biographical info
Ria Mae creates slick pop songs with universal themes of longing, love lost and hearts found. Her debut, full-length album, Under Your Skin, is produced by Asif Illyas (MIR) and is nominated for a 2012 East Coast Music Award for Pop Recording of the Year.
For the release of Under Your Skin on August 30, 2011, Ria went on tour with Melissa Ferrick and opened for her 17 dates in the US and in Canada. Ferrick is a Boston-based singer-songwriter with two decades of experience, 16 albums (Atlantic Records, W.A.R.?, Right On Records, MPress Records) and a rapid fan base. From Massachusetts to New York and Nashville, Mae and Ferrick made one stop in Toronto at The Horseshoe Tavern for the only Canadian date. Back in Halifax, Ria performed a sold-out CD release show and debuted a music video for the title track “Under Your Skin.”
Ria is the 2011 International Winner at the Mountain Stage New Song Contest in New York City and Regional Winner and National Runner-up in the 2012 Canada-wide Radio Star contest. This past year she has performed at CMJ in New York, New York, Folk Alliance in Memphis, Tennessee and Canadian Music Week in Toronto, Ontario. Ria will perform at the 2012 ECMA Festival and Conference in Moncton, New Brunswick on the Rising Star stage.
A versatile artist, Ria performed the supporting lead role “Emily,” a renegade homeless musician in Snow, a film written and directed by Rohan Fernando. Ria Mae’s on-screen performance premiered at California’s Cinequest Film Festival, won Best Score at the 2011 Atlantic Film Festival and will be in theatres across Canada.