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Artscene Musical connections By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF 21 · Wednesday, March 24, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com Sign up now for guitar, bass, drums, and piano OAKVILLE'S MUSIC STORE · WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2010 21 T wo-time Juno Award winning singer/songwriter Serena Ryder will perform a pair of intimate solo concerts. The 26-year-old pop-rocker will be at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts Thursday and Friday (March 25 and 26). "I find performing (solo) is really intimate and especially in a theatre environment, you are really able to connect with the audience." The singer will be joined on stage by the Madison Square Gardeners guitarist and vocalist Johnny Kengla who will play the electric guitar and do back-up vocals. Ryder will play acoustic guitar. "It will be an acoustic show with a lot of beautiful, highlighted guitar parts and back up vocals," Ryder said. Ryder, who currently resides in Toronto, has not done a concert in Oakville in some five years and will be performing select songs from her previous albums, including her latest, is it o.k. "It will be a pretty eclectic mix of all my records and whatever the audience wants to hear. If people feel like yelling out a song, I'll be more than happy to play it for them," she said, then added with a laugh, "If I remember it." In 2008 Ryder won the Juno Award for Best New Artist of the Year. In 2009 is it o.k. won the Juno for Adult Alternative Album of the Year. Ryder's music packs a lot of emotion and she loves performing it that way. "Music is a lot bigger than just one person," she said. "A song, art or music technically doesn't have one owner. It doesn't belong to anyone and I really see and believe that. So when I'm performing, I understand it's not necessarily just for me, it's for everybody. It's a conversation and it's something I feel like I can open up to. It's not about thinking, it's about truly just feeling." She added that doing live shows allows her to connect with her audience. "I think we're in a day and age right now where everything is less and less about actual human connection. I think a lot of people are struggling in their lives for some kind of real person-on-person connection because we are able to click on our computer to find information or be alone in a lot of respects. I think a lot of people are feeling aloneness in their lives," she said. "I think it's really important to go out into the world and make human connection on a person-to-person basis. When you support live music, you see the real energy and real communication. That's something I think is important for everybody and it's something I focus on in my live performances." Ryder has had numerous accolades over the years. Her albums, If Your Memory Serves You Well and is it o.k., are Gold certified in Canada. Ryder has also performed at the Vancouver Winter Olympics and Paralympics. "I actually fell in love with hockey for the first time in my life," she said of her Olympic experience. "I grew up in Millbrook, Ontario. I had every opportunity to fall in love with hockey, but I fell in love with hockey at the Olympics watching Sweden and Germany play." Ryder is also involved with the Coalition for Music Education in Canada. As part of the program, thousands of students across Canada sang one of her songs at the same time. "It's to bring awareness on how important music is in our schools and how those programs have been dwindling," she said. For more information on the program, visit www.musicmonday.ca. Ryder's performances at the Oakville Centre begin at 8 p.m. Regular tickets cost $55.99. Discounts are available. The centre is located at 130 Navy St. For more information, visit www.oakvillecentre.ca. LIESA KORTMANN / OAKVILLE BEAVER STAGE PRESENCE: Two-time Juno Award-winning singer/songwriter Serena Ryder performs on stage at last year's Sound of Music Festival in Burlington. She will appear at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts this Thursday and Friday.