Serena Ryder's youthful success

After a decade in the business, Ryder's still weak in the knees for music

There are certain milestones in a musician's career that hold a special significance, like the moment when he or she holds the first printed and pressed CD of their career.

These milestones represent a personal growth and the first glimpse of success. Certainly, that's how it felt for Serena Ryder when Falling Out was released in 1999, but that was nearly a decade ago, and she was still a teenager.

Now, at the age of 24, Ryder has accomplished more than most do in a lifetime. Four full length records, several cross-country tours, a Juno award for Best New Artist, and she is well on her way to becoming a household name in Canadian pop and folk music.

Perhaps the reason for Serena's popularity is her ability to appeal to such a wide audience; this also makes her music tough to define. It is pop-centric, but does not lack sincerity. It borrows banjos, acoustic guitars and even harmonicas from the folk tradition, but they are incorporated in a big production way. It is both evocative, and irresistibly catchy. Not to mention, she has perhaps one of the strongest voices in Canadian music.

But Ryder attributes her success simply to the honesty in her songwriting.

“It's not a fabricated thing for me, it's really about connecting with the soul,” she said over the phone last week. “People need that connection and that honesty. I feel like when I perform I'm not putting on a show... [Hopefully, I] inspire people to look inside of themselves and to appreciate their lives and the beauty of who they are.”

Ryder's unique approach has provided some interesting experiences. From performing at Lollapalooza and opening up for Aerosmith, to having songs like “Weak in the Knees” become a hit on both CBC and commercial radio stations, it would appear as though Ryder's fans are as eclectic as her own taste in music.

It's a long way to come for a young woman raised in Millbrook, Ontario, a village of less than 10,000 inhabitants. Isolated in a township near Peterborough, glimpses of the outside world were rare.

“The only exposure to culture up until the time I was 13-years-old was pretty much what was on television, and movies and things like that... There was no train, no bus,” Ryder explained. “The only way to get out of Millbrook is to drive, so a lot of the kids led very boring lives there.”

Still, AM Radio, and her parents record collection, “one milk crate full”, played a significant role in Serena's exposure to music. At the age of 13 she was given her first acoustic guitar, and not two years later Ryder was discovered while performing at her high school.

She was initially signed to an independent label based in Peterborough, but Serena has since shifted to EMI Canada, who have released her last two records. Aside from better distribution, the move has also provided Ryder with the opportunity to work in an entirely different way. Her latest album, Is It O.K, exemplifies this, having been recorded in one of the most unique studio environments in North America.

It was done in Santa Monica with producer John Alagia (who has worked with Dave Matthews Band and John Mayer), who booked time at the Masonic temple-turned-studio where Fleetwood Mac recorded their classic, Rumors.

“I was recording my vocals in Stevie Nicks' vocal booth,” Ryder boasted. “It is actually less of a booth and more a work of art, complete with stained glass detailing, lit by candles.”

The studio did have some interesting quirks, though.

“[Fleetwood Mac] put a whole bunch of mirrors and different things inside of the studio, supposedly so that when the cops came in they couldn't find their way. There were lots of secret passageways and things in it.”

Even the recording itself was a typical, with much of it actually recorded live “off the floor” with a full band. That is why the album has such an organic quality to it.

But above all, Is It O.K is a very personal album. Many songs deal with love, relationships and regret - emotions and situations that can be tough to write about, knowing that soon the world will hear your innermost thoughts. That wasn't a worry for Ryder, though.

“The more personal that you get, the more you're able to relate to people on a very honest and open level, and there shouldn't be any fear behind that,” she said.

Following its release on November 11, the response to Is It O.K has been phenomenal, and just last week, Ryder's concert at The London Music Club sold out so quickly that a larger hall was rented to accommodate the demand. If this is a sign of things to come, who knows where the young Millbrook native may end up next.