BY LISA STAYTON
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — When singer-songwriter Annalyse McCoy steps onto the Appalachian Artist Festival stage Aug. 2 it will mark her first performance in her hometown since she left Kentucky nearly two decades ago. For Annalyse, it is a homecoming, a celebration of community and a tribute to the culture that helped shape her artistic voice.
“I always loved singing at the fairs, festivals, school, church and ballgames in Inez while growing up,” Annalyse said. “I’m looking forward to seeing so many folks I know and celebrating the rich culture of eastern Kentucky, which was such a huge part of forming who I am now.”
Annalyse is one-half of the Americana duo Annalyse & Ryan. She left Inez after graduating from Sheldon Clark High School in 2002 to attend Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights, where she earned a BFA in musical theatre. From there, she moved to New York City to pursue a career in the performing arts — a bold leap that led to both professional and personal milestones.
“Pretty much as soon as I moved there, I met Ryan [Dunn] and we hit it off—both of us being actors and songwriters/musicians,” she said. “That’s where this project was born almost 20 years ago.”
Now based in New York’s Hudson Valley, Annalyse and Ryan perform together as a married duo, blending their unique backgrounds — hers in Appalachian Kentucky, his from the Jersey Shore — into a rich, rootsy sound infused with storytelling and soul.
Though Annalyse has performed at Jenny Wiley State Park and in Lexington and Charleston, this will be her first official Inez performance since her departure. The significance of that is not lost on her.
“It feels great,” she said. “I’m looking forward to not only hearing our fellow musicians in the lineup but also checking out the other arts involved, such as quilting. I still sleep under the quilts my great-aunt Barbara Cassady made for me.”
Growing up in Martin County offered Annalyse a close-knit community and a wealth of artistic opportunity.
“I was really lucky as a kid to be surrounded by so many opportunities to get involved in many different aspects of the arts,” she recalled. “I cut my teeth singing at the Martin County Harvest Fest and County Fair, performing at Jenny Wiley Theatre, learning many different styles of dance at Dance Etc. Studio of Dance, being onstage at the Mountain Arts Center, as well as performing in events at school.”
Annalyse credits those early experiences — and the people who supported her — with fostering a confidence that carried her into a professional career.
“Being from a small town like Inez allows folks to really feel connected and support one another,” she said. “I always felt very supported not only by folks older than me who were running community or school events and getting me involved but also from my peers who embraced my talents and made me feel very proud to use my gifts and artistic interests to serve and help commemorate special events and milestones.”
She added that being a singer often means being invited into significant moments in other people’s lives — a privilege she does not take lightly.
“You can be asked to perform at really special events and occasions that are a part of lifting others up, so there’s this opportunity to be a part of so many people’s lives in a unique way and help make it memorable.”
For Ryan, who also completed a degree in musical theatre and moved to New York, the performance in Inez carries its own personal significance.
“I love spending time in Inez and throughout Kentucky,” he said. “Every time we perform in this area, there is a great turnout and I meet some awesome folks.”
The town also holds sentimental value for the couple. They were married in the old courthouse at the center of Inez, a moment immortalized in family photographs taken against an ivy-covered wall across the street.
“I am lucky enough to have made special memories with her in Inez,” Ryan said.
Their Appalachian Artist Festival set will include a range of songs that reflect their shared musical vision, including a track Annalyse wrote called “It’s in the Blood” — a tribute to her McCoy heritage.
“I would say that in a way, Inez exists in all of my songs,” she said. “I’m really proud of my heritage and talk about it often in shows around the world.”
Ryan added that Appalachian music, with its deep roots in oral storytelling and lived experience, resonates deeply with both of them.
“The Appalachian culture and especially the music is so steeped in story and tradition and in the experience of the people living there,” he said. “It has always resonated with me as an artist. It’s wonderful to be able to support something that highlights a truly authentic group of artists.”
In fact, the connection may run deeper than coincidence.
“Funny enough, after meeting Annalyse, my father discovered his family roots, and just three generations back, they lived in Kentucky,” Ryan said. “So I think it’s just ‘in the blood.’”
As a musical duo, Annalyse & Ryan have crafted a sound that feels both timeless and modern.
“Our mission as songwriters is to have our songs take listeners on a journey,” Ryan said. “It’s soulful, it’s rootsy. The music we create definitely brings to light our different senses of place.”
Their creative process is a confluence of personalities and talents.
“I would say — and he would too — that I’m more of the wordsmith and all about attention to detail,” Annalyse explained. “Ryan is about feel. He’s the ‘groove master.’ I can come to him with some pretty lyrics and a melody, and he can add a hook that fuses it all together. He’ll come to me with a new tune where he’s singing gibberish, and I’ll say, ‘Oh, that sounds like you’re saying…’ and I make meaning out of it.”
She summarized their working relationship with a phrase: “He makes beautiful chaos, and I make chaos beautiful.”
That creative synergy has powered a wide-ranging career. In addition to writing and touring with their original music, they have composed for television, scored documentaries, written for commercials, and produced and hosted series featuring Grammy-winning artists. Their latest venture, “Decades in Duet,” is a tribute show celebrating iconic duets in rock’n’roll history — and it has taken them aboard cruise ships around the world as guest entertainers.
“Just a week after our performance at the Appalachian Artist Fest, we’ll be flying to Reykjavik, Iceland, to get on a ship for our next contract traveling across the Atlantic,” Annalyse said. “Later in the month, we’ll be in Montana for some ‘land gigs’ with the same show.”
Still, no matter how far they travel, eastern Kentucky remains close to their hearts.
“Country Music Highway and its legacy, though I’ve known about it my whole life, astounds me,” Annalyse said. “Just thinking of how many legendary artists grew up right along this one section of highway, all in one single region, really says something.”
She added that the authenticity of Appalachian music transcends genres and generations.
“Storytelling involves giving from the heart and being authentic. That authenticity will continue to shine through in the music coming out of eastern Kentucky.”
Looking ahead, Annalyse hopes this performance is not a one-time return.
“I would love to do more hometown shows,” she said. “The Hudson Valley is a far distance from Inez, and I’d love any excuse or reason to come home more often.”
She had one final reflection — a message to her younger self growing up in Inez: “Despite the fact that I did so much performing, I was really a pretty shy kid. I would probably tell myself, ‘Don’t be so shy. Trust yourself more. Let it all out, even if it’s weird.’”
Annalyse & Ryan will join Appalachian artists Cody McCoy, John Thomas Moore, Nathan Coots, Adalyn Ramey, and Cody Lee Meece & The Poor Excuses on the stage behind the courthouse in Inez.