EMM GRYNER Biography - Musicians

 
 

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EMM GRYNER

Name: Emm Gryner                                                                     
                                                                                     
Emm Gryner is a Canadian singer-songwriter.                                           
                                                                                     
Gryner was born in Forest, Lambton County, Ontario to a father of half Irish         
heritage and a Filipina mother.                                                       
                                                                                     
Emm started her music career in Toronto, working office jobs during the day           
while honing her live show in small, local clubs by night. Gryner entered her         
original song "Wisdom Bus" in a nationwide songwriting contest and won. With the     
money from this prize, she recorded an album called The Original Leap Year and       
released it on her own Dead Daisy Records. The album attracted the attention of       
Violent Femmes producer, Warren Bruleigh.                                             
                                                                                     
Bruleigh passed the album onto an exec at Mercury Records who signed Gryner. The     
result was Public, a brit-pop-inspired album that yielded a hit in Canada called     
"Summerlong". Several tours followed, with Ron Sexsmith, Bernard Butler, Rufus       
Wainwright and others.                                                               
                                                                                     
After Universal Music took over Mercury Records, Gryner was dropped from the         
label and returned to her own Dead Daisy Records. She released several albums,       
two of which went on to be nominated for Best Pop Album of the Year at the Juno       
Awards. During this time, Gryner moved to New York and Los Angeles to write and       
tour. She also took a job singing and playing keyboards in David Bowie's band.       
The gig saw Gryner performing with Bowie at Glastonbury Festival, on Later with       
Jools Holland and other venues around America and Europe. She appears on Bowie       
at the Beeb, a live album.                                                           
                                                                                     
After leaving Bowie's band, Gryner moved to Montreal and released an album           
called Songs of Love and Death which was made up of cover versions of Irish           
songs by The Undertones, The Virgin Prunes, Horslips, Thin Lizzy, The Thrills         
and others. Recorded in a house she shared with Kate McGarrigle, the album           
attracted the attention of Irish media. Gryner found a champion in Pat Egan, a       
legendary promoter and manager based in Dublin, and he set up her first shows.       
                                                                                     
In 2005, Gryner signed Atlantic Canadian indie band In-Flight Safety. The band       
went on to receive national acclaim, capture several awards and receive a Juno       
nomination for Best Video of The Year in 2007. Gryner subsequently signed             
Toronto songwriter Royal Wood and released his album, A Good Enough Day through       
Dead Daisy.                                                                           
                                                                                     
In 2006, Gryner released The Summer of High Hopes produced by Nathan Larson. The     
album was released in Canada and later in Ireland on the heels of a performance       
at Oxegen Festival. Gryner is also a member of the collective The Cake Sale (Gary     
Lightbody of Snow Patrol, Bell X1, Josh Ritter, Glen Hansard and others). The         
collective is featured on The Cake Sale, a multi-platinum-selling Irish album         
with proceeds to Oxfam's Make Trade Fair.                                             
                                                                                     
Gryner also played the angel in the music videos of "The Grace" and "Age of           
Consent" by Neverending White Lights and starred in One Week, a film by director     
Michael McGowan.