and the live scene came to sudden halt, I decided to use the time to finally pursue a band project I had wanted to do for so long”.

James’ brain was exploding with huge Strat-driven blues riffs and was now on the lookout for a vocalist that would complete the sound he had in his head.

Enter Jimmy Cupples: Ryan continues; “When Jimmy’s name came up, I thought he could be perfect. We decided to collaborate on a new song idea I had to see what would transpire. After just a few emails and voice messages, the sparks began to fly and the track “Yellow Fever” was born, which became an immediate favourite.

I guess this is what you call chemistry!”

“One of the things we are enjoying the most is how easy the process has been and how much fun we are having. In King Canyon we are able to embrace our influences and instinctively go with the sounds that we love without it being questioned. We have both been in bands where every idea is scrutinized and dissected. We can finally go with our gut and let the good times roll”.

Although the pair have only been working together since mid-March 2020, they are more than half way through writing and recording their yet to be titled debut album.