hey guys
Serena's concert at Hugh's Room was taped by the CBC and will air tonight on Canada Live - With Matt Galloway :CBC Radio Two
http://www.cbc.ca/programguide/radio/
Wednesday, March 28, 2007, 8:00 p.m.
From Toronto, Sarah Harmer (nominated for the Juno for Songwriter of the Year; her album ”I’m a Mountain” is also nominated in the Adult Alternative Album of the Year category) teams up with Winnipeg’s Weakerthans, purveyors of thoughtful, well-crafted, introspective songs. Later, concerts by Serena Ryder, and she of the incredible, unforgettable voice - Treasa Lavasseur, whose debut CD “Not a Straight Line” has been getting hot reviews all over North America.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Serena on RocKwiz !
RocKwiz is a music trivia quiz show that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s an entertaining mix of music, quiz, chat, celebrity guests, and contestants drawn from the live audience, who play off for nothing more than the honour of winning! Recorded in the fabulous Gershwin Room at Melbourne’s legendary rock headquarters, the Esplanade Hotel in St Kilda, RocKwiz is hosted by Australia’s Brainiest TV Star Julia Zemiro and resident rock brain, Brian Nankervis. The RocKwiz Orkestra (Peter Luscombe, James Black, Mark Ferrie) provides the musical clues and backs the special musical guests in performance.
Check out Serena's on RocKwiz on March 31st at 9:20pm ...
http://www20.sbs.com.au/rockwiz/index.php
http://www20.sbs.com.au/rockwiz/index.php
cheers!
Monday, March 19, 2007
Quotes
Serena Ryder - “Sisters of Mercy”
In an era afflicted by the ham-fisted use of AutoTune, this artist’s quietly confident phrasing and purity of tone remind us just how much illumination an honest, gifted singer can cast over her material.
John Sakamoto – The Toronto Star ‘Anti-Hit List’
This career's on fire
‘Ryder storms the roots music scene’
Ontario artist Serena Ryder is set to become one of the brightest lights on the Canadian music scene with the official release of If Your Memory Serves You Well.
Edmonton Journal.
When Serena Ryder sings about love, the most jaded world-weariness dissolves.
ELLE Magazine
Tonight offers a rare opportunity to see a singer (Serena Ryder) on the cusp of stardom. Brisbane Mail Courier
(She) has an impressive fearlessness. Given the right breaks, she could become a major force.
The Boston Globe
Both delightful and slightly spiteful, Ryder’s soulful voice is as full-bodied as a bottle of cabernet sauvignon but as unpretentious as a can of beer. Although an enduring and original individual, she’s (vocally) somewhere between…….. Janis Joplin and a …. Joss Stone.
Derrick Lang (Associated Press)
At 22, Serena Ryder is blessed with a powerhouse, multi-octave voice and enough confidence or cockiness to close this album with a completely a cappella, blow-down-the-doors cover of Etta James' classic ‘At Last.
Kevin O’Hare (Springfield Republican)
If you're keen on hearing a voice of the future you have to check out Serena Ryder...her pure vocals have been making impressions with club owners everywhere and the name won't be unknown for long.
The Ottawa Sun
Like listening to the teenaged Aretha Franklin, it's impossible not to be physically shaken when this 20-year-old…sings.
Elle Magazine
Warm and familiar…often compared to Tracy Chapman and Aretha Franklin, the young songstress channels the sincerity of the former and the feistiness of the latter though her three-octave range and powerful songwriting. –
Eye, Toronto
Her powerful pipes, evoking Tracy Chapman and Janis Joplin in equal measure, have impressed the likes of Steve Earle, who invited her to tour with him Down Under.
Now Magazine, Toronto
…by show's end, Ryder had won over every person in the room with her vivacious personality, lovely voice and great songs. Her performance left you confident you'd just witnessed an artist who, for once, not only deserves the hype - she transcends it.
Now Magazine, Toronto
In an era afflicted by the ham-fisted use of AutoTune, this artist’s quietly confident phrasing and purity of tone remind us just how much illumination an honest, gifted singer can cast over her material.
