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The Ronley is quite a peculiar creature. Many are surprised by the name to find that this is not a big burly man named Ron. In fact, he is a she who descends from a rare tribe of sexy eclectic musical storytellers. Ronley's music combines unique sometimes-satirical vocals and witty lyrics within a "syncretic" mish mash of musical styles crossing: Roots, Blues, World, Rock and Electronic. Her music as of late has been compared to artists including Tom Waits, Kate Bush, PJ Harvey, Ute Lemper, Lhasa, with the garnish of the girlishness of Ricky Lee Jones.
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Ronley performs as a solo
artist, duo, trio, quartet, as many as nine
have been up there together. Every show is
different, depending on the place and time.
She has performed in many different settings
including clubs, theatres, pubs, subways,
festivals and outdoors, Ronley plays guitars,
effects, puppets, toys and many voices. Some great musicians she
has had the
privilege of playing with include Christine
Bougie multi-instrumentalist on guitars,
drums, lapsteel, xylo (Amy Millan, Adam Warner)
Scott Maynard bass, keys, guitars (Rock Plaza
Central, Quiet Revolution), Josh Van Tassel
on samplers/drums (Stop Die Resusitate, Valery
Gore), trumpeteers Caleb Hamilton, Tom Arthurs,
JP Carter, Strings of Chris Jennings, Chris
Bartos and Russel Carter. Other musical guests
including cello, rhodes, and sax have often
joined the musical journey |
Ronley performs for many charitable
organized fundraisers, and produces interactive
music workshops for children, children at
heart, as well as for the developmentally
challenged. These workshops include homemade
instrument
and simple puppet construction, call and
response techniques, polyrhythm, group harmony
education and collaborative songwriting efforts.
As well as workshops, Ronley mentors fellow
upcoming songwriters and when in town hosts
open stages in Toronto. She owns and operates
Fly Butta Records. |
Ronley has been aired on numerous
CBC programs including Here and Now, Richardson's
Roundup, Diable4, Bandwidth, in the UK on
BBC, High Peak Radio, in the US on WMUA’s
Acoustic Café,
Laney Goodman’s Women On Air to name
a
few . Ronley has been interviewed on many
college and University Radio Stations across
North America. She showcased at Ontario CONTACT03
and Gorilla Showcased at NERFFA 04. 05 consisted
of a new record and touring. This year she
showcases at OCFF Steamwhistle room 06. When
she is in Toronto she continues to perform
a weekly residency at the Tranzac or Victory
Cafe, and seasonally tours performing across
Canada, and parts of Europe. Recent notable
shows include opening for ODETTA at Hugh’s
Room 2006 in Toronto, Michael Wrycraft's
Girls do boys sharing the stage w/ Jenny
Whitely, Lynn Myles, Eliana Cuevos ++ 2006. |
Ronley was born
in South Africa, and grew up in Toronto,
Canada. She began as a prose writer, but
after receiving a guitar for her 18th birthday,
began to develop her approach to singing
and songwriting. Ronley’s pot has
been brewing for over ten years. While she
went to University to study Anthropology
at the University of Guelph where she performed
in folk and pop-rock bands including CFNY
Edgefest new music stage performers
Hummingfish, then she traveled extensively
throughout parts of the Middle East, while
performing solo as a singer/songwriter.
After returning to Toronto to focus on her
musical development she befriended a number
of jazz students, and her music began to
take on a more improvisational format. She
sings in English and in Hebrew. These influences
alongside her uniquely Ronley dish of singing
and songwriting only just began to develop
on her debut CD Stories From The Tray, a
theme album that depicts the daily grind
of a waitress and the people she interacts
with. Over the period of promoting that
album Ronley continued to peruse differing
voices for characters and that were naturally
letting their way out of her as independent
storytellers. Ronley let’s this natural
progression happen in order to explore and
develop further this musically eclectic
narrative approach. Which she uses both
in live performance and on record. The second
recording entitled Cornered in the Alley
takes this more deeply, and is to be officially
released this winter 2005.
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