With more than 1,000 gigs under his belt (including spots opening for Blues Traveler and Steppenwolf), and five albums to his name since 1998, Butch Ryan is a serious traveling troubadour.

A veteran of the Tampa scene who has played with a variety of lineups over the years, Ryan has an alt-country growl and twangy guitars that has led to national distribution of his albums. He's also a regular performer outside Raymond James on Bucs gamedays.

His last album, Time To Wait, was recorded with the help of the late Tampa drummer Jeff Wood, who died in September 2007.

"After he passed away," Ryan said, "I took some time off, reflected a bit, and decided to play with as many different musician friends as possible; people I had played with on other projects throughout the years who I hadn't played with in some time. Jeff's passing taught me that those relationships were meant to make music with, and enjoy the "sharing" that goes with making that music. Life is too short not to flex the creative muscle with those friends every so often."

On Saturday, his Butch Ryan Band performs with the Mourning Glories and Hadley's Hope at 9 p.m. at New World Brewery in Ybor City. Click here for details.

-- Jay Cridlin, tbt*