Sunday, July 1st  /  Side-Track Stage

Combining the distinctive sounds of classic country, pop, and rock, while refusing to compromise on the raw, emotional honesty that is prevalent throughout her entire body of work, Canadian Country singer-songwriter and pianist Nicole Rayy is a dynamic and powerful force of musical talent. Her distinctive and brutally honest songwriting paired with her energetic performances come through seamlessly no matter where her music is played, live on the stage or in her critically acclaimed recordings.

Since she began writing music when she was a teenager, the essence of Nicole Rayy’s music has always been, first and foremost, to express herself as honestly as possible. When pressed for musical comparisons to her musical ability, the Oakville, Ontario-born Rayy is reluctant to provide. For as long as she’s been playing music, she has been herself. Comparisons are easy to fall back on, but for Nicole, her music should always speak for itself.

Nicole Rayy first blasted into the Canadian Country music scene in 2012 with the release of her debut EP “Only Everything”. Recorded with award-winning musician, composer, and producer Lance Anderson of Cherry Beach Sound and enlisting the talents of top Country guitarist and CCMA Hall of Fame recipient, Wendell Ferguson, Only Everything was a strong debut for Nicole, showcasing the diverse range of emotion and vocal range through her songs with a subject matter that is personal as much as it is relatable.

It wasn’t long after the release of “Only Everything”, that people began to take notice of her talents. Multiple Country Music Association of Ontario Award nominations and invitations to perform at festivals and venues followed. She has opened for such country music legends as Aaron Pritchett, toured across the nation, and rocked the stage at such events as Manitoulin Country Fest, The Calgary Stampede, and multiple industry showcases throughout Canadian Country Music Week, including 2016’s “Rise and Shine” – celebrating female artists, alongside fellow singer-songwriters, Alee, Genevieve Fisher, Raquel Cole, and hosted by Julie and Carli Kennedy.

Nicole released her debut full-length album Dig, October 2016. The highly anticipated album, continued in the theme of uncompromising honesty and challenges listeners, as well as Nicole herself, to dig deep down to the emotional core of themselves. From the tale of devoted love that is Follow You Down and the bitter, empowering anthem of Done With This Town, the high energy of Bow and Arrow to the title single Dig, which goes into the desire to get serious and dig past the surface of a relationship. Produced at Noble Street Studios in Toronto by renowned Record Producer/Writer and Musical Director Doug Romanow, whose long list of clients include Justin Bieber, Johnny Reid, Chantal Kreviazuk, and the Canadian Country Music Awards. The album showcases Rayy’s tonal range and relatable sentiment perfectly

The release of the album was celebrated by a performance and fundraising event at Cowboys Roadhouse in Winnipeg, MB, which raised over $4000 for the Manitoba Neurofibromatosis Support Group (MBNF). It was shortly after the event, that the title single “Dig,” also released in October 2016, started to make its way on to radio stations across Canada. The single was highly supported nationally and garnered over 63,000 streams on Spotify.

With the success of the album and single “Dig,” Nicole released her next single “Fireproof” March 2017 and embarked on a radio tour throughout Ontario and across Western Canada. “Fireproof,” hit immediate success among music programmers and directors, and to date has received over 152,000 streams of Spotify.

The single took Nicole into what became a very exciting 2017, seeing her invited back to perform at such festivals as Manitoulin Countryfest, The Calgary Stampede and Burlington Ribfest, sharing the stage with artists such as The Chris Buck Band, Crystal Shawanda, and Joe Nichols. Nicole was also invited to showcase at the Country Music Association of Ontario Roadshow in Ottawa, NSAI Toronto’s Tin Pan North, Diamonds In The Rough during Canadian Country Music Week in Saskatchewan, SK, and Indie Week Canada in Toronto, November 2017.

Nicole has also had the honour of performing at the World Music Festival in Shanghai, China, for three years in a row (2015-2017), proving to be a hit among Shanghai’s enthusiastic crowds.

Her latest single, “That’s What You Get Boy” was released to radio early this year and has been gaining momentum across the airwaves and with her fans. On February 22nd of this year, Nicole was the opening act for country star Brett Kissel in Barrie, Ontario, and is currently getting ready for a number of shows throughout the country this year.

With a sound that is distinctly her own and a creative ambition that knows no bounds, Nicole Rayy feels right at home either on a stage or in a recording studio and will never stay put in one place for too long. She will always keep learning, she will always keep writing, she will always keep singing…

And she will always be herself.