Serena Ryder
[From www.serenaryder.com] Serena Ryder is just 23. But her voice, a deep, bluesy, soulful instrument that has drawn comparisons to Janis Joplin and Aretha Franklin, makes her sound much older. Artists like Serena don’t come along very often. Blessed with a three octave range, she has the ability to tackle any musical style and win over crowds wherever she plays
Ryder’s extraordinary major-label debut, If Your Memory Serves You Well, features the Millbrook, Ontario native covering vintage Canadian songs with remarkable authority – some of them written more than 70 years before she was born. From Shelton Brooks’ “Some of These Days,” recorded by the likes of Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday,” to Percy Faiths’ “My Heart Cries for You,” previously recorded by Ray Charles and Ben E. King, Ryder sings with enough passion and conviction to make them her own. She also delivers a stunning rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Sisters of Mercy” and a scorching version of “This Wheel’s on Fire,” which Bob Dylan co-wrote with The Band’s Rick Danko.
If Your Memory Serves You Well is as much a testament to Ryder’s talent as it is a tribute to the enduring strength of these songs. “It’s amazing how much this material makes more sense the older it gets,” says Ryder. “A lot of the songs speak to the political time in which they were written, but they also resonate with what’s going on today. That’s the mark of a great song.”
Ryder comes from strong musical roots. Her Canadian mother was a touring backup singer and go-go dancer, while her Trinidadian father was a percussionist and guitarist with the Caribbean folk outfit The Tradewinds. After recording a live EP in 2002 at the Black Sheep Inn in Wakefield, Quebec, Ryder was signed to the Isadora Records label and issued 2004’s Unlikely Emergency, which quickly garnered rave reviews as Ryder toured music festivals across North America and as far away as Down Under. The Boston Globe was impressed by her “outstanding” vocal range and predicted she’d become a “major force,” while Australia’s Brisbane Mail Courier credited her “maturity” and her three-octave voice that “sometimes soars, growls and then curls up around the notes like a lazy cat.”
If Your Memory Serves You Well will expose Ryder’s talent to an even wider audience. “Doing this record is a really important step for me in my career because I’m learning so much from performing this material,” says Ryder, who adds that covering songs like Zal Yanovsky’s Lovin’ Spoonful nugget “Coconut Grove” and Paul Anka’s “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore” struck strong personal chords. “This music feels very natural to me,” she says. “When I sing these songs, I’m really singing what I need to be singing right now.” Clearly, the songs have inspired Ryder, but she, in turn, has breathed new life into these timeless Canadian classics.
I had an interview last night with Serena Ryder. I apologize for the background noise – we were sitting outside at the Ale House canteen having a beer.
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Tags: serena ryder, ale house, music, kingston, artist
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