John Sakamoto – The Toronto Star ‘Anti-Hit List’
This career's on fire
‘Ryder storms the roots music scene’
Ontario artist Serena Ryder is set to become one of the brightest lights on the Canadian music scene with the official release of If Your Memory Serves You Well.
Edmonton Journal.
When Serena Ryder sings about love, the most jaded world-weariness dissolves.
ELLE Magazine
Tonight offers a rare opportunity to see a singer (Serena Ryder) on the cusp of stardom. Brisbane Mail Courier
(She) has an impressive fearlessness. Given the right breaks, she could become a major force.
The Boston Globe
Both delightful and slightly spiteful, Ryder’s soulful voice is as full-bodied as a bottle of cabernet sauvignon but as unpretentious as a can of beer. Although an enduring and original individual, she’s (vocally) somewhere between…….. Janis Joplin and a …. Joss Stone.
Derrick Lang (Associated Press)
At 22, Serena Ryder is blessed with a powerhouse, multi-octave voice and enough confidence or cockiness to close this album with a completely a cappella, blow-down-the-doors cover of Etta James' classic ‘At Last.
Kevin O’Hare (Springfield Republican)
If you're keen on hearing a voice of the future you have to check out Serena Ryder...her pure vocals have been making impressions with club owners everywhere and the name won't be unknown for long.
The Ottawa Sun
Like listening to the teenaged Aretha Franklin, it's impossible not to be physically shaken when this 20-year-old…sings.
Elle Magazine
Warm and familiar…often compared to Tracy Chapman and Aretha Franklin, the young songstress channels the sincerity of the former and the feistiness of the latter though her three-octave range and powerful songwriting. –
Eye, Toronto
Her powerful pipes, evoking Tracy Chapman and Janis Joplin in equal measure, have impressed the likes of Steve Earle, who invited her to tour with him Down Under.
Now Magazine, Toronto
…by show's end, Ryder had won over every person in the room with her vivacious personality, lovely voice and great songs. Her performance left you confident you'd just witnessed an artist who, for once, not only deserves the hype - she transcends it.
Now Magazine, Toronto
Monday, March 12, 2007
The Live Music Report
Serena Ryder
presented by Richard Flohil
March 9, 2007 • Hugh's Room • Toronto
A Memory That Will Serve Me Wellby Sebastian Cook with photos by Roger Humbert
It takes ten seconds for a boxer to be counted out in the ring. It took less than that for Serena Ryder to completely stun this reporter at the start of her a cappella rendition of “Melancholy Blue”; and about three minutes, or the length of a round, to announce herself as a once-in-a-generation, Dylanesque visionary who quite literally has no ceiling. This 24-year old native of Millbrook, Ontario is truly The Matrix as it relates to singer-songwriters: a jaw-dropping three-octave voice; gorgeously rhythmic and percussive guitar chops; a remarkably mature and open-minded stylistic aesthetic and range that metaphorically melds past, present and future; and above all one of the most utterly joyous, captivating and free troubadour’s personalities one could ever hope to witness grace a stage.
On this night at Hugh’s Room, a ‘standing room only’ crowd of about 270 was treated to a perfectly flowing mix of music from: Ryder’s newest album If Your Memory Serves You Well, an exhaustively selected 15-song tribute covering four generations of essential Canadian songs; 2004’s Unlikely Emergency; and unreleased material.
The aforementioned “Melancholy Blue” (Harlan Howard) was the opening salvo with which Ryder revealed the soul of a gospel queen, the resoluteness of a road-wary country twanger, and the vibration and pitch control of a jazz or opera singer.
