Greg Rider, Greg Rider Review

Greg Rider is a Mississauga-born country singer and songwriter. He spent most of his childhood in the hockey town of Waterdown, Ontario, and from an early age, he knew he was meant to be an entertainer. Rider started his professional music career playing and singing on the street corners of Montreal and after a short time in the Cayman Islands, bartending at the Margaritaville Resorts, he decided to move to Nashville to focus on his music full-time. The time in Nashville was a breath of fresh air and motivated Rider to return to Canada to work on his music and inspire youth to chase their dreams. Rider crisscrossed Canada on an 85-school tour where he shared his original songs and told stories about perseverance and overcoming anxiety and depression. He has released seven singles and is best known for “16 Sticks,” a touching tribute to the 2018 Humboldt Bronco tragedy, with over 200,000 streams and 750,000 video views. Rider is now releasing his latest single titled, “We Ain’t Royal.”

Bottom Line: “We Ain’t Royal” is a contemporary country song with a catchy melody adorned by Rider’s vulnerable lyrics. The theme of the lyrics is about opening up and it being okay to ask for help and not bottle your darker emotions up. If you aren’t happy with your life, take action to change your situation. “We Ain’t Royal” was written three years ago, while Rider was living in Nashville and trying to fit the mold of what a country artist should look and sound like, so much so that Rider began to lose himself, and his soul felt empty. That is when he remembered what music really means to him, and he did not want to be an artist who just sang about stereotypical country topics. Instead, Rider wanted to write honest music about his life to help others relate to their emotions. “We Ain’t Royal” has acoustic guitars that support Rider’s warm vocals and charming style. The melody is catchy and has a nice variance of rhythmic activity. Rider’s personality comes out in the chorus as he brings the tune to life with glissandos and a robust upper-range timbre. With a positive message and an earworm melody, “We Ain’t Royal” will continue to garner Rider much attention. That’s the short of it!