Ryland Blackinton

Ryland Blackinton is the lead guitarist for the band Cobra Starship. He is from Wilmington MA, but was born in South Kingstown Rhode Island on March 31, 1982. Before joining Cobra Starship, Ryland, along with high school best friend Alex Suarez formed the folk/pop duo This Is Ivy League. The two originally met in high school, but lost touch before re-connecting in Brooklyn, New York after seven years. Incidentally, the duo were living ten minutes away from each other, and fell back into familiar habits once they discovered that. Perhaps Blackinton’s most notable performance in college was when he portrayed the difficult role of Victor Emmanuel Chandebise in the French farce, A Flea in Her Ear. He starred in this production alongside Nicholas Ciavarella who played Dr. Finache. Blackinton also has a knack for being hilarious and impersonating Gabe Saporta quite well.

Blackinton can be seen in several recent TAI TV podcasts for The Academy Is… as ‘Guy Ripley’, a fictional reporter for BBC World News. Ripley is reputed to have an enormous crush on Victoria Asher and William Beckett. Guy Ripley is often referred to as ‘The Queen of Fangirls,’ and in TAI TV Episode 39, stole a lock of William Beckett’s hair. Guy Ripley’s catch-phrase is “Delicious.” He has repeatedly asked his favorite musicians to sign his shoes.