Music artist looks for fresh start

By Melissa Crispin-Piche Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

For Greg Rider Farrell, music has always been about more than playing a guitar or standing on a stage. These days, it is also a way to tell a story about where he has been, where he is now and the life he is building in Strathmore.

Farrell, who has lived in Strathmore since 2022, reflects deeply on his past music, such as the song titled Roam. The song is deeply personal, but it also represents the closing of a chapter. 

He has also gotten recognition on his song 16 Sticks, which he wrote as a tribute of the Humboldt Broncos hockey team’s tragic bus accident in 2018. 

His musical journey started relatively late. After college, Farrell picked up a guitar while working in Northern Ontario and began playing around campfires. Eventually, he moved to Montreal, where he found the courage to perform at open mic nights.

“I know nobody in Montreal, so I can fail,” Farrell laughed. “I started finding every single open mic in the city.” 

This feeling of anonymity gave Farrell the confidence to really put himself out there. 

That confidence eventually led him to paid gigs, the Cayman Islands and, ultimately, Nashville, where he spent about two years as a full-time musician. At one point, he was performing close to 300 shows in a year and working as many as six nights a week.

At first, Nashville felt like a dream. 

“People liked us. It just felt like it was a dream come true,” he said.

But the demanding lifestyle eventually took its toll. Farrell said the constant performances, drinking and partying began affecting his mental health and his ability to take care of himself.

“I completely stopped working out, stopped really kind of doing any self-care,” he said.

Farrell is now nearly five years sober, a change that has reshaped both his life and his song writing. He explains that his music is much more honest about his experiences with addiction and the road to sobriety. 

“I’m just a completely different person,” he said.

Roam was written and recorded about two and a half years ago, before Farrell met his partner. He explained how he initially hesitated to release it because he felt the song represented an older version of himself – someone who was always moving, avoiding relationships and afraid to let people get too close.

Now he sees the song differently. 

“I really feel Roam is just like – it’s closing that chapter on who I used to be,” Farrell said.

Four more songs are expected to follow before the end of 2026 including All of My Sins and Saved by the Guitar. The latter was written during one of the darkest periods of Farrell’s life and reflects the role music played in helping him through it.

His experiences have also led him toward mentoring. Farrell recently became a certified recovery coach and has been helping men struggling with addiction, often acting as an accountability partner.

“I just want to be able to mentor people and coach people and just help them if they’re struggling,” he said.

For Farrell, the goal of returning to music is no longer simply about fame or playing as many shows as possible. He wants to tell honest stories and connect with people who may recognize something of themselves in his experiences.

“I just want to be able to (kind of) wake that person up to be like, there’s a totally different life,” he said. “It’s not gonna be easy. It’s gonna be a lot of hard work, but I promise you it’s worth it.”

With new music on the way, a life firmly rooted in Strathmore and a story he is no longer afraid to share, Farrell is ready to see where the next chapter takes him.