Bayland breaks onto scene: audio assignment at Belmont leads students to form pop duo

The Belmont music scene, like others, has seen its fair share of hits and misses when it comes to student musicians. It’s also had some great success stories in the industry. And now Bayland, formerly known as Foxes Have Foxholes, is a new hopeful that has burst onto the Belmont and Nashville stages.

Guitarist and lead vocalist Kyle Sapp and keyboardist Ryan McAdoo make up the pop duo.

Most recently seen at the Curb Café, Musicians’ Corner at Centennial Park and 12th & Porter, Bayland owes its creation to an audio assignment.

Sapp, then a new transfer to Belmont, had an audio project that required a performance recording. McAdoo happened to live across the hall and play keyboard, so Sapp asked him to join him for his project session.

They ended up performing one of McAdoo’s songs because Sapp didn’t have any ready.  After the session, they continued to play around with musical ideas.

“I really loved his voice, and he loved the way I played and we just ended up going from there,” McAdoo said.

The obvious pop sound Bayland has is meshed with lyrics that tell a story, a mix that developed from the two different writing styles.

“Ryan is straight pop. He writes the pop sounds like it’s his job. He knows the format. He knows what people want to hear,” Sapp said. “I have always written the songs, story songs that weren’t anything about the structure or the ‘hookiness’ of it but the idea of the story. So we’re trying to find the balance of playing pop music but making it mean more and making it personalized.”

Like a number of Belmont students, these two have found their home away from home in Nashville. McAdoo is from Kansas City, Mo., and Sapp is from Orlando, Fla. Only a year after they arrived, they both seem to love Nashville and the overall culture of Music City.

“It’s crazy to me the amount of people I’ve met just like walking who know something about music that will comment on the band shirt I’m wearing and just know,” McAdoo said. “Everything’s music here and I love that.”

The duo may enjoy all the perks of living in Music City, as well as being surrounded by a campus of music lovers. They don’t underestimate the amount of hard work necessary to make it, though.

“This town gives back to you what you put in. If you really do work at it, it’s very likely you will have success,” Sapp said.

Bayland has a free album download on noisetrade.com, which is still under the name of Foxes Have Foxholes. A new album is in the works and will be released in the spring.

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