Getting to Know Gary Ryland!

….Do you have a nickname?
Ragsy.

Where are you from?
Aberdare.

What would you name the autobiography of your life?
Rags to Stitches.

What’s something you think everyone should try at least once?
Bara Brith, butter and blue cheese.

If you could meet anyone, who would you meet?
Pearl Jam founder/grunge elder, Eddie Vedder.

What is the greatest song ever recorded and why?
So many but at this very moment I’m going to go with ‘Just Breathe’ by Willie Nelson but I prefer the Eddie Vedder cover version.

What is it about music that sets your heart racing?
How a beat, a riff, a melody, a simple strum of a chord, or the spaces in between, a lyric, or the way one line is sung t can capture your imagination. It can capture how you feel, relate to your emotions, a time in your life or simply make you feel that everything is going to be okay.

How do you think music can help a community?
Music can help a community by bringing unity, belief, confidence, and pride. Encouraging creativity and giving a sense of belonging as well as the ability to build stronger relationships by connecting and communicating with others. Music is cathartic and therapeutic which also brings many other benefits such as emotional, physical and can help with other various issues.

What do you hope to get out of Cornerstones?
I hope to make a difference by showing how music can help people who live with dementia (memory loss or brain trauma), as well as their families and carers. I hope to make the lives of these people involved a little easier, more enjoyable, and hopefully help bridge the gap between what can be remembered from what has been forgotten. On a personal level I hope to become a better music facilitator, project officer, and manager to be able to develop further in life and my music career.

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Oes gen ti lysenw?
Ragsy.

O ble wyt ti’n dod?
Aberdâr.

Beth fyddet ti’n galw dy hunangofiant?
‘Rags to Stitches’

Beth wyt ti’n gredu y dylai pawb roi cynnig arno o leiaf unwaith mewn bywyd?
Bara Brith, menyn a chaws glas.

Os byddet ti’n cael cyfarfod unrhyw un o gwbl, pwy fyddet ti’n ddewis?
Sylfaenydd Pearl Jam/ac un o hoelion wyth grunge, Eddie Vedder.

Beth yw’r gân orau a gafodd ei recordio erioed a pham?
Mae na gymaint ohonyn nhw ond y funud yma rydw i’n mynd i ddewis ‘Just Breathe’ gan Willie Nelson ond mae’n well gen i fersiwn Eddie Vedder.

Beth, ynglŷn â cherddoriaeth, sy’n gwneud i dy galon garlamu?
Y ffordd mae curiad, riff, alaw a strymio cord syml, neu’r tawelwch rhyngddyn nhw, gair, neu’r ffordd mae un llinell yn cael ei chanu yn gallu dal y dychymyg. Mae’n gallu crisialu sut wyt ti’n teimlo, cysylltu â’r emosiynau, cyfnod yn dy fywyd, neu’n syml gwneud i ti deimlo fod popeth yn mynd i fod yn iawn.

Sut wyt ti’n meddwl y gall cerddoriaeth helpu cymdeithas?
Mae cerddoriaeth yn gallu helpu cymuned drwy greu undod, cred, hyder a balchder.Annog creadigrwydd a rhoi’r ymdeimlad o berthyn yn ogystal â'r gallu i feithrin perthynasgryfach drwy gysylltu a chyfathrebu gydag eraill. Mae cerddoriaeth yn gathartig ac yntherapiwtig, sydd hefyd yn arwain at lawer o fanteision eraill – emosiynol a chorfforol ac mae’n gallu helpu gyda amrywiaeth o faterion eraill.

Beth wyt ti’n gobeithio ei gael yn Cornerstones?
Rydw i'n gobeithio gwneud gwahaniaeth drwy ddangos sut y mae cerddoriaeth yn gallu helpu pobl sy'n byw gyda dementia (colli cof neu drawma'r ymennydd), a hefyd eu teuluoedd a'u gofalwyr. Rydw i’n gobeithio gwneud bywydau'r bobl hyn fymryn yn haws,yn fwy pleserus, a gobeithio helpu i bontio'r bwlch rhwng yr hyn y gellir ei gofio o'r hynsydd wedi'i anghofio. Ar lefel bersonol, rydw i'n gobeithio dod yn well hwylusyddcerddoriaeth, swyddog prosiect a rheolwr er mwyn gallu datblygu ymhellach mewnbywyd ac yn fy ngyrfa gerddorol.

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“Music can help a community by bringing unity, belief, confidence, and pride.”