IN CONCERT
What: Serena Ryder with Luca Fogale
Where: Capital Ballroom, 858 Yates St.
When: Friday, Feb. 17, 8 p.m.
Tickets: Sold out
One would think that Toronto singer-songwriter Serena Ryder 鈥� she of the three-octave range, six Juno Award wins and platinum-selling albums 鈥� would never have to take another music lesson in her life.
But here鈥檚 the funny thing: In going back to learn new tricks on piano and guitar, the gifted Stompa hitmaker realized she had never had a lesson.
鈥淚 literally know nothing about music theory,鈥� Ryder said with a laugh, during a Vancouver tour stop. 鈥淪eriously, I鈥檝e always just played by ear. I鈥檝e played by shapes, too. When I put my fingers on a guitar, I remember shapes, so it鈥檚 a sense-memory thing. If I haven鈥檛 played a song in a few years, and you told me the chords of it, that would mean nothing to me. I would need to physically remember how to play it.鈥�
As she prepared to write her latest album, Utopia, the Millbrook, Ont., native went back to basics and took guitar and piano lessons for the first time. Now that the record is out, she鈥檚 still committed to growing as an artist. 鈥淢aybe that evolution will [make me] a better guitar player, a better musician,鈥� she said.
On the surface, it would appear that Ryder needs little help in those areas. Stompa (her triple-platinum smash from 2012) is a guitar-heavy single, with an accompanying video that shows Ryder wielding one of her favourite guitars, the very rock-like Gibson Flying V.
During her last show in Victoria, a headlining performance before 5,000 fans at the Rifflandia festival in 2014, she was particularly adept at all things guitar. That approach has changed on her current tour, which brought her to Campbell River on Wednesday.
Ryder (who will appear in Courtenay tonight and Victoria on Friday) has to ditch her guitar for the Utopia songs in her set, as they are too difficult to play while singing. 鈥淭he songs that I wrote are super-challenging to sing, so there鈥檚 some rhythms that are too complex to play the guitar with. I want to run around the stage and have more fun.鈥�
Musical adventures are nothing new for Ryder, 35, who started performing at the age of eight. She was blessed with an over-sized singing voice at a young age, and made great use of it on her early albums, the first of which arrived when she was just 17. Cover songs were a big part of her repertoire, which expanded her fanbase for the album If Your Memory Serves You Well. The album netted Ryder a best new artist win at the Junos in 2008.
That led her down the path to songwriting sojourns with a range of artists, including Randy Bachman and Melissa Etheridge 鈥� some of which stuck, and some of which didn鈥檛. She eventually discovered her own voice, good enough to win her a Juno in 2014 for songwriter of the year.
鈥淲ho you鈥檙e writing with, who you鈥檙e hanging out with, that definitely sinks in. When it comes to learning different techniques, I鈥檓 the kind of person that learns a little by every way. I have to see it, I have to hear it, I have to do it and I have to write it out. And if I don鈥檛 do all those things, for the most part it won鈥檛 stick.
鈥淵ou also have to be really passionate about it, too. If it was kind of a s----y session, I鈥檓 not going to remember what went down. But if I love the person I鈥檓 writing with, and it鈥檚 amazing, I can learn a lot from that experience.鈥�
Utopia brings together songs written in various cities (Los Angeles, Toronto, London, Nashville) with collaborators including Ontario-bred songwriter Simon Wilcox (who co-wrote the Nick Jonas smash Jealous). It鈥檚 Ryder鈥檚 first record in five years, the delay due to a multitude of factors (constant touring, the dissolution of a romantic relationship and Ryder鈥檚 subsequent move to California.) The follow-up to 2012鈥檚 Harmony, home to Stompa and another sizable hit, What I Wouldn鈥檛 Do, was put together from nearly 100 songs.
After six albums, crafting a setlist for this tour was difficult. Ryder said she decided to change the setlist for every show out of necessity. Complacency is not something she accepts.
鈥淭he audience can tell if you鈥檙e not excited about what you鈥檙e doing. We slowly incorporated the new songs into the set, and by the middle of the touring cycle, we were pretty much all Utopia, because it was all brand new for us. But now we鈥檝e started incorporating some of the older songs, to keep it fresh for us and them.鈥�
