Ryan was born and raised in Manhattan, KS (a.k.a. The Little Apple), where his mother made him take piano lessons from age 5 to 15. By then, he was learning guitar one page of The Eagles, Complete Songbook and churning through garage bands at an alarming rate. His other musical influences include Poison, Phoenix, The Pogues, Van Morrison, and The Killers.  While in school, Ryan toured extensively with the Notre Dame Glee Club and the Choral Society of Durham. After several years musically adrift, he, Rick Murphy and Stephen and Jen Lathrop formed Jenny and the Divas, which would eventually morph into King Street.  Ryan spends his remaining musical energy on cantoring, singing in the shower, whistling in his office, and enforcing strict minimum piano practice times for his two boys.

Jill grew up in a home filled with music with a mother who sang with the ASO Chorus under Robert Shaw. Jill gravitated towards her father’s drum kit, practicing in a basement where she and her sister routinely performed ill-attended concerts, with Jill always playing Donny to her sister’s Marie and Danny to her Sandy. No stranger to community musical theater, Jill performed the lead in Cinderella and landed a role in Helen, GA's professional summer stock theater at the age of 15. She studied briefly under operatic vocal coach Harry Musselwhite, whose words,“ your stepmother is wrong… you REALLY CAN sing” inspired and drove her to truly find her voice. A specialist in shower-singing, Jill’s claim to fame is being able to sing every song on her 200 Children’s Song’s CD. She now finds her way onstage to embrace her inner 80's child and re-live the best era in modern music!

Stephen is a child of the 80’s. He was born a Pisces, but has always identified as a Capricorn, and converted later in life. Self-described as “passionately apathetic”, Stephen finds music to be his muse and thrives on the syncopated rhythms of Talking Heads or the haunting New Wave vibes of Echo and the Bunnymen or The Smiths. Putting the “mo” in Emo, Stephen’s hyperbolic life outlook is literally over-the-top with his volume starting at 11. Having been in choirs and bands since 1997, singing has always been his raison d'être alongside his Hello Kitty pencil set collection.

[Aside]
Stephen was deputy headmaster at The London Oratory School in his past life, which becomes painfully apparent when he performs "Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2."...

A founding member of King Street, Rick Murphy is still growing up in the Atlanta, GA area, but has lived all over. He got his first guitar for Christmas when he was nine and living in Canberra, Australia. Those first years were all about classical and folk music.  His first electric guitar came at 13 along with Jimi Hendrix, and he never looked back. Rick started playing in rock bands at 14. In the actual 80’s, Rick went new wave with Vixen (not that Vixen) which was a popular Atlanta area original band that played all the legendary Atlanta dives. Rick owned Music Exchange in Stone Mountain in the mid 80’s which was an after-hours jam hub. During that formative period, Rick played guitar and bass with Phil Thompson and the Tickets; backed the great Eddie Floyd (Knock on Wood); played in the backing band for the Georgia NARAS awards which included Lee Greenwood in 1984; played synths in Bullethead; was a founding member of Wigged, another popular cover band, then joined the Quarter Til band with Rhonda Carrier, independent country artist of the year.

[Aside]
Rick threw this dated photo at Scott, our webmaster, at the time of this site's development.  He'll pay you with a guitar pick to take a new one...

Scott Ritshie is originally from upstate New York and holds a B.A. in Jazz Piano Performance from SUNY New Paltz. He studied piano with Vinny Martucci (The Dolphins with Dan Brubeck) and Warren Bernhardt (Steely Dan's music director in the "Two Against Nature" tour in 1993) and took Master Classes with Bernard Purdy and Bob Dorough (creator of "Schoolhouse Rock"). He has shared stages and recorded with many of Atlanta’s greatest musicians and bands, such as Yacht Rock, Bumpin’ the Mango, Mike Veal Band and many others. He is the co-founder of Atlanta Brass Cats (voted "Best Rock Band, 2018" in Creative Loafing) and his styles include Jazz, Funk, Latin, R&B and almost anything 70's/80's Rock. Scott loves to fuse different genres and create unique sounds and mash-ups as situations allow, and he hosted several jazz jams in Atlanta. He's also an award-winning website designer and developer. His favorite musical moment happened in 1996 when, for about 20 minutes, he jammed with the legendary composer and pianist, Chick Corea, on his popular tune “Spain.” Scott comes to King Street with a creative touch and defined ear for the sounds which helped shape an era.

(If you see Steve, give him a nudge and tell him "Dude, Scott is still awaiting your bio...") 🤓

David Jenkins is a drummer, percussionist and recording artist based in the Atlanta area.  Thanks to his versatility and impeccable taste, he has been recruited to work with major label acts and independent artists alike.  Whether he is working on an original project or as a session musician, David’s natural feel for rhythm ensures his audiences will always move to the music. David got his first major break in the music industry as a member of Sire/Warner Bros. recording artist the Judybats.  Featured on The Today Show and spawning hits that reached #7 and #21 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks, the group showcased his abilities on everything from the acoustic drum set to hand percussion, introducing him to a wider audience in the process.  Since then he has been an in-demand player.  As a drummer, David’s goal is always to give the song exactly what it needs.  No unnecessary embellishments, no showing off, just the precise rhythmic touch needed to bring a song from good to amazing.  David is as passionate about his craft as ever and always open to collaborating with new, like minded artists.