Sound CheckSerena Ryder debuts her new album “Harmony,” 10 things you should know about her
In celebration of Juno Award-winning Canadian artist Serena Ryder's new album "Harmony," lets take a look at a few things you might not know about this 29-year-old singer/songwriter.
1. She wrote and finished 65 songs for "Harmony" before the tracklist was narrowed down to the final 12.
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2. In 2009, two million children across Canada sung her song "Sing Sing" in their respective classrooms at the same time.
As part of The Coalition for Music Education in Canada's Music Monday, children performed the "Unlikely Emergency" album track simultaneously, which Ryder added a new verse to for the occasion, to raise awareness and "highlight the importance of music in education."
3. She has a duet called "Broken Heart Sun" with Melissa Etheridge, which she wrote.
4. She recorded a duet with Season 7 "American Idol" fourth place finalist contestant Jason Castro called "You Can Always Come Home" for his self-titled debut album.
"She came in and did the vocals with me and it's just beautiful," Castro said. "There are two-part harmonies throughout and an acoustic guitar. That one is special."
5. Her song "All For Love" is featured in a "Private Practice" episode titled "Know When to Fold"
6. She has three Juno Awards including New Artist of the Year (2008,) Adult Alternative Album of the Year (2009) for "Is It O.K," and Video of the Year (2010) for "Little Bit of Red."
7. Her albums "Is It O.K" and "If Your Memory Serves You Well" have been certified gold in Canada.
8. She began writing when she was a 'tween.
"I'd been writing a lot since I was maybe 11 years old," she told ABC's Music Lounge. "I wasn't doing diary entries; I needed to express something a little deeper than that, which I couldn't express in conversation. And I'd been singing since I was a little kid, doing cover songs at gigs. But when I got my guitar, a whole other world opened up to me. I realized I could put the poetry I was writing to song and bring two very separate things together."
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9. She loves TLC.
In an interview with George Stroumboulopoulos on CBC's "The Hour," Ryder admitted that she frequently listened to TLC's record "CrazySexyCool" when she was 13-years-old and then proceeded to cover the 1994 album track "Sumthin' Wicked This Way Comes" while on the show.
10. Her new single from "Harmony" is called "Stompa"