Serena the storyteller introduced herself in the segue to “Music Soup”, strumming gently on her guitar while invoking the story of an inspirational Australian friend and hostess stricken with Cushing’s disease. Her guitar work was simple, slappy and authoritatively yet gently rhythmic, melodically harkening Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released” (no kidding) and a bit of the Traffic classic “Dear Mr. Fantasy”. Soothing harmonica lines bridged poignant verse and chorus. At the risk of musical blasphemy it was like seeing a young and of course female hybrid of Bob Dylan and Neil Young, with a much more brilliantly refined voice and more nuanced, musical guitar work. Next was her first original, “Somebody Too”, an acidly funny blast at “a man named George Dubya Bush” who “Only loved his mother, never loved another”, she crooned.
Back to the storyteller’s tip, several songs later with “Sisters of Mercy” she paid homage to Leonard Cohen with a grace, humour and personal resonance that no 24-year old has any business being able to pull off. It started with an improvised call through song to the sound engineer to “please turn up my monitor”. Midway through the song, her band began to layer itself into the concert, starting with a gorgeously floating electric guitar.
The classic, 18th century French melody inspired and oft-adapted “My Heart Cries For You” was touchingly dedicated to her band. Once again, Ryder displayed her innate gift for the shift, between gospel-soul and country-blues tempo and voice. Her knack for the crescendo, which is hair-raising when done properly but grating when misused, truly stood out here. As gifted as she is, Ryder also knows not to get in her own way or steal the song.
Next, Ryder turned “Some of These Days” (the Shelton Brooks version) into a booty-shaking cabaret joint, with a nod to Santana’s “Black Magic Woman”. She captured that historical metaphor right down to her silky-black attire and dancing with a glass of red wine.
Two tunes later, we heard an original from Unlikely Emergency called “Skin Crawl” that made my skin tingle. Announcing it as one of her original love songs and holding her guitar to her head at the beginning, she sang “You’ve made my skin crawl further than ever before / only know you’re not passed out on my floor”. Has it really been 13 years since Alanis Morissette dropped “Jagged Little Pill”? All of a sudden, I feel a bit dated but it’s nice to hear that singularly emotive and raw spirit come to life again in the next generation.
The singular moment of human beauty from this night so full of it was her story of playing the next tune, “Good Morning Starshine” from the musical Hair, for a class of Grade 1 students in Winnipeg; this on the heels of Ryder having missed her flight and then being moved to join the class after receiving a box of drawings from them at her hotel room. The song itself moved to an infectious Latin swing beat, ending with a “cha-cha-cha” flourish.
Just as quickly, the spirit of The Who visited the stage in the form of Ryder’s own “Just Another Day”; with its simple, pounding drumbeats and bass line, the heavy buzz of classic and progressive rock guitar, and lyrics that still managed to flow effortlessly with such a hard-driving song.
The final song before the encore was her magnificent and hugely popular original ballad “Weak in the Knees”. With an achingly visceral voice she sang its poignant and brilliantly-constructed verse such as “Would you mind if I pretended we’re somewhere else … would you mind if I pretended you were someone else … I’m weak in the knees for you … But I’ll stand for you if you want me too.” She ended it with a toast of her wine glass, and one wondered if there had been water in the chalice at the start of the show. Weak in the knees? Yes, that’s one way to describe the effect of Serena Ryder and perhaps that would have been the way to close the show.
For an encore after leaving the stage to the most rapturous applause I’ve heard in Hugh’s Room, she offered an acid-rock take on “Morning Dew”, a personal top-five amongst Grateful Dead songs that I have now learned has its roots right here in Toronto courtesy of folk singer Bonnie Dobson. The song is indeed very much alive and well.
Perhaps what is most inspiring about Serena Ryder is that it seems clear we need not worry about her being worn down or corrupted by the vagaries of the music business itself, life on the road, or acclaim. She is acutely aware of the impact she has on wide-eyed children and equally wide-eyed if considerably more jaded adults; and relishes it for the blessing and joy that it is to have the platform, without one iota of superficial pretense or ego. As Andrew Craig of CBC Radio Two’s Canada Live relayed during his introduction, Serena Ryder is indeed an old soul, who it seems “has been aged in oak barrels.” After the show, pianist Kris Craig said that after time on the road she feels like a sister. If you see her coming to your town, drink her in and savour every last cathartic, magnificently envisioned and delivered drop. And yeah, bring the family.
