Ryan Laird
| Ryan Laird | |
|---|---|
 Ryan Laird in 2014 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Ryan Laird |
| Born |
March 8, 1984 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Origin | Fergus, Ontario, Canada |
| Genres | Country |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, musician, philanthropist |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, piano, drums, harmonica |
| Years active | 2002-present |
| Labels | On Ramp Records, Warner Music Canada, Studio Gold Music |
| Associated acts | George Canyon, Dierks Bentley, Emerson Drive, Jerrod Niemann, Jason McCoy |
| Website |
www |
Ryan Laird (born March 8, 1984) is a Canadian country music singer-songwriter.
He received recognition and media attention across The United States and Canada in December 2008 after putting up a billboard on Nashville, Tennessee's famed music row asking Taylor Swift to produce his album. Located at Broadway & 17th Ave, the billboard displayed Laird in a classroom holding a note reading “Hey Taylor - I LOVE your music. Will you produce my album?” Intern Adam from Nashville radio station 1075 The River, was also on the billboard firing a spit ball towards Laird from across the classroom.
When asked about Laird and his billboard on E! News Weekend, Swift said, "I definitely want to meet him ... I listened to one of his songs and absolutely fell in love with it, and I think he's got great melodies and he's a great writer. I think he could really be great and be huge, so it'll be really cool to maybe work with him."[1] Laird said he was blown away and broke down when he saw the interview. "I was just ecstatic, tears came to my eyes," he said.[2]
Early Life
Laird was born in Toronto, Ontario. Along with his father Laird Schneider and mother Laurie Schneider, he has one younger brother, Brett Schneider, and one younger sister, Kelsi Schneider. He grew up on a 100 acre beef farm just outside of Fergus, Ontario, the son of a high school teacher father and a school secretary mother.
At age 10, Laird toured England and Wales as a member of the Cambridge Kiwanis Boys Choir. Laird would go on to sing with the choir for 3 years, starting as a soprano and leaving as a tenor. At the age of ten, Laird began to perform around his home town, singing at karaoke contests, festivals, and fairs, and also started writing songs.
Laird's great grandmother influenced his early singing. She would hold him in her rocking chair singing “Jesus Loves Me” and at age one, he would “hum” the melody back to her. Although Laird's great grandmother was a professional opera singer, his tastes always ran more toward country and pop music. Laird credit's Bryan Adams, Dixie Chicks, James Taylor, Keith Urban and Taylor Swift for demonstrating how much impact can be made by “stretching boundaries”.
Throughout his early teens, Laird's parents would drive him and his 2 younger siblings around Ontario to various festival and fair events where the 3 kids would perform in the family band.
At age 18, Laird made his first trip to Nashville and fell in love with the city. He wrote over 200 songs that year which led to meetings with publishers on music row. Laird went on to sign his first publishing deal with Cherry Lane Music Publishing.[3]
Musical Career
After studying jazz guitar at Humber College in Toronto, Laird packed his bags and moved his life down to Nashville with high hopes of furthering his career as a performer and songwriter at the age of 19.
After a few years in Nashville, Laird signed his first publishing deal with Cherry Lane Music Publishing. Laird would go on to write many songs for the Cherry Lane Music catalogue before parting ways with the company.
Laird was signed to his first recording contract with CMT (Canada) and Sony Music Entertainment Canada in 2011 and performed his first showcase as part of the label during the Canadian Country Music Association Awards which also featured Canadian recording artist Kira Isabella.
On March 28 2011, Laird released a music video for his single “I'm Your Man” which charted at No. 10 on the CMT Cross Canada Countdown on July 30/2011.[4] The “I'm Your Man” radio single peaked at No. 10 on the BDS Canada Country radio chart in July 2011.[5] "I'm Your Man" was nominated for a Canadian Radio Music Award.
During a CMT Canada interview, Laird said the inspiration behind the song came from his brother Brett and his brother's girlfriend Shannon. Laird would later perform the song at their wedding.
I'm Your Man” was co-written by Laird with Eric Silver and Jason McCoy. Eric Silver produced the track. The song was the highest charting Canadian single for a new artist release in 2011. The Highway (Sirius XM) added the song into rotation as a “Highway Find”.
In 2012, Laird was nominated for two Canadian Country Music Awards which were the CMT Video of the Year and The Rising Star Award. At the award show, Laird met Taylor Swift four years after taking out a Nashville Billboard asking her to produce his album. “I had the pleasure of hanging out with Taylor Swift at the Canadian Country Music Awards this past fall,” Laird said. “I stuck out my hand to introduce myself but before I could say a word, she said ‘Ryan … it’s great to finally meet you.’ I was blown away."[6]
While on the CMT Canada and Sony Music Canada label roster in 2012, the record label released Laird’s second single, “She Was The One”, to Canadian Country radio. The song went on to reach No. 46 on the Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems Canada Country Chart.
