Serena Ryder Biography

Serena Ryder (born December 8, 1982) is a Juno Award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter.

She ranges musically between folk, roots, country, and adult contemporary music. She attended the Integrated Arts Program at Peterborough Collegiate and Vocational School in Peterborough as well as Crestwood Secondary School. As a teenager, she performed solo as well as with many bands from the Peterborough area, including Christian band Thousand Foot Krutch and Jive recording artist Three Days Grace.

Early life

Ryder was born in Toronto, Ontario. Her first indie CD, called Falling Out, was released in December 1999 by the Peterborough, Ontario based independent record label Mime Radio. Ryder was 17 years old at the time. Her other independent releases include Serena EP (cassette only) 1999 (limited run of 100); Live at The Market Hall & A Day in the Studio 2002; and Serena Ryder Live 2003 (a CD recording of her performance on CBC Radio's program Bandwidth).

2005-2006: Major debut and Unlikely Emergency

In 2005, she released her debut major label CD Unlikely Emergency, which included the song "Just Another Day" which gained significant airplay on many radio stations, including CHUM-FM. The album was released by Hawksley Workman on his Isadora Records. Also released on Isadora was Live in Oz, a recording from her tour of Australia, released in limited numbers only at shows.

2006-2007: If Your Memory Serves You Well

Ryder's second album, released on the EMI label in November 2006, is called If Your Memory Serves You Well and is a collection of notable Canadian songs from the past 100 years or so. The tracks include Leonard Cohen's "Sisters of Mercy", Galt MacDermot's "Good Morning Starshine" and the Bob Dylan-Rick Danko written "This Wheel's on Fire", popularized by The Band, as well as Paul Anka's "It Doesn't Matter Any More."
Ryder was the 2008 recipient of the Juno Award for New Artist of the Year with label EMI.

2008-2009: Is It O.K.

On 11 November 2008, Ryder released her new EMI album Is It O.K. in Canada. It was released on Atlantic Records in America on 11 February 2009. The single to be taken from it is "Little Bit of Red". The song "All for Love", which appears on Ryder's EP Sweeping the Ashes and album Is It O.K., is featured in an episode of ABC television's Private Practice.

Is It O.K. won the Juno Award for Adult Alternative Album of the Year. Ryder was nominated for Artist of the Year on March 29, 2009 in Vancouver.

In 2009, her song "Sing, Sing" was selected for Music Monday, a special event to highlight music education in Canada which saw nearly two million Canadian schoolchildren singing the song in class on May 5.

The following month, Ryder recorded the duet "You Can Always Come Home" with former American Idol contestant Jason Castro for his eponymous first solo album, Jason Castro.

In 2010 won the Juno Award for Video of the Year for "Little Bit of Red" directed by Marc Ricciardelli, with label EMI.

In 2012, Ryder released a new album, Harmony. The first single from it was "Stompa", which was featured in an episode of ABC television's Grey's Anatomy