March 9, 2007 • Hugh's Room • Toronto
A Memory That Will Serve Me Wellby Sebastian Cook with photos by Roger Humbert
It takes ten seconds for a boxer to be counted out in the ring. It took less than that for Serena Ryder to completely stun this reporter at the start of her a cappella rendition of “Melancholy Blue”; and about three minutes, or the length of a round, to announce herself as a once-in-a-generation, Dylanesque visionary who quite literally has no ceiling. This 24-year old native of Millbrook, Ontario is truly The Matrix as it relates to singer-songwriters: a jaw-dropping three-octave voice; gorgeously rhythmic and percussive guitar chops; a remarkably mature and open-minded stylistic aesthetic and range that metaphorically melds past, present and future; and above all one of the most utterly joyous, captivating and free troubadour’s personalities one could ever hope to witness grace a stage.
On this night at Hugh’s Room, a ‘standing room only’ crowd of about 270 was treated to a perfectly flowing mix of music from: Ryder’s newest album If Your Memory Serves You Well, an exhaustively selected 15-song tribute covering four generations of essential Canadian songs; 2004’s Unlikely Emergency; and unreleased material.
The aforementioned “Melancholy Blue” (Harlan Howard) was the opening salvo with which Ryder revealed the soul of a gospel queen, the resoluteness of a road-wary country twanger, and the vibration and pitch control of a jazz or opera singer.
Serena the storyteller introduced herself in the segue to “Music Soup”, strumming gently on her guitar while invoking the story of an inspirational Australian friend and hostess stricken with Cushing’s disease. Her guitar work was simple, slappy and authoritatively yet gently rhythmic, melodically harkening Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released” (no kidding) and a bit of the Traffic classic “Dear Mr. Fantasy”. Soothing harmonica lines bridged poignant verse and chorus. At the risk of musical blasphemy it was like seeing a young and of course female hybrid of Bob Dylan and Neil Young, with a much more brilliantly refined voice and more nuanced, musical guitar work. Next was her first original, “Somebody Too”, an acidly funny blast at “a man named George Dubya Bush” who “Only loved his mother, never loved another”, she crooned.
Back to the storyteller’s tip, several songs later with “Sisters of Mercy” she paid homage to Leonard Cohen with a grace, humour and personal resonance that no 24-year old has any business being able to pull off. It started with an improvised call through song to the sound engineer to “please turn up my monitor”. Midway through the song, her band began to layer itself into the concert, starting with a gorgeously floating electric guitar.
The classic, 18th century French melody inspired and oft-adapted “My Heart Cries For You” was touchingly dedicated to her band. Once again, Ryder displayed her innate gift for the shift, between gospel-soul and country-blues tempo and voice. Her knack for the crescendo, which is hair-raising when done properly but grating when misused, truly stood out here. As gifted as she is, Ryder also knows not to get in her own way or steal the song.
Next, Ryder turned “Some of These Days” (the Shelton Brooks version) into a booty-shaking cabaret joint, with a nod to Santana’s “Black Magic Woman”. She captured that historical metaphor right down to her silky-black attire and dancing with a glass of red wine.
Two tunes later, we heard an original from Unlikely Emergency called “Skin Crawl” that made my skin tingle. Announcing it as one of her original love songs and holding her guitar to her head at the beginning, she sang “You’ve made my skin crawl further than ever before / only know you’re not passed out on my floor”. Has it really been 13 years since Alanis Morissette dropped “Jagged Little Pill”? All of a sudden, I feel a bit dated but it’s nice to hear that singularly emotive and raw spirit come to life again in the next generation.
The singular moment of human beauty from this night so full of it was her story of playing the next tune, “Good Morning Starshine” from the musical Hair, for a class of Grade 1 students in Winnipeg; this on the heels of Ryder having missed her flight and then being moved to join the class after receiving a box of drawings from them at her hotel room. The song itself moved to an infectious Latin swing beat, ending with a “cha-cha-cha” flourish.
