Virtual concerts have become the norm in the past year. It’s somewhat nice watching a live show in my PJs, with a full bag of popcorn while cuddling my cat. I also don’t have to battle the crowd with people that stand WAY too close to you. Relying on WIFI though? Not the best.
Last night, I tuned in to Ryland James’ virtual concert. He’s a young Canadian from Deseronto in Eastern Ontario, who began posting cover songs online at a young age and competed on YTV’s singing competition, “The Next Star.” In 2019, he went on tour with Alessia Cara and released his 7 track self titled EP last year. This past year, he received his first ever Juno nomination for “Breakthrough Artist of the Year” and “Pop Album of the Year.”
The livestream started with Ryland sitting on the couch in a comfy denim shirt, wearing a clear quartz necklace (used for cleansing your aura and energy) and holding his guitar. His microphone was set up for him and the room was lightly lit with a lamp next to the couch. His “venue” represented an overall chill and comforting mood for the livestream. He answered fan questions while sipping his "Throat Coat" tea and explained every song before performing them. Here are the highlights:
SETLIST
1. Blame
He kicked off the livestream with his song “Blame” and emphasized that he’s a vocal powerhouse!
2. Shoulder To Cry On
He introduced the next song saying he wasn’t sure if this track was going to make it on the EP. Little did he know, it would end up being one of the singles.
“Some of the best things in life end up being surprises ….- it’s one of my favourites.”
3. Good To You
This song was what started his career 4 years ago. He said the song came together so quickly and it’s about coming out of a dark place.
“It is one of the most simple messages I think and it’s the purest of love songs, coming out of a dark place and going into a much better place because of this person or thing.”
He also said it was his first time playing it live on his guitar.
4. Better Off
He described this ballot as “going into the feels section of the set.” This song is the most important song off his EP. He wrote it about 3-4 years ago and it’s all about self love and not feeling accepted.
“I lived my entire life hiding from who I really was and always feeling like I had to be somebody different. Always feeling like I couldn’t be me and it just broke my heart every single time. So this song just continues to grow on me.”
This past February, he came out as queer on social media.
“I just think it’s so important to stop and really really realize that you need to love yourself and you are better off loving yourself.”
5. This Moment
This was the top request of the night. He said this song is very different from his other songs. He also said he hasn’t played this song acoustically live before.
He laughed at a fan's comment when they said they wanted a certain part of the song tattooed on their forehead.
6. Take Care of Yourself by Maisie Peters
He went back to his roots (no pun intended) and performed a cover by Maisie Peters (who he described as a queen). He said this song has a similar vibe to Better Off, and it’s all about taking care of yourself.
“It’s just so important to stop and really take care of yourself and realize that it’s not always up to you to be responsible for holding the whole world up on your shoulders. I definitely know for me this song resonated profoundly because I’ve always struggled with that. Like feeling so responsible all the time to keep things going or be perfect or just take care of everything.”
7. Water
This is a fan favourite to hear live. The entire chat was spammed with water emojis. Is this how we clap during a virtual concert? In that case… *insert water emoji*
He laughed at a comment of a fan saying “This song is so hydrating.” Well me too sis.
8. Save Me
This song is the latest single off the album, and trust me, you’re going to want to download it.
9. In My Head
He finished the set with his most popular song that currently has over 2 million views on YouTube. It’s been certified as Platinum in Canada.
FAN QUESTIONS:
“Who is your favourite singer?”
“I think overall my favourite singer, just who has been the most inspiring to me, has always been Adele. She’s my absolute favourite. I’ve always used her as an inspiration for songwriting too. I just want to be her someday. So Adele definitely. So soulful. Just her vocal talent just cannot be matched. By the way, when is she putting out an album? We need it.”
“What’s your favourite part of the song writing process?”
“Songwriting is not necessarily my fortay. As an artist, this is kinda my favourite part, is performing. Writing songs is definitely more of a challenge for me. It’s something I really have to get into my mind about and it’s a lot of mental energy to do.”
“There is always this electricity that happens in the room when we listen to it back. It’s just so much fun. I think just listening to the final product of the song that we just wrote back and listening to the demo and getting to hear it all come together as this song. It’s like ‘wow we just walked into the room today having no idea what was going to come out. And now there is this song in front of us. That’s the coolest part to me.”
“What is one positive thing that has come out of quarantine?”
“Throughout this entire kind of experience, I’ve really had the time to introspect more than I ever have in my life . I’ve just really found who I truly am and I feel fully aligned with who I am meant to be and what my purpose is right now. I think before I was a little bit lost and I was trying to figure out who I was.”
“I’ve had time to really focus on spirituality and self care stuff and owning who I am without having other people's opinions involved-”
“It’s a life long journey and I think that this last year has been like a supercharger, rocket launch into that in a strange way.”
