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The "R" in JRC Media, the magazine's parent company, Ryan Rhea co-founded Pure Guitar in September 2012. In his capacity as Executive Producer and Director of Online Technology, he's equal parts magician, tech guru, and all-knowing "he who makes things happen." He has a rock-star-quality collection of guitars, effects, and amps, and often plays for hours a day.

"My first true passion in life is the guitar," Ryan says. "As I was coming of age in the 1980s, Eddie Van Halen was the first guitarist who inspired me to learn how to play. At fifteen – after much pleading and begging – I received two well-worn guitars that were a part of the inventory of merchandise in a retail store my parents bought in 1987. They were a Peavey T-60 electric and a Yamaha FG-110 acoustic, both of which I still have today.

"After a double major of Spanish and Anthropology at the University of Memphis, I began my career in web design and development. In 1996 I began my company, Gringo Media, with my business partner and wife, Claudia Lopez Rhea. Since then we have amassed a portfolio of Fortune 500 clients including HGTV, Fed Ex, International Paper, Kraft Foods, Great American Country, DIY Channel, Food Network, Hilton Hotels, GE Corporation, Smith and Nephew, and more.

"I recently fell in love all over again with acoustic guitar. My latest acquisition, a Steve Andersen archtop, is getting a lot of my attention these days. I also recently took up the violin, which is now seriously competing with the guitar for my practice time."