Just as quickly, the spirit of The Who visited the stage in the form of Ryder’s own “Just Another Day”; with its simple, pounding drumbeats and bass line, the heavy buzz of classic and progressive rock guitar, and lyrics that still managed to flow effortlessly with such a hard-driving song.
The final song before the encore was her magnificent and hugely popular original ballad “Weak in the Knees”. With an achingly visceral voice she sang its poignant and brilliantly-constructed verse such as “Would you mind if I pretended we’re somewhere else … would you mind if I pretended you were someone else … I’m weak in the knees for you … But I’ll stand for you if you want me too.” She ended it with a toast of her wine glass, and one wondered if there had been water in the chalice at the start of the show. Weak in the knees? Yes, that’s one way to describe the effect of Serena Ryder and perhaps that would have been the way to close the show.
For an encore after leaving the stage to the most rapturous applause I’ve heard in Hugh’s Room, she offered an acid-rock take on “Morning Dew”, a personal top-five amongst Grateful Dead songs that I have now learned has its roots right here in Toronto courtesy of folk singer Bonnie Dobson. The song is indeed very much alive and well.
Perhaps what is most inspiring about Serena Ryder is that it seems clear we need not worry about her being worn down or corrupted by the vagaries of the music business itself, life on the road, or acclaim. She is acutely aware of the impact she has on wide-eyed children and equally wide-eyed if considerably more jaded adults; and relishes it for the blessing and joy that it is to have the platform, without one iota of superficial pretense or ego. As Andrew Craig of CBC Radio Two’s Canada Live relayed during his introduction, Serena Ryder is indeed an old soul, who it seems “has been aged in oak barrels.” After the show, pianist Kris Craig said that after time on the road she feels like a sister. If you see her coming to your town, drink her in and savour every last cathartic, magnificently envisioned and delivered drop. And yeah, bring the family.
The band
Serena Ryder – vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica
Dan Siljer – lead guitar
Kris Craig – keys, guitar
Depen Pandya – bass
Michael Thompson – drums
Weak in the Knees - video shoot ! + SXSW
Hey guys,
here are a few updates from Serena's camp !!
CMW was great ... Serena played a Sold Out show at Hugh's Room on Friday night, and was a part of a killer singer songwriters showcase at the MOD Club on Saturday eveing featuring Jim Cuddy, the Trews, Bedouin Soundclash and Theory of a Deadman ...
Serena will be shooting a video for her second single "Weak in the Knees" tomorrow ......with Blink Pictures director Kevin De Freitas!!! The video should hit the airwaves at the beginning of April !!
On Thursday Serena will be heading down to South by Southwest in Austin, Texas to perform:
Thursday March 15th
2pm - SixShooter Records / Mint Party
Headhunters
720 Red River
Friday March 16
Noon - Austin Music Magazine
Jovita's
1619 South 1st Street
6pm - NXNE BBQ
The Caswell House
1404 West Ave
9pm - Backporch Records Showcase
Cedar St. Cpurtyard
208 West 4th St.
cheers
here are a few updates from Serena's camp !!
CMW was great ... Serena played a Sold Out show at Hugh's Room on Friday night, and was a part of a killer singer songwriters showcase at the MOD Club on Saturday eveing featuring Jim Cuddy, the Trews, Bedouin Soundclash and Theory of a Deadman ...
Serena will be shooting a video for her second single "Weak in the Knees" tomorrow ......with Blink Pictures director Kevin De Freitas!!! The video should hit the airwaves at the beginning of April !!
On Thursday Serena will be heading down to South by Southwest in Austin, Texas to perform:
Thursday March 15th
2pm - SixShooter Records / Mint Party
Headhunters
720 Red River
Friday March 16
Noon - Austin Music Magazine
Jovita's
1619 South 1st Street
6pm - NXNE BBQ
The Caswell House
1404 West Ave
9pm - Backporch Records Showcase
Cedar St. Cpurtyard
208 West 4th St.
cheers
Friday, March 2, 2007
Ryder mixes covers & new songs
By ALLAN WIGNEY -- Sun Media
Last year, Serena Ryder's infectious original songs, championed by fan Hawksley Workman and praised by critics nationwide, earned Serena Ryder a deal with EMI Music Canada.
