"Beautiful lyrics and melody -Excellent hook in the catchy chorus -excellent music production, good music arrangement -This artist is the one to watch -Potential finalist Rating: 9.4/10"

- 7th Annual International Acoustic Music Awards

 

When Maddy Rodriguez defines herself, she does so without hesitation, saying simply: “I write songs.” For the Toronto-based singer/songwriter and recording artist, music means everything. “It’s life,” she adds.

On her debut independent record, Don’t Be A Stranger, Rodriguez shares her musical and personal life with a 12-song set of acoustic guitar based, country/pop that dwells on meeting every challenge and transition in life – large or small – head on and without regret.

In fact, the title track, the final song written for the record, is about a major transition Rodriguez was making during the recording process, graduating from high school and saying goodbye to some of her closest friends. “For the title track to be a song dedicated to my friends was perfect. It sums up the record and where I am right now.”

Produced largely by Greig Nori (Treble Charger, Sum 41, Hedley), and recorded at various Toronto area studios, Don’t Be A Stranger concerns itself equally with letting go of the past and welcoming the future. In her songs, Rodriguez displays as much gratitude for positive experiences as she does for the knowledge she’s gained during difficult times. “It’s about learning what to leave behind and what to hold on to,” she says, “to get you to the other side, smiling.”

Don’t be a Stranger depends heavily on Rodriguez’ substantial songwriting chops and her ability to make her point simply and eloquently. While she clearly possesses ample vocal chops, Rodriguez’ performances are never showy. In every case – from upbeat tracks like lead single ‘Don’t Play With My Heart’ to ballads like ‘Go On And Leave’, she always takes care to serve the song. Rodriguez also shows remarkable depth as a storyteller. Her lyrics are a fluid blend of hopeful innocence, unvarnished truth and simple wisdom that, frankly, songwriters with far more life experience and studio time behind them might struggle to achieve.

The album reads like a scrapbook, each song a snapshot of the various challenges and triumphs she and her friends have experienced while growing up – from heartbreaks to mean girls to crushes to absent fathers. She may be very young, but Rodriguez’ take on love and loss is truly universal; a candid examination of situations we’ve all found ourselves in, and of emotions felt just as deeply by young and old alike. Nowhere more so than on ‘Unspoken’, which details the loss felt after having left something unsaid that desperately needed to be expressed, and the Latin-tinged ‘Some Of You Please’, with it’s description of a loneliness so unrelenting ‘you even feel it in your sleep’.

Truth to tell, Rodriguez is no stranger to that brand of isolation herself. In part, it’s a byproduct of the sheer amount of time she’s dedicated to music. “But it’s all worth it,” she says. “I love what I do.”

As far back as she remembers Rodriguez wanted to make music. She literally began expressing herself musically before she could put together a sentence – humming along with her father as a toddler. Rodriguez credits her parents for providing her earliest influences – The Beatles, classic singer/songwriters like Carole King, Billy Joel, Elton John and James Taylor, and the Latin music her Mexican born father listened to when she was growing up. Over time, Rodriguez’ has also developed a deep love of Country music, particularly for artists like Zac Brown, Keith Urban, Taylor Swift and Colbie Caillat.

When Rodriguez was fourteen and discovered songwriting, in every way it changed her life, she says, providing her with a means of expression unlike anything she’d found before.

She began playing coffee shops and local open mic nights before recording her first demo in 2009, which drew the attention of former Jitters frontman, songwriter/composer, Blair Packham. Later that year she attended Packham and Rik Emmett’s ‘SongStudio’ workshop where she received the ‘Most Pitchable Songs’ award and was introduced to various music industry veterans who recognized Rodriguez as a unique and swiftly developing songwriting talent.

In 2009, Rodriguez also appeared on MuchMusic; an experience she credits for prompting her to spend even more time perfecting her chops as a performer. Since, she’s taken every opportunity to gig she could, including high profile opening slots for EMI Recording artists, One More Girl, at Brantford, Ontario’s Sanderson Centre and multiple showcases at Canadian Music Week in 2010/2011.

Two of her early songs, ‘Extraordinary’ and lead single ‘Don’t Play With My Heart’, reached the semi-finals in the teen category of Nashville’s International Songwriting Competition in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Later, just shy of her 17th birthday, she signed a publishing deal with Nettwerk One Music, representatives of artists such as Johnny Reid, Natalie Merchant, Great Lake Swimmers and Sinead O’Connor, which won Rodriguez another MuchMusic appearance on ‘Signed’ in 2011.

Perhaps the greatest proof Rodriguez efforts are paying off, however, is the level of involvement she had in recording Don’t Be A Stranger. Although the album features some co-writes: ‘Falling Up’ with Andrea Wasse, Greig Nori and Josh Ramsay; ‘Some of You Please’, with Ryan Stewart; and Freedom of Speech with Mark Selby, Rodriguez wrote the bulk of the record herself and also has coproduction credits on two tracks.

In many cases, Rodriguez’ songs are meant to comfort others. ‘All The Wasted Time’ for one, and Album opener ‘Tahiti’ – a song that grew out of she and her friends sending tropical pictures to each other as a way of saying “if you had a bad day, this is something to dream about.”

“Music is such an important part of people’s lives,” she continues. “It can be a great comfort, and that’s one of the best things you can give someone, comfort.”

Any time you set yourself apart by trying to build your dreams, however, you run the risk of someone trying to tear you down. In high school, it’s inevitable. Fair to say, Rodriguez has taken comfort in her songs herself at times. ‘Freedom Of Speech’, co-written with Mark Selby, is a particularly good example; a song written in response to taunts posted on Facebook ridiculing her music. “I wrote a song about it, posted it and hoped they’d hear it.” Ultimately, the song did exactly what Rodriguez hopes all her songs will do; make a change. “Less than two days later I got a message from one girl, apologizing.” The moral of the story – don’t mess with a songwriter.

At a time when new artists are forced to run the gauntlet of the music industry’s hit-making machine before ever getting a shot at being themselves, Rodriguez is a breath of fresh air. She’s an undeniably fresh voice on the Canadian country music scene, and a talented young songwriter with a knack for penning songs that are instantly relatable to listeners age fifteen to fifty.

While Maddy Rodriguez doesn’t expect her songs to change the world, she’s hopeful they’ll change one small part of it for those who hear them, if just for a moment, which is both the driving force behind Don’t be a Stranger, and the reason she began singing and writing in the first place.

DISCOGRAPHY:
Maddy Rodriguez epk (Jan 2012)
disBAND EP (2010)