Local musician Ryan Hernandez blew away the audience at Harlow's on Saturday with his powerful vocals, acoustic guitar and passionate performance during his “One Man Band” CD release party.

A crowd of about 200 gave the 25-year-old a standing ovation during the release party.

Adrianne Harrel, who has been following his music for three years, said Hernandez adds a personal touch to his music. 

“I really love his covers because it puts a little soul to the songs that you hear on the radio,” she said. “ I think he’s an amazing acoustic artist with broad talent beyond his years.”

"One Man Band," which was recorded in a month and a half, has 12 tracks with covers such as “Blackbird" by The Beatles and Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come.” 

Hernandez has been performing around Sacramento for the past five years in venues such as Thunder Valley and Bistro 33.  He was featured in Sacramento Magazine’s Best of Sacramento Entertainment in 2008.  “One Man Band” is his first CD.

“This CD I did mainly covers, ranging from like '70s to newer stuff and basically is kind of a play on the instruments that I can play,” Hernandez said.

He first became intrigued with music in the eighth grade while attending Natomas Charter School, a performing arts school.   He first picked up the drums and then moved to guitar and vocals. And he kept expanding to a large range of instruments, including piano, base, organ and a variety of string instruments.

Hernandez said he tried to use all of his musical abilities in the CD, which he recorded with longtime friend local music engineer Jasynte Harris.

“I knew he deserved an opportunity to make it,” Harris said.  “He’s extremely talented and he has a lot of patience and perseverance.”

Harris met Hernandez six years ago during an open-mic performance at a local bar. 

He said  Hernandez's musical abilities in that first performance impressed him, especially since Hernandez had no professional training.

“The thing with Ryan is his voice is so good that it’s hard to find someone with as good as voice as him without lessons, “ Harris said.

Hernandez said he expects to begin recording a second CD of his own music soon. He said he plans to stay in the Sacramento area because of his following. 

Kirstin Paulsen is happy to hear that. 

“He’s a really good talent, I’ve been a follower for a couple of years,” she said.  “And it’s great that the community is getting to hear how great his voice is.”

Photos by: Nallelie Vega