Juno Award winner Serena Ryder brings her ‘Merry Myths Tour’ to the Empress Theatre on Monday, Dec. 4.
Juno Award winning singer-songwriter Serena Ryder is giving herself an early Christmas present this year.
Ryder is sharing the spirit of the Christmas season with audiences throughout December on her Merry Myths Tour.
“I’ve done a few Christmas tours and I really love them,” Ryder said in an interview Thursday. “This time is one of the most special times to tour because there is this feeling of joyfulness and a child-like energy, which is my favourite thing.”
“I feel like this time of year can melt hearts in the best way. It’s really about family, and about love, and about being around your community. There’s a sense of joy at this time of year that is really beautiful to be a part of.”
The Merry Myths Tour kicks off Monday, Dec. 4 at the Empress Theatre in Fort Macleod and continues with stops in Edmonton, Regina, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, Sudbury, Chatham, Orillia and Wingham.
Ryder will perform the songs from her Christmas Kisses album along with other popular seasonal songs during her show at the Empress Theatre.
“There’s going to be a lot of classics that people will know the words to,” Ryder said. “That’s a really nice thing when you get on stage is to be able to play songs that people are able to sing along with.”
Ryder’s critically acclaimed Christmas Kisses album was produced by Bob Ezrin, who has worked with such artists as U2, Pink Floyd and Andrea Bocelli.
The album features the title track Christmas Kisses, as well as classics such as Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Let It Snow, White Christmas, Santa Baby, and I’ll Be Home for Christmas.
Blue Christmas, Jingle Bell Rock, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas and Christmas Song are also on the album.
Between songs, Ryder will share with the audience what she has learned while researching the history of Christmas and some of the traditions that have developed around the holiday.
“When I’m on stage I’m going to share some of the things I’ve learned about where some of the different things we do around Christmas time originally came from,” Ryder explained. “I’m really excited about that.”
The idea for the “Merry Myths” part of the tour came from discussions Ryder had with friend and Juno Award-winning artist Roberta Landreth.
“She was helping me with some design stuff and we were coming up with names based on the energy of the songs,” Ryder said. “She came up with the name Merry Myths.”
That led to Ryder deciding to research the mythology behind Christmas traditions and activities, and to share that with audiences.
“I love mythology and I love archetypes and going deeper into stories,” Ryder said.
Ryder discovered things that surprised her while doing the research, and she’ll share that with audiences.
“I am still uncovering it right now,” Ryder added. “I can’t wait to share that on the tour and the stage.”
The sold-out Fort Macleod audience gets the first look at the Merry Myths Tour and the stories behind Christmas.
“This show is really great because it’s the first show of the tour.”
Ryder was born into a musical family and grew up listening to her parents’ records, including The Beatles and Leonard Cohen.
At age eight Ryder began singing in shows at Royal Canadian Legions and other venues, and at age 13 learned to play guitar.
When she was 17 Ryder enrolled in the Peterborough Collegiate and Vocational Institute in the Integrated Arts Program.
Ryder recorded her first full-length CD, Falling Out, in 1999 and now has eight albums to her credit.
Ryder received the 2008 Juno Award for Best New Artist of the Year. In 2010 the single Little Bit of Red from her Is It Okay album won the Juno for Best Video of the Year.
In 2014 Ryder won Junos for Artist of the Year and Songwriter of the Year, and has now won seven Juno Awards, the most recent of which was for 2022 Adult Contemporary Album of the Year for The Art of Falling Apart.
After years of touring, performing, recording and winning awards, Ryder is still eager to take the stage.
“Every time you got out on tour there’s always something that is fresh. It’s the world, it’s the people, it’s the times. Things are always changing, we’re always changing.”
The songs also remain fresh.
“For me, every single time it’s different and I love that. Being able to be on stage with audiences that are there in celebration . . . it’s always exciting.”
