Up and coming singer-songwriter Stacey Ryan rolled up to our Setlist.fm studio earlier this year with her tour mate, Jake Wesley Rogers. Learn about this jazz musician through a few of her formative live music experiences in our newest episode of Marquee Memories:
Justin Bieber
"A very pivotal concert for me was my first one, which was Justin Bieber. I think I was nine and my mom got me tickets for my birthday. I even remember going home on the bus from school that day telling all my friends, I'm like, "I'm going to a concert tonight." And we were in the nosebleeds, but like I honestly didn't even care. Being in a big venue like that with just like all the fans and all the lights was very cool to see being that young. I just remember thinking, I was like, “He looks really comfortable on stage,” you know, for how young he was. Movement on stage and being comfortable and looking comfortable is something that I've worked on for a long time. I just remember thinking, I was like, “He's dancing and singing and looks so comfortable.” That's kind of what I wanna do eventually. We love Justin."
Cyrille Aimée
"I was in college for jazz performance and I remember when we started, Cyrille Aimée, which is a French jazz singer, she came up a lot because she just improvises extremely well and has amazing ideas and she was coming to perform at the jazz festival. The Montreal International Jazz Fest is a huge festival. A bunch of artists come out, there's free outdoor shows, there's food, dancing, marching bands, all that stuff. And it was her, a pianist, and a bassist and that was it. She did a lot of work with like a looper which is a machine where she'll loop her vocals and set up a whole song with just her voice. And I remember leaving the show being like, “I wanna go home and sing. I wanna go home and make music.” Like, I just remember feeling super inspired."
Lawrence
"Another one that is super important to me was when I saw Lawrence for the first time because this was my first time ever opening for someone. I played my first show in State College, Pennsylvania at a super small like bar venue. And I remember being like up top on a little staircase watching the show after I had performed. You know, just going from listening to their live album in my car on the way to school every day to hearing it live in front of me after I had just gotten the opportunity to open for them was like just a very special moment. Not only that but they're also the most genuinely nice, hardworking people I've ever met. And I also got to go up on stage and sing with them for one song of their set which was like the best thing ever. I love them with all my heart."
Stacey Ryan is on tour with JWR through April 11 - see a list of remaining dates here. Her debut EP drops on April 7!
