In the past five or six years, Tedder has exploded as a songwriter and producer for musical icons like Adele, Beyoncé, Leona Lewis, Gavin DeGraw, and Colbie Caillat. Ryan is Ryan Tedder, the group’s lead singer, songwriter, linchpin, and most public personality. “Dude, Ryan, hey man, you gotta come see this thing,” Brown yells down the studio’s hallway.But guitar player Drew Brown, a soft-spoken young man with wavy red hair and plastic-rim glasses, is stoked about the new gear, which he picked up at a Denver estate sale for $700.
Plus, the 32-year-old instrument looks out of place, especially next to the recording console, the massive in-wall speakers, and the four Apple computers loaded with music-editing software used by the guys from OneRepublic, the biggest band to come out of Colorado since the Fray. With 15 stored in a custom-built cabinet along the right-hand wall of the studio, the addition of the Yamaha SK-50D seems like overkill. It’s not as if they need another keyboard. Will Native, which drops this fall, prove to be the band’s breakout record? By Lindsey B. In 2012, OneRepublic finally holed up in a Cherry Creek studio to lay down tracks for its third LP. It’s been three years since Denver’s hottest pop band put out a new album.