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Songwriters collaborate with provincewide tour

Dayna Manning and Ryan McMahon perform original music in Nanaimo
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Dayna Manning joins Ryan McMahon for a concert tour of B.C.

Two singer-songwriters who have built reputations for writing powerful, honest songs combine their talent for a tour of B.C., including a stop at Nanaimo’s Diners Rendezvous.

Dayna Manning and Ryan McMahon play the Rendezvous in an early show Friday (April 6) at 7 p.m.

Manning was born to musical parents in the artistic community of Stratford, Ont.

At age 18, she had a major label recording deal for her debut album of entirely original music.

Her future held a Juno nod, tour on Lilith Fair, shows with acts like Joe Cocker and Radiohead, and favourable reviews by everyone from Rolling Stone to Billboard.

Her three albums to date feature big names in the music business like Sean Ono Lennon and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith.

Now a resident of northern B.C., Manning has built a career writing unique and accessible takes on everyday life and delivering them with the utmost sincerity. Her ability to do so is founded in her almost “non-artist” lifestyle, working a regular job and keeping music as her hobby.

“I tried music full-time, and I had nothing to write about,” Manning said. “I have always found that the less my life was like a performer’s, the better my writing was, which has always been most important to me – the writing and connection through it to my audience.”

Writing has always been important to McMahon as well, and the Ladysmith musician is receiving accolades for his honest writing and for his passionate vocal performance.

“Like Neil Young, I’m an epileptic who loves both the scream of distortion and the peace of the acoustic,” McMahon said.

“Like Eddie Vedder, I wear all of my influences on my sleeves, where Tom Waits, Buddy Holly, Warren Zevon and Bruce Springsteen all reside.”

For the past decade, McMahon has been writing and performing in Vancouver and his hometown of Ladysmith. He released two full-length albums in the past year – the acoustic All Good Stories, and the full-band Put the Past in a Flask and Drink It.

“Music is life, and I’m just as happy playing to 10 people in an intimate house concert as I am playing to 10,000 at a folk or country festival,” he says.

Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets are $20/ advance; $25/door. Please call 250-740-1133.