Emm Gryner to debut new single, ‘Touch the Sky’ at Foster’s Dinner Concert

Foster’s Dinner Concert Series presents Juno nominated Emm Gryner in an intimate evening of music on Feb. 20.

Juno Award nominee, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Emm Gryner will be appearing in an intimate dinner concert at Foster’s downtown Stratford on Feb. 20. Fans of Gryner are sure to snap up tickets for this performance where she will debut her new single, “Touch the Sky.”

Gryner has played many stages in many places, but looks forward to the intimacy that Foster’s presents. She has played there several times before and enjoys the connection with the audience.

“It’s really nice to be able to see the reactions on people’s faces and the kind of artist that I am, I like to interact with people between songs so it’s a venue that you can do that. I also really like that people get to enjoy a nice meal there so a lot of their senses are being hopefully soothed. It’s a special place that I have spent a lot of the time at over the years,” said Gryner.

The show will encompass a little bit of everything, with a setlist prime for such a setting. Look forward to the new single written by Gryner, Juno winner Steve MacKinnon (Marc Jordan, Serena Ryder) and Michael Holmes, acclaimed poet. The uplifting song was created to commemorate Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen’s role in NASA’s historic Artemis II mission, the first crewed journey around the Moon since the Apollo missions, and a defining milestone in Canada’s space history. 

“I became friends with Catherine Hansen, Jeremy Hansen’s wife. At the time I didn’t know she was married to an astronaut but knowing that I was a musician she was talking casually about there being a song to commemorate this historic moment of the first Canadian going around the moon. I didn’t really start working on it until April, but the inspiration comes from my fascination of space and space exploration. But also, not a lot happens without love in our lives, and family, and Catherine and Jeremy are the perfect example of a couple that have really supported each other through a lot of significant things in their lives. So ‘Touch the Sky’ is a love song but also a love song to Canada too.”

Upon hearing the song, she hopes the audience can appreciate it on two levels. The production level of the song plays into her love of David Foster-like anthem songs in the vein of “Tears are not Enough,” where they worked hard to capture emotion in the song. The second level is to tap into the connection between love and family and dreaming.

“Every time I play a song the first time, it’s pretty nerve wracking. It takes that first performance to get over the hump and Foster’s is a good place to debut the song. There’s something special about the Stratford area, it feels like not only the performers are creative, but the audiences are equally as creative. I really look forward to performing there,” said Gryner.

Emm Gryner’s appearance is part of Foster’s dinner concert series. For tickets online visit www.fostersinn.com and click on Buy Concert Series Tickets.