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.