Interactive duo

Ryan Green and Cameron Hood started as friendly rivals.

Their musical partnership has long outdistanced those early battles.

Green and Hood perform together as the musical duo Ryanhood, which will perform at 7 p.m. Friday at the Jay County Campus of Arts Place.

The duo’s shows typically leads off with some “guitar fireworks” and humor, Green said.

“You get a lot of synergy and tight harmonies,” he added. “You get a lot of interaction with the audience. We began as street performers in Boston, so we’ve honed that kind of mentality of really being engaging and getting the audience participating and paying attention. There’s a lot of humor.”

They play guitar, mandolin and ukulele, and storytelling is also integral to their style. Green and Hood seek to take the audience on a journey.

“You’ll clap,” Green added. “You’ll laugh. And you may have some emotional moments as well. … It’s kind of a full range of emotion.”

Tickets for Friday’s performance are $9 for students and $15 for adults. They are available at myartsplace.org, by calling (260) 726-4809 or by visiting Arts Place, 131 E. Walnut St., Portland.

Hood and Green were a year apart at University High School in Tucson, Arizona. During their teenage years, they were in rival rock groups that competed against each other in battle of the bands contests.

It was when Green left to go to Berklee College of Music in Boston while Hood stayed in Arizona to pursue an art degree that they formed a long-distance musical partnership. After college, Hood moved across the country and the duo began their career as street performers at Boston’s Quincy Market.

That led to performing at colleges and eventually to touring nationally. The list of artists they’ve toured with includes Jay-Z, Lifehouse, Train, Kelly Clarkson and Jason Mraz.

They were also featured performers at the Australia National Folk Festival in 2018.

“That was great to get to have our music bring us to the other side of the world,” said Green.

RyanHood — music and videos are available at ryanhood.com — has produced nine albums, including the most recent “Under the Leaves.” It was named Best Group/Duo at the 2014 International Acoustic Music Awards.

Green describes their music as folk rock.

“We’ve been called Simon and Garfunkel on steroids,” he added. “You get the harmonies and you get the sweetness of that sound but also some real high energy stuff as well — that’s where the steroids part comes in, I guess.”

There’s something special about being part of a musical duo, Green said, especially coming from the background of being in larger bands. In those situations, there are a lot of opinions and it can be difficult to make decisions, he said. Solo artistry, meanwhile, can be lonely and lack feedback.

Working together brings a different element to creativity and performance.

“We are among each other’s closest friends and also we’re always trying to impress one another when we’re bringing material to each other,” said Green. “We have to meet that standard. …

“On stage as a duo, we’re very spontaneous with one another and very interactive with one another. And that, to me, starts to create … a spontaneity and interactiveness with the audience as well. I think the audience sees that we’re having fun with each other …”