Special Announcement: "Emphasis"

Dear Friends, A few years ago I had an idea: What if band “merch” could be more personal? Listeners let music into their lives in such meaningful ways- why can’t the things we buy to support the music we love reflect those meaningful connections?

Today, it brings me SO much joy to introduce you to my brand-new company, “Emphasis" - a website where music fans can create entirely custom, one-of-a-kind T-Shirts featuring their favorite lyrics from their favorite bands!

Here’s how Emphasis works…

  • Let’s say you’re a Sleeping At Last fan (hypothetically, of course.)
  • You browse through the ENTIRE Sleeping At Last discography of lyrics.
  • You hand-select your very favorite Sleeping At Last LYRIC.
  • Using the Emphasis T-Shirt Editor, you’ll have a PLETHORA of options to customize everything from the shirt color, the lyric layout, the fonts, the font colors and even the Sleeping At Last logo, to make it truly yours!
  • Once your MASTERPIECE is complete, click Buy and Ta-da! You just created your very first Emphasis Lyric T-Shirt, made JUST for you. Your new shirt will then be made and sent your way in a jiffy.

Scroll down to check out some of the first T-Shirts that my team and I created using Emphasis! Maybe they'll inspire your masterpiece! And for folks less interested in creating their own Emphasis Lyric shirt, it’s worth noting that you can buy or tweak any of our Featured Shirts as well!

Sleeping At Last is the first of MANY Emphasis artists to come. (So excited that some my favorite artists will join the Emphasis roster SOON!)

I’d be SO honored if you’d be among the first ever to give Emphasis a try and create a shirt that means something to you! As “Early Adopters,” here’s a coupon code for $5 off: EARLYBIRD (expires on Nov. 13th)

I’m beyond thrilled to finally see this idea come to life and am so delighted to share it with you first! The idea of you guys wearing the words that I’ve poured my heart into for so many years means more to me than I can even articulate. Thanks in advance for trying something new! Please be sure to post your designs on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. We can’t wait to see what you make!!! (Oh, and let’s be friends!! Follow us on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram!)

Much Love, Ryan - Sleeping At Last (and now also, founder of Emphasis!)

P.S. Here’s a list of things I love right now….

1. Rule29 (my emphasis partners who helped make this idea an actual thing! plus, some of my fav people!) 2. Foo Fighter’s Sonic Highways on HBO (foo fighters fan or not, this is such a great music doc series. watch it.) 3. Leftover Halloween Candy (kit-kats, nerds, sweet tarts, starbursts, yes please.) 4. Javi’s Burritos (a new favorite in glen ellyn, il… yum)

Starbucks, The Vampire Diaries & More!

Hello again! If it's alright with you, I've got a few more things to tell you about...

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES!

So pleased to announce that Tonight (Oct. 9th), my cover of “All Through The Night” will be featured on The CW’s The Vampire Diaries!! The show airs 8/7c and I’m so very honored to get to have my music be a part! Hope you’ll tune in!

STARBUCKS!

Next time you’re grabbing coffee at Starbucks, keep an ear out for my song "Turning Page." Honored that the lovely folks at Starbucks chose to include it in this month’s in-store music playlist!!

HALLOWEEN SONG!

A couple years ago, I wrote a Halloween song for a movie called "Fun Size." It's called "Masquerade" and if you're looking for music to add to your Halloween party playlist, you can get it here... iTunesYouTubeSpotify!

SHEET MUSIC!

Musicnotes.com now carries Sleeping At Last Sheet Music! Check out the available songs here… If they are missing any songs you’d like for them to make sheet music for, let them know! Email your song requests to: support@musicnotes.com

Also, I had the pleasure of doing an interview for the Musicnotes.com blog! Read it here

Welp, that’s all for today, friends! Thanks so much for reading. So grateful for you!!!

Much Love, Ryan - Sleeping At Last

P.S. Here’s a list of things I love right now….

1. iPhone 6 (was on the fence for a little while there...6 or 6 plus! but i feel great about my decision for the 6. i love it so.) 2. Pixar’s “Inside Out” Teaser (i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again: i adore all things pixar. needless to say i can’t wait for this!!) 3. Interstellar (i've sort of already decided that christopher nolan's upcoming film is gonna be my fav of the year.) 4. Vinyl Clocks (these are pretty rad.)

