Two-time Canadian Country Music Awards nominated recording artist, songwriter, producer and philanthropist Ryan Laird is recognized for his Billboard Top 10 hit song, “I’m Your Man”, and consecutive Top 40 singles, “Girl Crazy”, “She Was The One” & “Where Do I Go” with Leah Daniels. Laird was originally discovered via Nashville Music Row billboard to Taylor Swift which led to becoming one of the original “Highway Finds” on Sirius XM The Highway.
Ryan Laird has had the pleasure of performing on multiple national cross country Canadian tours opening for Alan Jackson, Dierks Bentley, George Canyon, Terri Clark, Emerson Drive and Sawyer Brown and has headlined the BiggerThanThat! youth empowerment tour to over 300, 000 Canadian youth.
Throughout his two decade long career, he’s additionally performed at hundreds of festivals and events, such as Dauphin Countryfest, Craven Country Jamboree, CMT Music Festival, Calgary Stampede Nashville North Stage, Country Thunder Music Festival (Wisconsin & Arizona), Cavendish Beach Music Festival, and the Havelock Jamboree.
Laird is most commonly described as the Keith Urban of Canadian country music, with his live show offering a big “Ed Sheeran” flair as he records and layers live musical loops for his audiences. His ability to tantalize his audience with his impressive vocal range and virtuoso guitar chops is extraordinary. His stage presence is sure to captivate you by incorporating his unique blend of original and classic songs, storytelling, and musicianship which makes for a truly mesmerizing experience that will only leave you wanting more and more.
Laird originally hails from Ontario, Canada, although he currently resides on Vancouver Island when not touring.
After studying jazz at Humber College in Toronto, Laird packed his bags and moved his life down to Nashville with high hopes of furthering his career as a performer and songwriter at the age of 19. After a few years in Nashville, Laird signed his first publishing deal with Cherry Lane Music Publishing.
In December 2008, he received recognition and media attention across The United States and Canada after putting up a billboard on Nashville, Tennessee’s famed music row asking Taylor Swift to produce his album. The billboard displayed Laird in a classroom holding a note reading “Hey Taylor – I LOVE your music. Will you produce my album?” When asked about Laird and his billboard on E! News Weekend, Swift said, “I definitely want to meet him … I listened to one of his songs and absolutely fell in love with it, and I think he’s got great melodies and he’s a great writer. I think he could really be great and be huge, so it’ll be really cool to maybe work with him.”
Laird would go on to sign his first recording contract with CMT (Canada) and Sony Music Entertainment Canada in 2011, with which he released a music video for his single “I’m Your Man” which charted at No. 10 on the CMT Cross Canada Countdown and peaked at No. 10 on the BDS Billboard Canada Country radio chart.
That same year, Laird was nominated for a Canadian Radio Music Award, and two Canadian Country Music Awards.
Laird later went on to appear on number one country radio personality Blair Garner’s AfterMidNite radio show, where Garner labelled him, “The Voice of Country Future” after his performance on the show.