So, naturally, Ryder the celebrated songwriter last November delivered to her label ... a collection of covers.
Canadian covers, to be precise -- everything from a suitably sprightly Good Morning Starshine to a reverent You Were On My Mind, complete with guitar work from its composer Sylvia Tyson.
Plus, it should be said, a handful of originals to round out the proceedings.
"It was important to include a few of my own songs," Ryder says, "just to assure people that I am a songwriter myself, and to give an idea of what is coming next."
She says, in fact, the process of selecting and arranging the songs on If Your Memory Serves You Well proved beneficial in ways that went beyond paying homage to influences.
"Since doing this album I've been writing a lot more," Ryder says. "I gained a lot from putting myself in other writers' shoes."
So, naturally, Ryder the celebrated songwriter last November delivered to her label ... a collection of covers.
Canadian covers, to be precise -- everything from a suitably sprightly Good Morning Starshine to a reverent You Were On My Mind, complete with guitar work from its composer Sylvia Tyson.
Plus, it should be said, a handful of originals to round out the proceedings.
"It was important to include a few of my own songs," Ryder says, "just to assure people that I am a songwriter myself, and to give an idea of what is coming next."
She says, in fact, the process of selecting and arranging the songs on If Your Memory Serves You Well proved beneficial in ways that went beyond paying homage to influences.
"Since doing this album I've been writing a lot more," Ryder says. "I gained a lot from putting myself in other writers' shoes."
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Montreal Gazette - She puts a new spin on the old songs
For her big-label debut, Serena Ryder dips into a Canadian song bag and pulls out some real plums - including tunes you never associated with eh-sayers from the north.
BERNARD PERUSSE, The GazettePublished: Thursday, March 01, 2007
Enough about the Great American Songbook, already. There's a Great Canadian Songbook, too - and singer-songwriter Serena Ryder is clearly among its biggest fans.
She has taken the unusual step of devoting most of her major-label debut on EMI, If Your Memory Serves You Well, to celebrating classics from this side of the border.
The selection will surprise those who didn't know of the Canuck connection to some of these evergreens.
Bob Dylan's This Wheel's on Fire, the song that gives the album its title, was co-written with Green's Corners, Ont., native Rick Danko of the Band.
The Lovin Spoonful's Coconut Grove was written by the group's masterful melodist, John Sebastian, with the Spoonful's late guitarist, Toronto-born Zal Yanovsky.
You Were on My Mind was a big hit for the San Francisco quintet We Five, but it was penned by Chatham, Ont.'s own Sylvia Tyson - who makes a cameo appearance on Ryder's irresistible reggae-inflected version of the pop perennial.
It Doesn't Matter Anymore, the Buddy Holly classic written by Ottawa boy Paul Anka, gets a barrelhouse gospel makeover from Ryder.
The disc also contains a primitive recording of Ryder, now 24, singing the bespectacled legend's That'll Be the Day at the age of 7, before an appreciative audience at the Lions Club in Millbrook, Ont., her hometown.
"I was obsessed with Buddy Holly when I was younger," she said in a recent interview at a Montreal hotel. "I had a vinyl record of his - and I loved Linda Ronstadt." Ronstadt had covered the Holly song, too.
Coincidentally, the precocious child also performed Ronstadt's first big hit with the Stone Poneys - Michael Nesmith's Different Drum - for the Lions Club.
Such strange links still echo on the new disc, Ryder said.
"That's the thing about this record," she said. "Musicians are all tied together. The tie is so old, and it's beautiful. You can see how those lines are blurred between where one style of music started, or where a song started and finished. Nobody owns a song. You can't own art."
Ryder's genes might have foretold her eclectic taste in covers. Her mother, Barbara, is a former go-go dancer and backup singer, and her biological father, Glen Sorzano, was a member of the popular Caribbean combo the Tradewinds, she said.
