singer | guitarist | songwriter | performer
Saskatoon, SK, Canada
Saskatchewan rock singer, guitarist and solo acoustic performer - best known as the singer/guitarist/frontman for Saskatoon hard rock cover bands Riff Raff, and Powerslave - I also perform on my own with an acoustic guitar and a couple of fancy vocal harmonizer and looper pedals, stripping down an eclectic selection of songs.
Debut solo EP out now!
I’ve spent a lifetime gigging everywhere from rundown dive bars to mainstage opening slots for arena rock legends. Yet, after literally thousands of shows, it’s always been in cover bands playing someone else’s songs. Never my own.
So I finally decided to make my own record, honestly just to be able to say “I tried it once”. No delusions of “selling millions” or “hitting the charts”, I just wanted to finally make some music that's mine - good or bad. So I holed up in my basement with my guitars and a mic and got to work. This EP is the result.
Most guys in their fifties with a midlife crisis go out and buy a sports car, change careers, or have an affair. Instead, this EP is literally MY “Midlife Crisis”.
SOLO ACOUSTIC LIVE SETLIST
the acoustic ROCK SHOW
No backing tracks or ulterior motives...
I always start with a setlist but after the first two or three songs, I usually just start playing whatever hits me in the moment - whether I even know the song or not ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ... but you can usually expect to hear many of these songs at my solo acoustic unplugged rock shows:
Run Away to Mars - Talk
Islands in the Sun - Weezer
Sympathy for the Devil - Rolling Stones
Saturday Night - Bay City Rollers
Total Eclipse of the Heart - Bonnie Tyler
Iris - Goo Goo Dolls
Gone Away - The Offfspring
Home for a Rest - Spirit of the West
I Was Made For Lovin' You - Kiss
Danse Macabre - Ghost
Squeeze Box - The Who
Heaven - Warrant
Pour Some Sugar On Me - Def Leppard
Simple Man - Shinedown/Lynrd Skynrd
Fat Bottomed Girls - Queen
Paradise by the Dashboard Light - Meat Loaf
Copperhead Road - Steve Earle
Shine - Collective Soul
Creep - Radiohead
Crazy On
Over the Hills & Far Away - Led Zeppelin
To Be With You - Mr. Big
Rockin' in the Free World - Neil Young
Man in the Box - Alice in Chains
Fox on the Run - Sweet
Daydream Believer - The Monkees
I Want You to Want Me - Cheap Trick
Baba O'Riley - The Who
Fishin' in the Dark - Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
This Flight Tonight - Nazareth
Signs - Five Man Electrical Band
I Will Always Love You - Whitney / Dolly
Hurt - Johnny Cash/NiN
Empty Garden - Elton John
Raise a Little Hell - Trooper
Learning to Fly - Tom Petty
Radar Love - Golden Earring
I Love Rock n Roll - Joan Jett
Shout it Out Loud - Kiss
By The Way - RHCP
Bullet with Butterfly Wings - Pumpkins
Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
Smoking in the Boys' Room - Motley Crue
Hysteria - Def Leppard
Whiskey in the Jar - Metallica
Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash
Bad Romance - Lady Gaga
Through Glass - Stone Sour
Highway to Hell - AC/DC
Here for a Good Time - Trooper
Animal - Def Leppard
Voices Carry - Til Tuesday
Superman’s Dead - Our Lady Peace
Superman’s Song - Crash Test Dummies
18 & Life - Skid Row
AC/DC - Sweet
Love and Hate Collide - Def Leppard
Ballad of Dwight Frye - Alice Cooper
High Enough - Damn Yankees
Aphrodisiac Smile - Age of Electric
Open Arms - Journey
Into the Great Wide Open - Tom Petty
Everlong - Foo Fighters
Hunger Strike - Temple of the Dog
Love Song - Tesla
You Shook Me All Night Long - AC/DC
Magic Power - Triumph
Show Must Go On - Queen
Fly to the Angels - Slaughter
Blaze of Glory - Jon Bon Jovi
Hard Luck Woman - Kiss
Joey - Concrete Blonde
What’s Up - 4 Non-Blondes
I Remember You - Skid Row
Lovin, Touchin, Squeezin - Journey
Sweet Child O' Mine - Guns 'n' Roses
Hole Hearted - Extreme
Good Riddance - Green Day
War Pigs - Black Sabbath
Santa Monica - Everclear
Are You Gonna Be My Girl - Jet
Every Breath You Take - The Police
Love Myself Today - Bif Naked
Photograph - Def Leppard
Bad Touch - Bloodhound Gang
Ballroom Blitz - The Sweet
Mary on a Cross - Ghost
Square Hammer - Ghost
Hungry Like the Wolf - Duran Duran
No Rain - Blind Melon
Ice Cream Man - Van Halen
Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin' - Journey
Friends in Low Places - Garth Brooks
Free Fallin' - Tom Petty
Jack & Diane - John Cougar Mellencamp
Hotel California - Eagles
Hey Hey, My My - Neil Young
Still Loving You - Scorpions
I Hate Everything About You - Ugly Kid Joe
Ace of Spades - Motorhead
Roxy Roller - Sweeny Todd
Slide It In - Whitesnake
Patience - Guns n Roses
Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd
Wasted Years - Iron Maiden
Talk Dirty to Me - Poison
Dont Go Away Mad (Just Go Away) - Motley Crue
Here I Go Again - Whitesnake
Living on a Prayer - Bon Jovi
Only Women Bleed - Alice Cooper
Bad Moon Rising - CCR
A Familiar Taste of Poison - Halestorm
Jeremy - Pearl Jam
Used to Love Her - Guns n Roses
Anyway You Want It - Journey
Run To the Hills - Iron Maiden
Maggie May - Rod Stewart
Rock & Roll All Nite - Kiss
If You Have Ghosts- Ghost
Lola - The Kinks
She Talks to Angels - Black Crowes
Up Around the Bend - CCR
Dirty Deeds - AC/DC
Sex on Fire - Kings of Leon
What Kind of Love is This? - Streetheart
Jesses Girl - Rick Springfield
Making Love Out of Nothing At All - Air Supply
Dont Stop Believin - Journey
UNPLUGGED VIDEOS
UNPLUGGED DEMOS
I Remember You
Open Arms
Hurt
I Will Always Love You
A Familiar Taste of Poison
Magic Power
Fly to the Angels
BIOGRAPHY
For over 35 years, I have performed across Canada as a semi-professional musician.
