 |
Music Plus with |
Objectively speaking, the local music scene has had a rotten year.
I’ve been around a bit; I’ve studied history’s great philosophers. I learned about survival of the fittest from Charles Darwin and the circle of life from Elton John. But it’s still jarring to lead with the death of a local musician for the third time in five weeks.
Shirley Ryder, endlessly productive singer, songwriter, author, interviewer and more has finally lost her battle with the cancer she’d been evading for years, sometimes seemingly with only the sheer strength of her creativity.
Shirley died on January 29, just before news of Marianne Faithfull’s passing reached our shores; I don’t know how she kept going so long.
The late Shirley Ryder. Photo: supplied
I wasn’t kidding about holding off death with creative willpower. Shane Davis, from Whakamarama’s Soundtree Productions, where Shirley recorded most recently, made a similar comment to me. That’s what Shirley seemed to do. She’d be given a couple of months to live, then embark on a new project and just keep going. And going.
Ridiculously prolific
No more. I’ve written about Shirley countless times. Check the SunLive website at: www.sunlive.co.nz and search her name. There are many stories.
Here’s one: “Born in England, local singer-songwriter Shirley Ryder briefly moved to Cyprus before emigrating to New Zealand at the age of 9...”
Here’s another: “In a courageous battle against the odds, Shirley Ryder, a resilient female musician and author is confronting a formidable adversary...”
There are also several album reviews – Shirley was ridiculously prolific – going back to two CDs she made with band The Shirleybyrds. And here’s a story from early last year: “Shirley Ryder has released a new song, on Facebook only, for late local legend Graeme Hardaker (of The Shirleybyrds) who passed away in December...”
Those albums were made with Tim Julian at Welcome Bay’s Colourfield Studio; more recently she’s been working with Shane, who also made videos for newer songs. You can find them on YouTube and the Soundtree Facebook page.
‘Silence’
That’s also where you can find Shane’s new album, ‘Silence’, with 16 new songs of his. He doesn’t do Spotify. It’s a big album, not-dissimilar to his previous band Electric Universe, leaning towards a 1970s vibe, early Deep Purple maybe but with more epic production and more melodic songs, with big banks of guitars and backing vocals and atmospheric reverb.
Most of it is Shane himself. I always forget what a good electric guitarist he is and he also supplies bass and the drum programming. Assistance comes from Kokomo’s Nigel Masters on keyboards, and backing vocals from Jana Rose Hawkins, daughter of well-known bass player Pat; she plays with him in the Sweet Leaf duo.
The final player is Wellington’s Susan Colien Reid, a classically trained violinist known for her unique Celtic blues improvised violin style which weaves through several songs and provides extra colour. That colour is key. ‘Silence’ is not a regular rock album. The keyboards, violin and backing vocals create a rich complex sound that is uniquely Shane’s. Nice.
Hear Winston’s latest Playlist: