Pop singer Emm Gryner has conflicting emotions about her "homecoming" performance at London's John Labatt Centre on Saturday night.
"It's exciting knowing your family and friends are in the audience, but I'll be a little more nervous, too," says the 28-year-old Sarnia native, whose solo acoustic set is the opening act for Love Is the Only Soldier, Jann Arden's cross-Canada concert tour.
The daughter of Jim and Linda Gryner can trace her love of music to her childhood in Forest. She began writing songs at age 10, was playing piano and bass by 14 and released a debut album on her own label, Dead Daisy Records, when she was 20.
Since then, Gryner has recorded five CDs, including Asianblue, which drew a 2002 Juno nomination as best pop album, and recently released Videochrome, her first DVD.
"My passion has always been writing the songs," explains the 1996 winner of Standard Radio Broadcasting's songwriting award. "I was inspired by my older brother Tony, who was composing music when he was only about 11 or 12. It was when I realized that a singer could actually write his or her own songs that I really got interested in a music career."
After attending Fanshawe College's two-year music industry arts program, Gryner played live shows in Toronto bars, was a 1996 Juno Award nominee as best new artist and toured with pop stars Sarah McLachlan, Alanis Morissette, Ron Sexsmith, Rufus Wainwright and Big Wreck, among others.
Her major career boost arrived in 1999 when superstar David Bowie hired the versatile musician as a backup singer/keyboardist/clarinet player. As a member of the rock legend's band for more than a year, Gryner played at a host of large arena venues, such as England's Wembley Stadium, appeared on many major television shows, including Saturday Night Live and David Letterman, and performed on Bowie at the Beeb, a live album recorded in 2000.
"David Bowie's a real champion of all the people he's worked with and I learned so much from him. About how to approach my music, how to write the best lyrics and harmonies and be the best possible artist I could be," says Gryner, who left the Bowie band to pursue her own solo career.
Her 2002 recording of Girl Versions, which received a Juno nomination for best pop album, presented Gryner's renditions of hit songs by the Clash, Fugazi, Nick Cave, Ozzy Osbourne and Def Leppard.
Arden became a Gryner fan after attending her concert at the Mint, a Los Angeles club, a year and a half ago. The two Canadian singers soon became friends and co-wrote Four Feet Deep, the first single on Arden's new CD, Love is the Only Soldier.
"Jann's the single most supportive artist I've ever met. Her music makes you feel and she's never afraid to take risks with her writing," explains Gryner.
"She's a lot like David Bowie. Each of them do pop music in a different and creative way. There's just no one else like either of them. Jann's the complete entertainer. It sounds corny to say this, but I'd buy tickets to watch her show, if I wasn't already in it."
Producing four full-length music videos for Videochrome proved a challenging but worthwhile assignment for Gryner.
"I don't get seen too often on MuchMusic TV and my fans wanted a collection of my videos, so I did this DVD for them. The technology was there and the time was right," adds the performer, who regularly updates the commentary on her website, emmgryner.com.
After the five-week Arden tour ends in St. John's, Nfld., on Feb. 17, Gryner plans to return home to Montreal before heading to England for a series of club dates.
She working on her next album, slated for release later this year. The still-untitled collection will feature Gryner's "love of sparse, low-fi sounds with full production values" and employ the honest, artistic philosophy that has motivated her career.
"I believe in music and its power. For me, it's always been about writing songs that really come from the heart and not necessarily selling a lot of albums and being a huge commercial success . . . you have to stick to your guns."
