You may have heard us playing Card Castle, the debut single from Shannon Shea – and we caught up with Shannon to find out a little more about her life and music.
Tell us a little bit about your yourself?
I was a professional singer when I was younger and nearly destroyed my voice singing the wrong kind of music, and when I say “wrong kind of of music”, I mean it wasn’t suited for my vocal chords. I was singing opera and, as much as I loved it, it was too much for them.
I took a long break and it wasn’t until 2020 when I gave birth to my daughter and my father died 18 days later and then the world went in to lockdown within 2 months of those huge moments in my life, that I was brought back in a very big way to music and reminded of how much a part of my life it had always been and how much I missed it.
My father had always been a big supporter of my music and he hadn’t heard me sing in years before he passed away and, of course, you sing to your baby, that’s what you do. From those simple nursery rhymes came the motivation to come out of my self-imposed music isolation to start writing songs again, seek out a vocal coach and find the right artists to collaborate with to bring my songs to life.
When did you first start to develop a passion for music?
My Mom always said I came out of the womb singing.
Which artists did you listen to while growing up?
The list is really too long to have in it’s entirety! Everyone from Bing Crosby to Cher, Kenny Rogers to Michael Jackson and Beverly Sills to Bon Jovi!
How would you describe your music to someone who hasn’t heard you before?
I’m going to defer to those who are far better at this than I am to say that at present my songs are described as alt pop with folk and emo influences.
What music have you recorded and released to date?
Card Castle is my debut single and I’m hard at work on a mixture of covers and original songs.
Which artists do you enjoy listening to at the moment – and do they influence your work?
Right now? Joan Baez, Kelly Clarkson, Reba McEntire, Kenny Rogers. Songs that tell stories have definitely been an influence on my writing.
Who would your dream collaboration be with?
Such a hard question! Can I list more than one? As a songwriter – Lionel Richie, Dolly Parton, Kelly Clarkson, Richie Sambora, Steve Perry…I would learn so much from any one of them!
What are your plans for the future?
I want to always write and sing songs that have integrity, that people can relate to, and hopefully even help them realize they’re not alone in their experience, good or bad. I hope I’ll be making music from now for the rest of my life.
Where can we find out more about you?