Yet most of her previous discs, which she began releasing independently at the age of 15, seemed to predict a different musical path.
"My earlier stuff was diary music, very female singer-songwriter, talking about how it's really hard to exist and live, and woe is me, and no one understands," she said.
"I've been slowly realizing that lots of people understand and lots of people are in the same boat. Now my music's more about connection."
It's unusual for a maiden effort on a big label to consist mostly of non-originals, but the project seemed fated.
Frank Davies, founder of the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, met Sandy Pandya, Ryder's manager, at a CSHF showcase. Davies had been planning a project celebrating Canadian songwriters and Ryder, Pandya told him, was keen on covering some favourites.
Davies, Ryder and producer Steve Mackinnon whittled their selections down to 45 songs. Each made a short list of 12 and there was substantial agreement.
Once the album was recorded, Fraser Hill, EMI Canada's A&R director, caught Ryder on stage and told her, fairy-tale like, to come in and talk. A contract was signed and the 12 cover songs were later augmented by three Ryder originals, including a co-write with Randy Bachman.
On one of the covers, Raymond Levesque's Quand les hommes vivront d'amour, Ryder sings in creditable Quebecois French. She was coached by Liane de Lotbiniere, she said.
"There were certain vowels I couldn't really pull off as being Quebecois," Ryder said. "At school, I was taught Parisian French, not Quebecois French. (De Lotbiniere) marked down all the different sounds and we sat, and she'd be like 'euuu,' so I went back and fixed certain vowels."
Levesque's plea for peace is among the tracks that give the disc another unifying concept. "There's a huge theme that ties all these things together," Ryder said. "War and peace and true love. Morning Dew is about the apocalypse, which people are thinking about more and more today. A lot of the subject matter is absolutely timeless. And a lot of the songwriters on this record were pretty much my age when they wrote these songs."
Yet the subject matter isn't all serious. Ryder brings wide-eyed acceptance to Good Morning Starshine, from the hippie musical Hair, and goes vampy on the 1936 big-band toe-tapper Boo Hoo, which she said she'd like to see in a Quentin Tarantino fight scene. "It just really brought me back to being a little kid and starting to sing, back to musicals and fun," she said of the song. "That really helped balance out the intensity of a lot of the other songs."
It takes both subtlety and power to tackle a range of songs from Leonard Cohen's Sisters of Mercy to the torcher My Heart Cries for You on the same album, and Ryder delivers the vocal goods.
She has had no training. "I realize that I am blessed to be able to express my truth with my voice," she said. "And I'm very lucky to have known that since I was very young. I know a lot of people who are all grown up and still don't know what they want to be. I've become aware at certain points that there's a power behind what I do that's greater than me. And I respect that and I try and honour that as much as possible."
Serena Ryder plays Cafe Campus March 8 at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $12.50. Call 514-790-1245 or go to www.admission.com.
BERNARD PERUSSE, The GazettePublished: Thursday, March 01, 2007
Enough about the Great American Songbook, already. There's a Great Canadian Songbook, too - and singer-songwriter Serena Ryder is clearly among its biggest fans.
She has taken the unusual step of devoting most of her major-label debut on EMI, If Your Memory Serves You Well, to celebrating classics from this side of the border.
The selection will surprise those who didn't know of the Canuck connection to some of these evergreens.
Bob Dylan's This Wheel's on Fire, the song that gives the album its title, was co-written with Green's Corners, Ont., native Rick Danko of the Band.
The Lovin Spoonful's Coconut Grove was written by the group's masterful melodist, John Sebastian, with the Spoonful's late guitarist, Toronto-born Zal Yanovsky.
You Were on My Mind was a big hit for the San Francisco quintet We Five, but it was penned by Chatham, Ont.'s own Sylvia Tyson - who makes a cameo appearance on Ryder's irresistible reggae-inflected version of the pop perennial.
