Maren Whitney Ord (born February 28, 1981) is a Canadian singer-songwriter of

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

and pop music.

Early life

Ord was born and grew up in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, Alberta, the eighth of ten children. She grew up in a musical family; her father was a professor of music, her mother taught voice and piano, and the family toured and performed as the Ord Family Singers. Maren sang, learned piano from her mother, and taught herself guitar at age 14. At a 1998 audition for

Lilith Fair Lilith Fair was a concert tour and travelling music festival, founded by Canadian musician Sarah McLachlan, Nettwerk Music Group's Dan Fraser and Terry McBride (CEO), Terry McBride, and New York talent agent Marty Diamond. It took place during ...

, Ord met Canadian music impresario Terry McBride of the

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

-based record label and management company

Nettwerk Nettwerk Music Group is an independent record label founded in 1984. The Vancouver-based company was created by principals Terry McBride and Mark Jowett as a record label to distribute recordings by the band Moev, but the label expanded in Ca ...

. She would be showcased at the music festival, and eventually take McBride as her manager. In 1999, after her sister told her about a talent contest from Edmonton

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

radio station Power 92, Maren entered four songs she had written that night, and two of them—"Eternity" and "Falling Slowly"—were recorded on the station's compilation CD, ''Power Picks Volume II''.

Career

The Nettwerk years and ''Waiting''

Once signed with McBride and Nettwerk, Ord continued to perform and record and embarked on years of progressive promotion, including use of her songs on several episodes of the American television series '' Felicity'' and her performance of "Shining Time" with Neil Donell to the 2000 motion picture ''

Thomas and the Magic Railroad ''Thomas and the Magic Railroad'' is a 2000 children's fantasy adventure film written and directed by Britt Allcroft and produced by Allcroft and Phil Fehrle; the cast includes Alec Baldwin, Peter Fonda, Mara Wilson, Didi Conn, Russell Mean ...

''. Her debut album, ''Waiting'', was produced by

Stephen Hague Stephen Hague (born 1960) is an American record producer most active with various British acts since the 1980s. Early life Hague was born in Portland, Maine, in 1960. Early career Hague started his musical career in the mid-1970s as a session ...

and recorded in London, England and New York City. On November 7, 2000, Highway Records released a special edition of ''Waiting'' to a Christian, predominantly

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

bookstore Bookselling is the commercial trading of books, which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, book people, bookmen, or bookwomen. History The found ...

market; this edition featured a bonus track that would not appear on the general public release. Nettwerk's record company released ''Waiting'' in Canada on February 20, 2001. While Ord was nominated for a

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

for Best New Artist, and her singles "Sarah" and "Perfect" were successful on Canadian radio, an anticipated U.S. and international release with

Capitol Capitol, capitols or The Capitol may refer to: Places and buildings Legislative building * United States Capitol, in Washington, D.C. * National Capitol of Colombia, in Bogotá * Palacio Federal Legislativo, in Caracas, Venezuela * National Ca ...

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

in summer 2001 did not come through, and Nettwerk itself, not a major record label outside of Canada, released ''Waiting'' quietly in the United States on August 27, 2002. The single "Perfect" features on the soundtrack for the film ''

Crazy/Beautiful ''Crazy/Beautiful'' (stylized as ''crazy/beautiful'') is a 2001 American teen romantic drama film starring Kirsten Dunst and Jay Hernandez. It is largely set at Palisades Charter High School and the surrounding area, including Downtown Los Ange ...

''.

''Not Today''

The EP ''Not Today'' was released on September 28, 2004, in Canada on the Maximum Music Group label in Canada. The EP included six songs mostly co-written with

Randy Bachman Randolph Charles Bachman ( ; born September 27, 1943) is a Canadian guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was a founding member of the bands The Guess Who and Bachman–Turner Overdrive. He was the writer and singer of several hit rock songs, ...

''Pretty Things'' and the acoustic direction

With the release of ''Pretty Things'' on November 21, 2006, Ord entered another phase of her career: an acoustic one. ''Pretty Things'' marked the beginning of Ord's production career as she co-produced the entire record herself at a studio in

Orem Orem is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States, in the northern part of the state. It is adjacent to Provo, Lindon, and Vineyard and is approximately south of Salt Lake City. Orem is one of the principal cities of the Provo-Orem, Utah Me ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. The sound is simpler, quieter and more reminiscent of Jack Johnson than

Avril Lavigne Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She is a key musician in popularizing pop-punk music, as she paved the way for female-driven, punk-influenced pop music in the early 2000s. List of awa ...

(with whom she has been compared to previously). It saw a world-wide digital release through platforms like

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

on October 10, 2006, and was met with mostly favourable reviews from her fans.

Personal life

Ord currently resides in Alberta, with her husband Joe and five children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ord, Maren 1981 births Canadian women singer-songwriters 21st-century Canadian singer-songwriters Living people Musicians from Edmonton Canadian Latter Day Saints Canadian women pop singers Singers from Alberta