Singer-Songwriter Ria Mae
June
15, 2013
Bluebird
North Halifax
The
Music Room
Review by Ekaterina Sushko
On
Saturday night, Ria Mae shared a songwriters’ circle with Ann Fearon, Christina
Martin, Keith Mullins and Mel Farrimond at The Music Room in Halifax. She
invited Arts East music reviewer, Ekaterina
Sushko, to come check out the show. Ekaterina
Approaching
the Music Room, I can hear the music flowing and someone’s soft voice can be
heard. Who’s singing? Ria Mae…The voice and the sound of the guitar take me
somewhere despite the fact that I cannot hear the words clearly. The tone of
that voice is carrying me away…So when the girl working the door invites me to enter
the room, it takes me a while to realize where I am. What’s inside?
The Music Room resembles a small theater with its balcony; however it is a theater where the audience mixes with the actors—songwriters in this case.
Ria
and four other brilliant songwriters complimented each other throughout the night
and each added some spice to the atmosphere. There was no fear of uncovering
some personal stories and sharing the experience of songwriting. It was
enjoyable to hear how the songs were written and what it actually takes to
write a song.
The
thing you can’t help noticing about Ria is, not only does she have a beautiful
voice, but she also has a great sense of humour. In the breaks between the songs,
jokes were coming out naturally so the audience felt at ease, as if all the
spectators were a part of the songwriters’ circle, too.
Ria’s
songs have quite a different mood compared to those more conventionally romantic.
From lines like, “I’ll be your medicine and you will be
mine,” to really naughty (or sexy) phrases like, “Take your clothes off,”
definitely fired up the audience and stayed in people’s heads after the show
was over.
