Serena Ryder (born December 8, 1983[1] in Toronto, Ontario[2]) is a Juno Award-winning Canadian singer/songwriter and guitarist who grew up in Millbrook, Ontario.
Ranging musically between folk, roots, country, and adult contemporary, Ryder possesses a three-octave range. She attended the Integrated Arts Program at Peterborough Collegiate and Vocational Institute in Peterborough as well as Crestwood Secondary School. As a teenager, she performed solo as well as with many bands from the Peterborough area, including Christian band Thousand Foot Krutch and Jive recording artist Three Days Grace.
Career
Her first independent CD, called Falling Out, was released in December 1999. Other independent releases by Serena include Serena EP (cassette only) 1999; Live at The Market Hall & A Day In the Studio 2002; & Serena Ryder Live 2003 (a CD recording of her performance on CBC Radio's program Bandwidth).
In 2005, she released her debut major label CD Unlikely Emergency, which included the song "Just Another Day" which gained significant airplay on many radio stations, including CHUM-FM. The album was released by Hawksley Workman on his Isadora Records. Also released on Isadora was Live in Oz, a recording from her tour of Australia, released in limited numbers only at shows.
Ryder's second album, released on the EMI label in November 2006, is called If Your Memory Serves You Well and is a collection of notable Canadian songs from the past 100 years or so. The tracks include Leonard Cohen's "Sisters of Mercy", Galt MacDermot's "Good Morning Starshine" and The Band's "This Wheel's on Fire" as well as Paul Anka's "It Doesn't Matter Any More."
Appearing as a guest on SBS Australia television's RocKwiz in 2007, she displayed an authoritative knowledge in rock music-related questions, singing many song segments in answer and performed in the closing guest spot with Lior.[3]
A new EP titled Told You in a Whispered Song was released 19 June 2007, and is an acoustic studio collection of several live tracks and new songs.
Along with other bands, including 54-40 and Cheap Trick, Ryder opened for Aerosmith on their world tour in July 2007 in Prince Edward Island, Canada.
She won the 2008 Juno Award for New Artist of the Year.
On 25 July 2008, Ryder gave an exclusive performance for attendees of the 2008 Yeast Genetics and Molecular Biology Meeting at the University of Toronto in Toronto, which was hosted by the Genetics Society of America. She was also accompanied by the Canadian R&B singer Jully Black.[4]
On 9 October 2008 Ryder and Greg Keelor attended a performance of Tim Hus and his Good Ol' Boys at the Dakota Tavern, in which an impromptu performance was given by all three, jamming to Blue Rodeo's "Hasn't Hit Me Yet".
On 11 November 2008, Ryder released her new EMI album Is It O.K. in Canada. It will be released on Atlantic Records in America on 11 February 2009. The single to be taken from it is "Little Bit of Red". The song "All for Love", which appears on Ryder's EP Sweeping the Ashes and album Is It O.K., is featured in an episode of ABC's Private Practice. Is It O.K. won the Adult Alternative Album of the Year at the 2009 Junos on March 29, 2009 in Vancouver.[5]
In 2009, her song "Sing, Sing" was selected for Music Monday, a special event to highlight music education in Canada which saw nearly two million Canadian schoolchildren singing the song in class on May 5.[6]
In May 2009, she appeared on Bruce Springsteen's official website, covering his song "Racing in the Street". The video was part of the Hangin' On E Street feature of his website.
In June 2009, she recorded the duet "You Can Always Come Home" with former American Idol contestant Jason Castro for his upcoming album.[7]
Discography
Albums
EPs
- Serena (1999)
- A Day At the Studio (2002)
- Told You in a Whispered Song (2007)
Live Recordings
- Live at The Market Hall (2002)
- Serena Ryder Live (2003)
Singles
- "Good Morning Starshine" (2006)
- "Weak in the Knees" (2006)
- "Little Bit of Red" (2008)
- "All for Love" (2008)
- "What I Wanna Know" (2009)
References
- ^ "The Hour" with George Stroumboulopoulos, Episode dated November 12, 2008
- ^ Stevenson, Jane (April 6, [2008). "Ryder remembers those who died". Toronto Sun. Allmusic indicates birthplace at Millbrook, Ontario, however.
- ^ http://www.sbs.com.au 31 March 2007
- ^ "80385_yeast_front_matter.pmd 2008 Yeast Genetics and Molecular Biology Meeting, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada - July 22–27, 2008 - Program and Abstracts" (pdf). http://yeast-meet.org/2008/pdf/yeast_program.pdf 80385_yeast_front_matter.pmd. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
- ^ http://www.serenaryder.com/
- ^ "Canadian kids sing out for music in education". cbc.ca, May 4, 2009.
- ^ http://music-mix.ew.com/2009/08/19/jason-castro-interview/
External links
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