ABC's "Forever," Darling & More...

Hello! Hello! It has been an incredible couple of weeks around here for me and my family... On September 18th, I became a Father to a beautiful baby Girl!!! Her name is Lily Madeleine O'Neal. In these last 11 days, I have experienced love in a way that I never imagined possible. She is perfect and my heart will never be the same!

In addition to sharing the news about my little girl, I also wanted to tell you...

"FOREVER" ON ABC!

I am so excited to announce that my song "Chandeliers" will be featured on ABC's new Sci-Fi show, "Forever"! The episode airs tomorrow (Tues.) night at 10/9c and I so hope you'll tune in! Truly a privilege to have my music be a part of the show!

DARLING MAGAZINE FEATURE

I had the incredible honor to contribute to Issue #9 of Darling Magazine! They brought my lyrics to life through photography for a piece called "I'll Keep You Safe," for which I had the privilege of writing an introduction. Huge thanks to the lovely Darling team!

Here's a short video they made inspired by the shoot.

UPCOMING NEWS

There's much to tell you about in the VERY near future: a brand-new company I started that is launching SOON, information about Atlas: Year Two (also soon!!) and a lot more! Can't wait to share all of it with you!! I hope that your Summer was beautiful and that your Fall is already off to a promising start! Thanks for reading!

Much Love, Ryan - Sleeping At Last

P.S. Here's a list of things I LOVE....

1. Lily Madeleine O'Neal (my muse!!) 2. A&W Root Beer (i’ve searched high and low and i think it’s my fav… i think.) 3. Violents (jeremy larson is one of the most gifted musicians i know. violents is his new project and it's amazing.) 4. Apple Watch (i wish it were “early 2015” already… i’m such a sucker for all things apple. not even embarrassed.)

SYTYCD Tonight & More!

Dearest Friends, How’s Summer treating you? It’s been amazing ‘round here… mildest and loveliest Summer I can remember in Chicago! So grateful. Got a few fun things to tell you this fine Summer day…

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE!

So thrilled to announce that my cover of “99 Red Balloons” from my recent "Covers, Vol. 1" album (iTunes) will be featured on TONIGHT'S episode of So You Think You Can Dance!! I so hope you’ll tune in, 8/7c on FOX! So very excited and honored to have my music be a part of the show again!! Ahhhh.

KID PRESIDENT - ALL EPISODES ONLINE!

You may or may not know that I wrote and recorded all of the music for the TV show, “Kid President: Declaration of Awesome”! My very first Composer roll! I’m pleased to inform you that ALL 8 episodes of this sweet and wonderful show (featuring tons of new music from me!) is now FREE to watch online!!!

I think you’ll laugh, be inspired and even shed a few tears. Plus there are a TON of amazing guests throughout: First Lady, Michelle Obama, Gene Simmons, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Jamie Foxx, Christina Applegate, Lake Bell, Ingrid Michaelson, A Great Big World, Craig Robinson, Reggie Watts, Mario Lopez, Rainn Wilson, Kevin Costner & a TON more.

Binge watch ‘em all here!

COMMONWEALTH GAMES 2014

A few weeks back, I had the incredible privilege of my cover of “I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" (iTunes) being danced to by dancers from the Scottish Ballet for the Opening Ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games! Such a highlight to see/hear my music in that beautiful and epic setting, and for the Queen no less!!!

Watch it here!

Thanks for reading, guys! Been working on lots of other new things to tell you about very, very soon! Can't wait!! Enjoy the rest of your Summer!!

Love, Ryan

P.S. here's a list of stuff i love right now…

1. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (this show is amazing. so so great.) 2. The Gap by Ira Glass (inspiring.) 3. Miniature Calendar (i love little things.. and i LOVE these little dioramas.) 4. Infographics (i love info graphics. this site is amazing and i can get lost for hours in it.)

Commonwealth Games 2014!

So very honored that my cover of The Proclaimer's hit, "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" (iTunes US)  was danced to by two dancers from the incredibly gifted Scottish Ballet as part of the Opening Ceremonies of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glosgow!! Truly a career highlight - so very honored and grateful to get to be a part of such a beautiful moment of this year's games. Watch their beautiful dance here (starts around 31 minutes)

Love, Ryan