Ryan Curtis doesn’t do half measures. After eight years in the Army and Army Reserve as a combat engineer—deploying to Iraq in 2003-2004 and conducting operations in Africa in 2005—he left the service in 2009 to chase the Hollywood dream. He built a career behind the camera, eventually directing the neo-noir thriller Hollywood Grit, which hit theaters last year. Along the way, Curtis found another creative outlet: country music.
The transition out of uniform felt smoother than it might have, thanks to the Reserve. “It was easier for me at the end because I was in the Reserve and got to get my feet underneath me,” Curtis says. “I spent a lot of time figuring out exactly what I wanted to do and then started grinding.” He sees real advantages for veterans re-entering civilian life. “Our work ethic, problem-solving and life experiences give us a giant leg up.”
Entertainment had always tugged at him. Growing up a big extrovert, he performed and made “small terrible short films” with friends in high school. After the military, he enrolled in acting classes, fell in love with the business and started soaking up every part of the process on set. “I looked around and thought ‘I could do this’—a fun delusional quality us veterans have,” he laughs.
He begged his way onto sets, moved to Los Angeles and realized directing was the real pull. Curtis went on to direct original content and commercial work for brands and clients including Nike, Audi, Under Armour, ABC and Oprah. His work also returned him to the military community through two veteran-focused series: Oscar Mike, which explored post-military careers, and the animated No Shit There I Was, based on veterans’ stories from active duty.
Project after project followed—plenty of swings and misses, plenty of reps—until Hollywood Grit arrived. More than 50 veterans worked in front of and behind the camera on Curtis’ feature directorial debut, and a portion of the film’s proceeds was designated to support Veterans in Media & Entertainment. “Hoping it’s the first of many.”
Then came the unexpected turn. During COVID, Curtis picked up a guitar, started playing and soon found himself singing. He was writing a country-music screenplay at the time and decided it would be fun to write songs for it. He reached out to friends Jon Gus and Nick Gomez. “The reaction we got from people was astonishing, and they encouraged me to keep pressing and maybe take it a bit more seriously.”
Help appeared from unexpected places. The group landed a production deal with Sam Phillips Recording in Memphis, recorded their first EP in February and just released their debut single, “High Life.” Radio play has already begun. “Truly a dream come true.”
The band is RustRiders. Listeners can find the first two songs on Spotify, Apple Music and wherever music lives. Follow them at @rustridersband on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
Curtis has no intention of choosing one creative lane over the other. “Absolutely,” he says when asked if he’ll keep directing and producing. “I’m a storyteller at heart. So whether it is music or movies, I’m going to keep writing and tell the stories that are deep in my bones.”
Looking five years ahead, the picture is simple and ambitious at once: “Hanging with my beautiful wife, playing music and writing movies…the goal is to keep going and just get more eyeballs and ears on us. And I’ll take a few No. 1s in music and in theaters! Haha.”
From Iraq to Hollywood soundstages to a Memphis recording studio, Curtis keeps proving the same point: the mission never really ends. It just changes uniforms.
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