Born and raised in Pitt Meadows, singer-songwriter Danielle Ryan is making a name for herself on country radio. After receiving a Top-6 spot in the 2016 Canadian Country Music (CCMA) Discovery program and winning the Country Music Television (CMT)’s Chevy From the Tailgate Contest, Ryan secured a deal with 604 Records and hasn’t looked back since. There is no doubt that her passion for songwriting and curating fun, entertaining tracks will get her far in the industry.
Mar. 2 marked the release of Ryan’s most recent music video, “Take Me Back,” and the track has been getting lots of attention on local radio stations and from country music fans. With her top single “Weather Man” hitting over 100K plays on Spotify and nearly 150K views on Youtube, Ryan is no doubt quickly becoming a fan favourite.
“This was such a fun video to create,” she said when discussing her recent music video. “I hope that it makes you guys smile too.”
“I guess you could say that it was kind of by accident,” Ryan said, explaining that she didn’t always strive to be a part of the music industry. As a child, she sang with her church choir and picked up musical theatre before scoring a spot on a kid’s TV show.
“I made it on the show and from [there, I] started pursuing music because I loved it so much. I never really sat down and thought about pursuing a career in music. It was something that just kept building. New contests and opportunities kept coming and I just kept rolling with it.
“I don’t remember ever sitting down and saying ‘I’m gonna be a musician,’ and I don’t remember ever saying I want to quit. Mostly because I had bought too much gear by then and wouldn’t know what to do with it.”
As a songwriter, many of her songs are influenced by the people around her and the experiences she encounters. “[I’m inspired] by things I experience, what my friends experience. Relationships and fallouts. My day-to-day. Sometimes I just hear something in a TV show, or someone says something about their boyfriend, and [that] inspires a whole entire song.”
Ryan reflected on the importance of authenticity and not being too critical of yourself when trying to break into the industry.
“Always be honest. This is something [that] someone told me from the beginning and it was probably the most helpful advice. It’s really easy to fudge the truth to make yourself look better but it will just hurt you in the end. [Next] is to not give up. I know it’s lame to say, but I even look back on songs that I created a couple of years back and I can see just how much I’ve grown. There’s a perfect time for everything. And I think if you stay at it long enough, eventually something will happen for you.
“The music industry is a funny thing. There’s no set way on how to make it. You just kinda roll with the punches and pray that you meet the right people.”
Be sure to follow Danielle Ryan on her socials @DanielleRyanMusic and check out her website www.DanielleRyanMusic.com to get updates on any upcoming events and new music announcements.
Sydney is a BA English major, creative writing student, who has been a content contributor for The Cascade and is now the Opinion editor. In 7th grade, she won $100 in a writing contest but hasn’t made an earning from writing since. In the meantime, she is hoping that her half-written novels will write themselves, be published, and help pay the bills.