It Doesn't Matter Anymore, the Buddy Holly classic written by Ottawa boy Paul Anka, gets a barrelhouse gospel makeover from Ryder.
The disc also contains a primitive recording of Ryder, now 24, singing the bespectacled legend's That'll Be the Day at the age of 7, before an appreciative audience at the Lions Club in Millbrook, Ont., her hometown.
"I was obsessed with Buddy Holly when I was younger," she said in a recent interview at a Montreal hotel. "I had a vinyl record of his - and I loved Linda Ronstadt." Ronstadt had covered the Holly song, too.
Coincidentally, the precocious child also performed Ronstadt's first big hit with the Stone Poneys - Michael Nesmith's Different Drum - for the Lions Club.
Such strange links still echo on the new disc, Ryder said.
"That's the thing about this record," she said. "Musicians are all tied together. The tie is so old, and it's beautiful. You can see how those lines are blurred between where one style of music started, or where a song started and finished. Nobody owns a song. You can't own art."
Ryder's genes might have foretold her eclectic taste in covers. Her mother, Barbara, is a former go-go dancer and backup singer, and her biological father, Glen Sorzano, was a member of the popular Caribbean combo the Tradewinds, she said.
Yet most of her previous discs, which she began releasing independently at the age of 15, seemed to predict a different musical path.
"My earlier stuff was diary music, very female singer-songwriter, talking about how it's really hard to exist and live, and woe is me, and no one understands," she said.
"I've been slowly realizing that lots of people understand and lots of people are in the same boat. Now my music's more about connection."
It's unusual for a maiden effort on a big label to consist mostly of non-originals, but the project seemed fated.
Frank Davies, founder of the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, met Sandy Pandya, Ryder's manager, at a CSHF showcase. Davies had been planning a project celebrating Canadian songwriters and Ryder, Pandya told him, was keen on covering some favourites.
Davies, Ryder and producer Steve Mackinnon whittled their selections down to 45 songs. Each made a short list of 12 and there was substantial agreement.
Once the album was recorded, Fraser Hill, EMI Canada's A&R director, caught Ryder on stage and told her, fairy-tale like, to come in and talk. A contract was signed and the 12 cover songs were later augmented by three Ryder originals, including a co-write with Randy Bachman.
On one of the covers, Raymond Levesque's Quand les hommes vivront d'amour, Ryder sings in creditable Quebecois French. She was coached by Liane de Lotbiniere, she said.
"There were certain vowels I couldn't really pull off as being Quebecois," Ryder said. "At school, I was taught Parisian French, not Quebecois French. (De Lotbiniere) marked down all the different sounds and we sat, and she'd be like 'euuu,' so I went back and fixed certain vowels."
Levesque's plea for peace is among the tracks that give the disc another unifying concept. "There's a huge theme that ties all these things together," Ryder said. "War and peace and true love. Morning Dew is about the apocalypse, which people are thinking about more and more today. A lot of the subject matter is absolutely timeless. And a lot of the songwriters on this record were pretty much my age when they wrote these songs."
Yet the subject matter isn't all serious. Ryder brings wide-eyed acceptance to Good Morning Starshine, from the hippie musical Hair, and goes vampy on the 1936 big-band toe-tapper Boo Hoo, which she said she'd like to see in a Quentin Tarantino fight scene. "It just really brought me back to being a little kid and starting to sing, back to musicals and fun," she said of the song. "That really helped balance out the intensity of a lot of the other songs."
It takes both subtlety and power to tackle a range of songs from Leonard Cohen's Sisters of Mercy to the torcher My Heart Cries for You on the same album, and Ryder delivers the vocal goods.
She has had no training. "I realize that I am blessed to be able to express my truth with my voice," she said. "And I'm very lucky to have known that since I was very young. I know a lot of people who are all grown up and still don't know what they want to be. I've become aware at certain points that there's a power behind what I do that's greater than me. And I respect that and I try and honour that as much as possible."
Serena Ryder plays Cafe Campus March 8 at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $12.50. Call 514-790-1245 or go to www.admission.com.
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