How many twenty-four year olds can count winning a Juno for Best New Artist and six records of their own original songs including one of critically acclaimed covers of Canadian music icons? Serena Ryder can...

August 2008
Edmonton Folk Festival 2008 

By: Xanthe Couture (Edmonton Correspondent - Canada)

How many twenty-four year olds can count winning a Juno for Best New Artist and six records of their own original songs including one of critically acclaimed covers of Canadian music icons? It's a pretty tall order.  

Serena Ryder has always had playing, and making music on her mind; performing since she was seven years old and writing her own songs since she was eleven. 

Her "discovery", although it was bound to happen sooner or later, occurred when Hawksley Workman's manager Sandy Pandya, happened to hear one of her songs on the radio, called in and from there Ryder was touring with Workman and producing a new album. "Me and Hawksley hooked up and did a bunch of music and touring together," she says. "It's been years since we did it but yeah it was great," she adds.

Ryder had three sessions at this year's Edmonton Folk Music Festival. She had her own solo performance on Friday as well as one session with The Sadies, Broken Social Scene and Royal Wood on Sunday morning and with Outlaw Social and Luis Emilio Rios later the same day.

In all three sessions she had the crowd blown away by her energy and effortless singing abilities that brought to mind a modern Janis Joplin rocking out on stage with a three-octave vocal range. When asked after her last session what has been a memorable performance in her career to date, she doesn't take long to reply "Today was awesome. I'm going to remember today for a really long time. I had the best time ever on stage at both sessions, but especially the Broken Social Scene one," she says.

"I am a huge fan of Broken Social Scene. I have jumped on the Broken Social Scene train of awesomeness.  They are really funny, nice and great and fun to play with," she explains.

Beyond the highly regarded musicians Ryder has already worked with, only one comes to her mind for the future "Man I would like to do some work with Bruce Springsteen that would be a dream," she says. 

A new album to follow up her major-label debut "If Your Memory Serves You Well," which won her the Juno for Best New Artist in 2008, is coming soon. "My album will be released in November in Canada along with a three song EP in the States and then released world wide in January," she explains.

While Ryder describes "If Your Memory Serves You Well" as "paying homage to my influences and my Canadian history, blood, genes and to learn from my teachers," her next album will be her own original songs. Ryder will be starting to tour for her new album this October with Stephen Kellogg & the Sixers and hopes there is a lot more music and touring to come "I love playing music and definitely being successful in as many places as possible so I can play music for as long as possible." 

With her determination, distinctive voice and musical abilities, where belting out an impromptu performance of the Linda Ronstadt hit ‘You're No Good' is no trouble at all, Ryder is assured to be doing what she loves for a long time to come.