Ria Mae
| Ria Mae | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Halifax, Nova Scotia |
| Genres | Urban, pop, alternative |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, musician |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar |
| Labels | Sony Music Canada |
| Website | riamae |
Ria MacNutt, known professionally as Ria Mae, is a Canadian singer and songwriter from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her music blends pop melodies with alternative and folk.
As a child, Mae's family moved around Halifax, switching from school to school while she learned to write songs. Ria has described herself as a teenager who spent hours in her bedroom writing songs and teaching herself how to play guitar while rarely sharing them with anyone else. "I was super shy and just kept it hidden," she says. "I used to write about relationships but I never had one. It was just imagination stuff." She wouldn't play those songs in front of a big crowd until shortly before high school graduation.
But instead of pursuing a career in music, she briefly dabbled in construction management out of high school. Before long, she would return to music, playing in bars and clubs and steadily growing a fan base.
Her first release, the EP Between the Bad, was released in 2009. Two years later, Mae was chosen as a finalist in the Mountain Stage NewSong Contest, causing her to cancel her show at the Halifax Pop Explosion.
In 2011, Mae self-released her debut album Under Your Skin, recorded with Mir members Asif and Shehab Illyas at The Shire Studios in Halifax. Mae met the Illyas brothers while acting in Rohan Fernando's feature-length independent film, Snow, in which she played an itinerant singer. The Illyas brothers composed the score for Snow.Under Your Skin won an East Coast Music Award in 2012. In March 2012, the song "Under Your Skin" was chosen as a finalist in the Radio Star National Talent Search at Canadian Music Week.
In 2013 she was nominated for another ECMA for Song of the Year for her song "Leaving Today".
The single "Clothes Off" was released in 2015 and has received positive reviews. The themes behind the song were inspired by a visit to Montreal where Mae took in the nightlife. It is her first release with Sony Music Canada. The track is produced by Juno Award-winning hip-hop producer Classified, who Mae chose after hearing his work with David Myles and Chad Hatcher. "Clothes Off" was nominated for Juno Award for Single of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2016.
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