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Elaine Ryan www.elaineryan.ca

http://www.myspace.com/elaineryanmusic

Elaine Ryan is the living embodiment of the nomadic troubadour. Her eagerly-awaited debut full-length album, Songs From The River, will feature tunes written in Vancouver, Montreal and Hawaii, recorded in Maui, and mixed and mastered in Montreal. Elaine’s material draws from such diverse life experiences as busking in Europe, studying flamenco in Spain and working in an orphanage in Guatemala, and she distils hard-won lessons into potent folk-rooted songs deserving of real attention. Ryan first served notice of her creative potential with the 2007 release of a six-song EP, Sisters.

It earned a warm response and college, community and CBC Radio play, while club gigs in her Vancouver hometown showcased her prowess as a natural performer. Elaine now takes a major artistic leap forward with Songs From The River. "This is the album I’ve been wanting to make for quite some time now," she says, crediting her recent residence in Maui as a catalyst in its creation. "It is a very relaxing place to be, and it helps you collect ideas. One of the ways my songs get written is that ideas I’ve been stewing on for years will sort of suddenly come together in my mind.”

The album was recorded in a home studio near the ocean, and the rustic setting helps account for its warm and intimate feel. Elaine produced it herself, and she had a clear vision of the sound she wanted. "It is sparse as I wanted my voice and the lyrics I’ve written to come through," she explains. Drums and bass (electric and acoustic) are used subtly and sparingly, with the focus always remaining on Ryan’s fluent guitar playing, melodic and emotionally eloquent vocals, and convincingly poetic songs. An oft-cited reference point for Elaine’s soulful voice is Tracy Chapman, while she acknowledges Ani DiFranco as a key influence. "I find her an inspiring character, through her guts and her thoughtful and political lyrics," she says. In fact, catching DiFranco in performance at a festival in Ireland had a life-changing impact on Ryan. "I was 14, and I was just into the pop music I’d hear on the radio," Elaine recalls.

"I was still trying to form an identity, and going to Ani’s phenomenal show encouraged me to pick up the guitar." Elaine was actually born in Ireland, then emigrated to Vancouver with her family at age five. The Ryans are a musical family, and Elaine would often sing harmonies with her younger brother, who’s also a musician. "Music would always be playing in our house," she recalls. She took drama and musical theatre throughout high school.

“That was my introduction to performing. Lord Byng Secondary had a great program, and several well-known performers, have come out of it.” The school of hard knocks that is busking also provided invaluable experience. "Before I even began writing songs, I had a spell of busking in Switzerland. That was good for getting over jitters, and it certainly toughens you up."

Study then took precedence over music, as Ryan took an arts degree at the University of British Columbia, completing a B.A.with Honors, with a major in International Relations and a minor in Political Science. Career options considered included development work and law, while studying flamenco dance in Seville created a dilemma. Ryan proved a natural at this most romantic of dance forms, but she explains that "I had to decide between music and dance and which one to take more seriously. I felt music was a better form of self-expression for me." Flamenco’s loss is folk music’s gain, but lessons from flamenco proved invaluable. "I feel that what rubbed off from flamenco was the confidence my teachers exuded," says Elaine. "The sense that you can be very feminine, yet very confident and in control at the same time is what I love about flamenco. I also love the intense emotion of flamenco, and I like to make my songs intense emotionally." That is apparent in a new song like "September Promise," and such passionately poetic lines as "there’s a drunken jailer in my chest…but I will break through the bars of this ribcage to get to you." Ryan is now fully committed to music, and her development as a songwriter of real depth is showcased on Songs From The River. That skill had first been demonstrated on Sisters, via songs that effectively fused the personal and the political. The title track is a clarion call for female solidarity ("all over the world you’ve got sisters looking out for you"), while she bravely adopts the persona of a womanizer on "Saviour" ("he was looking for a savior in the body of a woman").