Tracks of My Life with Ryan Kelly

Tracks of My Life is a show on RNIB Connect Radio presented and produced by Toby Davey where he invites a guest to take us on a journey through their life, sharing the tracks that mark important moments which bring back memories to them.

Their chosen tracks of their life might include the first track they can remember hearing, the first track they bought, a number of tracks that mark moments in their life and the final track, a track that they would like to pass on which might give people hope for the future.

In this trimmed down podcast version of Tracks of My Life Toby is joined by actor Ryan Kelly who has been playing the character of Jazzer in the long running BBC radio drama, The Archers for over 20 years now and he was the first blind student to attend the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

Ryan’s Tracks of My Life journey will start with what might be his debut as a performer singing ‘I Want To Be A Punk Rocker’ by Andy Cameron in church to the Priest at the age of 2 which his Mum was not too impressed with at the time, but he was only 2 then.

Then we will move on a couple of years to when Ryan was 5 or 6 and an introduction to folk music on long taxi journeys to and from blind boarding school on a Monday morning and Friday afternoon with a track by Foster and Allen which was constantly played on the cassette player by the taxi driver Mrs Flanagan and Ryan was known to sing the song at home in an Irish accent. At school to fit in Ryan perfected an English accent but would revert back to his Scottish accent at home and maybe good practice for his chosen career as an actor later in life.

We will then come to a track that is dedicated to his wife Sonya. Ryan and Sonya were childhood sweethearts at school for about a year and a half before Ryan went off to the Royal National College for the Blind in Hereford to start his studies in the performing arts. It was not until a couple of years while Ryan was at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School that Ryan and Sonya got back together again and got married. Ryan will then reflect on his time studying the Performing Arts at the RNC with the support and grounding in the arts from both Amanda and John at Hereford who really helped Ryan to successfully gain a place at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School which not only provided Ryan with training in acting but also in living too.

Then we will come to a track that is dedicated to Ryan and Sonya’s daughter Bethany and memories for Ryan of a phone message from Sonya, while Ryan was in Bristol acting in a play, to tell him that she was pregnant with Bethany  and a real magical feeling for Ryan of not only the news of Sonya being pregnant but also an acting performance that had gone so well that night too.  A feeling that he has not had before or since that magical night.

Before we come to Ryan’s final couple of tracks Ryan will reflect on his time in that long running BBC Radio drama, The Archers playing the role of Jazzer. What it is like for him as a blind actor playing a sighted character which many listeners may not know about when they tune in to Radio 4 and get their regular fix of The Archers. How much Jazzer has changed and grown as a character over the years and whether there is a bit of Ryan’s own personality and character in his performance at all wen he is playing Jazzer.

You can catch the hour-long version of Tracks of My Life with Toby’s guest’s music tracks in full by tuning in to RNIB Connect Radio every Tuesday at 7pm, repeated on Thursday at 1pm and Sunday at 8pm.

Please note that for Christmas 2021 the normal Sunday 8pm repeat will be on Christmas Day Saturday 25 December 2021 at 9pm. 


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