After forging a place for himself as a bassist/composer of choice in Los Angeles' creative music scene, then teaching jazz abroad in South Korea as invited professor at a top university, Ryan McGillicuddy continues his musical journey in the Kentucky foothills of the Appalachian mountains as faculty at Morehead State University . His vibrant organic approach has earned him work with many of the world’s finest musicians. Recently, Ryan has shared the stage as a sideman with Greg Osby, Peter Erskine, Anthony Wilson, Russel Ferrante, Joe Labarbera, Bob Shepard, Bill Cunliffe, Bob Mintzer, Larry Koonse, Freda Payne, Antonia Bennett, the Tamir Hendelman trio, the Bill Cunliffe trio, the Bill Holman band, and the Duke Ellington Orchestra.

He has toured extensively in the United States as well as in Japan, Korea, Europe, and the Middle-east. Ryan currently performs and composes with his own original trio featuring Peter Erskine and Vardan Ovsepian, the LA based trio 3 -ish, the Vardan Ovsepian trio, the Korean-based Jangeun Bae trio, and the original project Sigmund Fudge among many other groups, and is a core member of the arts/composers group The Los Angeles JazzCollective.