My music career started in the 80s, as the co-founder and frontman (lead singer and guitar player) of the full-time nationally-touring rock band, "Riff Raff". After years of crisscrossing Canada, performing 6 nights per week, we took an extended hiatus during the mid-90s before transitioning into a local weekend band at the close of the 90s, becoming one of the most popular bands in Saskatchewan. In 2012, I began performing acoustically as a solo artist as well, and in 2019, I co-founded a side project band named "Powerslave".
At the onset of the 2020 pandemic, Riff Raff again went on an extended hiatus, and my musical attention became focused on building Powerslave as my primary band and on growing as a solo artist.
In 2021, I wrote, recorded, self-produced, and independently released my very first original album, "Midlife Crisis" as a solo artist.
Nowadays, my musical performances are generally on weekends at such popular nightclubs as Buds on Broadway in Saskatoon, The Revival Music Room in Regina, Cask82 in Moose Jaw, and many more.
In my career, I have enjoyed the privilege of performing at some of the premier venues in Saskatchewan including Sasktel Centre, TCU Place, Prairieland Park, Flexicoil Place and more performing at official events for the Junos, the World Junior Hockey Championships, the Brier, the Saskatoon Blades, and the Saskatchewan Rush, among others.
I've performed at shows with international superstars such as Kiss, Def Leppard, Motley Crue, The Tragically Hip, Jerry Lee Lewis, Starship, and Bryan Adams - and as the opening act for legends like Dr. Hook, Nazareth, The Sweet, Harlequin, Kenny Shields/Streetheart, and more. I've also been honoured to be invited to perform my solo acoustic show at prestigious venues such as the Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Alberta, and on the beach at the world-famous Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego, California.
In 2022, I was honoured to be doubly nominated by the readers of Planet S Magazine both as 'Best Solo Artist" and with my band Powerslave as "Best Cover Band". In 2015, my bandmates and I in Riff Raff were honoured to win "Best Cover Band".
blog
Whack Bam Thudd 2025
After a busy month of gigging across the province, I now have a few weeks off from performing to prepare for WhackBamThudd 2025 "Saskatoon Jam | Raw Juicy Rock Beats." Saskatoon's premier drum event, WhackBamThudd, allows local drum students to perform live in concert...
How I lost 80 pounds in about 5 months
I’ve had several people reach out to me privately over the past year asking what I did to lose weight, what I ate, how I went about it etc. In fact, I've had three more people ask in the last few days alone - possibly with New Year's resolutions in mind maybe. So I...
The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
The good...At about 12:00 noon on December 23, 2022, while driving home from Long & McQuade music store, I lit up the last cigarette in my pack. I tossed the empty packet into my car's litter bag, noting that I needed to stop and buy another. A few moments later...
A 7 minute improvised guitar solo because… why not?
Pulled up a random backing track and tried some improvisation in Dm (the saddest of all keys according to Nigel Tufnel). I found the amazing instrumental backing track on youtube, it was created by YT Jam Tracks.
Two Nominations for Best of Saskatoon 2022
Now that I've picked my jaw up off the floor - I am absolutely mind-blown shocked, and so incredibly honoured to somehow have been nominated in the Planet S Magazine 2022 readers poll in the category of "Best Solo Artist". In addition, for the 2nd year in a row, my...
One small step for most, one giant leap for me
My EP went over 1000 Spotify streams as of today. Still really small numbers I know but, to me anyway, it's a milestone I'm kind of proud of.
Lyric Video for “Don’t Want You Back”
For shnitz n sniggles, I fired up Adobe After Effects and made myself a lyric video for my song "Don't Want You Back". For something so bloody simple, what a pain in the ass this was to make. There is a reason the pros get paid bigtime for this stuff. You can see it...
I’ve Received Some Unbiased Feedback & Song Reviews
The modern promotional process of trying to get your music heard in the new music industry without a record label doing the work for you - means that trying to get your song(s) onto Spotify playlists is the new hustle. So I've started taking some time here and there...
It’s Alive!
I guess it's already Friday in the streaming world because my debut EP is now available on Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp and more. Easy links to are on my website www.rorylawford.com It was a long road to get here and a lot work. I hope you'll give it a spin (it's...
The CLAEverything Contest Story
As my friends on social media know, I was a winner of Waves Audio's “CLA Everything / CLA Mix Giveaway” contest to have a song mixed by 5x Grammy-winning legend, Chris Lord-Alge at the start of 2021. At the time, my song “Don’t Want You Back” was literally the...
My Project Studio Rundown
A lot of people ask me what I use to record with - what gear, what software and so on. So here is a list of the equipment and software used to make Midlife Crisis: Guitars: The vast majority of the guitars on this EP were recorded using my 2004 Epiphone Les Paul...
I finally did it
For years I've talked about "Someday, I'm gonna put out my own record". "Someday I'm gonna do it". "Someday...". I'd sit down at my computer with a guitar for a night and record a riff, and turn it into a shitty (but fun) sounding little instrumental mp3 I'd transfer...
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