Later that year, Laird was invited to be a guest artist on the CMT Canada reality TV show, "CMT On The Beach". Along with fellow Canadian recording artists Dean Brody and Deric Ruttan, Laird participated in contest events and performed a concert on the beach in Jamaica for fans.[7]
That same year, Laird was a featured artist on CMT’s XM Sessions.[8]
In 2012, Laird signed a new record deal with On Ramp Records, an EMI Music Canada distributed label partner. Laird’s third radio single release, “Girl Crazy”, was serviced to Canadian country radio on April 17, 2012. The song reached No. 43 on the Nielsen BDS Canada Country Chart and was one of four singles on Laird’s self-titled debut album. A music video filmed on Santa Monica and Venice Beach, California, was added into rotation on CMT Music Canada.
The following year, Laird was approached by fellow Canadian country artist, Leah Daniels, to record a duet titled “Where Do I Go”. The song was written by composer, Ashley Monroe, from the Pistol Annies and Sam Ellis, a member of Hunter Hayes band. Ellis also produced the track. A music video was filmed in Ontario and went on to be one of the most requested videos on CMT Canada that year.
On August 14, 2014, Laird signed a Nashville publishing and artist development deal with Studio Gold Music, Inc.[9]
Ryan has co-wrote many songs with artists such as Nick Carter, Aaron Carter, George Canyon, Jerrod Niemann, Alli Sims, Intern Adam (who co-wrote the song "Luv Me" by Ryan Laird), Eric Silver and Jason McCoy (co-wrote Ryan's BDS Canada Country Chart top 10 single “I'm Your Man”).
Over the past few years, Ryan has guest starred on several radio shows to be interviewed by some of the most well-known radio personalities. Big D & Bubba,[10] Blair Garner After Midnite,[11] and GAC Nights (featured guest with host Suzanne Alexander)[12] are just a few shows Ryan has made an appearance on.
After discovering Ryan’s music and hearing of his billboard to Taylor Swift, number one country radio personality, Blair Garner, labeled Laird “The Voice of Country Future” after his performance on the AfterMidNite radio show.[13]
Philanthropy
BiggerThanThat Movement
During middle school, Laird was often teased by his peers. He would later write a song called “Hey Ashley”, about growing up and dealing with a school bully from his past. In 2014, Laird co-founded the international BiggerThanThat program as a platform against anti-bullying. Laird is actively involved in the BiggerThanThat Movement, performing motivational message driven music concerts at schools with the initiative to inspire youth to dream big and never allow negative influences to stand in the way of success and happiness in their lives. Laird composed the campaign theme song, “Bigger Than That”, with Dave Thomson from Wave (band), which was written to mimic the BiggerThanThat Movement message to children.[14]
Personal Life
Laird was a member of his middle school and high school basketball and tennis teams. Growing up, he would snow ski in the winters and water ski during the summertime with his family.
Laird's parents put him in classical piano lessons at age 5. A couple years later, he realized that he wanted to be a “rock star” and got his first guitar at age 7. He played the clarinet and alto saxophone in his middle school band. Laird would later transfer to percussion in his high school band. To this day, Laird plays the guitar, piano, drums and harmonica.
Tours
In 2011, Laird went on his first national tour as the opening act for George Canyon.
In 2012, Laird was the opening act for Alan Jackson, Dierks Bentley, and Emerson Drive tours.
In 2013, Laird was an opening act on the Terri Clark tour.
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Ryan Laird |
|
Singles
| Year | Single | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | "I'm Your Man" | Ryan Laird |
| "She Was the One" | ||
| 2012 | "Girl Crazy" | |
| 2013 | "Where Do I Go" (with Leah Daniels) | |
| 2014 | "Love's Long Gone" | TBD |
Music videos
| Year | Single | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | "Luv Me" | Thaddeus Fenton, Scotty Kipfer |
| 2011 | "I'm Your Man" | Margaret Malandruccolo |
| "She Was the One" | Sean Hooper | |
| 2012 | "Girl Crazy" | Jordan Eady |
| "Where Do I Go" (with Leah Daniels) | Tim Deegan | |
| 2014 | "Love's Long Gone" | Matthew Ninaber |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Association | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Canadian Country Music Association | Rising Star | Nominated |
| CMT Video of the Year – "I'm Your Man" | Nominated | ||
| 2012 | Canadian Radio Music Award | CRMA Country Single of the Year - "I'm Your Man" | Nominated |
References
- ↑ "Taylor Swift on Ryan Laird with E News!".
- ↑ "Ryan Laird Reacts to Taylor Swift".
- ↑ Cherry Lane Music Publishing
- ↑ “I'm Your Man” which charted at No. 10 on the CMT Cross Canada Countdown on July 30/2011
- ↑ “I'm Your Man” radio single peaked at No. 10 on the BDS Canada Country radio chart in July 2011
- ↑ "Taylor Swifts Comments on Ryan Laird".
- ↑ "Ryan Laird on CMT On The Beach".
- ↑ "Ryan Laird XM Sessions".
- ↑ "Studio Gold Music signs Ryan Laird".
- ↑ Big D & Bubba
- ↑ Blair Garner After Midnite
- ↑ GAC Nights (featured guest with host Suzanne Alexander)
- ↑ "Blair Garner labels Ryan Laird "The Voice of Country Future"".
- ↑ "BiggerThanThat Movement".