Riley's Biography

Folk-beat singer/songwriter Riley Armstrong was born and raised in the remote Canadian farm town of Dapp, Alberta. Now 23, it was only five years ago that this fun, imaginative child of the quiet mid-north left a land of natural beauty and two fuzzy television channels for the melting pot metropolis of Vancouver to earn a degree in sound recording. And it is the extremes of two such influential settings - one place overflowing with dreams and another jammed with realities - that give the ten songs on Riley Armstrong's self-titled debut album their charming perspective and innovative style. "Riley first sounded to me like a cross between Steven Curtis Chapman and Beck," says Audio Adrenaline lead singer Mark Stuart, who, along with some of his band mates, has just founded the new record label Armstrong calls home, Flicker Records.Com. Fellow Audio A member Bob Herdman agrees. "Riley is a classic pop songwriter that adults will relate to, and his way of experimenting with the production elements gives the music a modern sound that kids want to check out." "I guess I've just always been a fan of surprise," admits the blond-locked, bespectacled Armstrong. "On one level, it sure is nice to have people hear my song on the radio and like it at face value, but along with that, my music is built for those who like to put the

headphones on and sift through all the different layers of sound." Indeed, beneath the outer canvas containing Riley's soft voice, acoustic guitar, and sparkling percussion (live, mechanical, and sampled), there is a subtle world of unlikely banjos, oboes, turntables, upright bass, and synthesizers that keep the music fresh with every listen. It's an unconventional and alluring approach that opens the mind, and a perfect fit for someone so innocently paradoxical as Armstrong. He's a self-confessing nature man who never really saw the ocean until a few years ago, a city-saturating artistic type who grew up staring at the detailed clouds above for inspiration while riding a tractor across his father's grain farm. Riley Armstrong is in the midst of his own great awakening, and his music reflects that breakthrough with ease. "I really like to inspire people and make them happy about life," he says. "For me, music is what I can use to make people laugh, cry, think, and dance. With music, words are given a certain respect that conversation does not always make room for. With music, to the listeners I can become a friend who understands and an encouragement to those who are searching for truth - all of this before I even get the chance to say 'hello!' And in those words written for the listeners, the songs on Riley Armstrong walk recurring paths of faith, nature, and family, sometimes all at once. Album opener "Sunray" parallels the sun's willingness to shine down on anyone with God's willingness to offer grace to anyone who will accept it. First single "Greater Than" marvels at the beauty of nature and even more at the greatness of the One who made it all. "Reborn" likens the arrival of God's love to "water plane to my forest fire...like stained glass in the sun...you saved my life from a colorless one. From a colorless past you asked me to the paint store." "I just think that nature is one of the coolest revelations of God's beauty and power," says Riley. "I would love to be a part of winning the excitement for nature away from the stigma of the New Age movement and back into the court of nature's true Creator." Elsewhere, "The Table" tells the story of Riley's warm family upbringing where "there was laughter...and love prevailed." It's a table the singer always goes back to, literally whenever time allows, and mentally when the modern world comes on too strong. Likewise, "The Only" was written for people from all walks of life who will sooner or later realize what is best to give and receive - the kind of love that strives to emulate God's son. "As a Christian, I find my hope and reason to live in Jesus Christ, and I have chosen to dedicate my life and the songs that abound from it to Him," says Riley. "I take this decision very seriously even in the songs that are light-hearted. If my music can directly or indirectly tell the message of Jesus Christ's love for us, then I am not just singing about some belief. I am singing about who I am. And I believe people can hear that - maybe before I even say 'hello.'"

( Note: This Biography was origanally from an interview by the nice people of www.hearitfirst.com )

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