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By BRENNAN SARICH
Staff Writer

Shawnee and I sit with her sister and their mutual friend from Welland, Ontario, a little villa right out of Niagara, where Shawnee expedited from to arrive at the music scene in Toronto. I ask Shawnee if she would like to partake in some appetizers with me, but she declines, because they just came from McDonald’s.

“Yeah, it’s a real classy place,” Shawnee says with a grin.

Despite her down-to-earth attitude, Shawnee has come a long way from a small town to a big downtown life. As she says, she started her career as a Shania Twain impersonator. Surprised, I asked her how she got into that. Shawnee admits, rather embarrassed that she has participated in, of all things, pageants when she was younger.

“My start in music happened by accident. I had no idea what I was doing, walking into a pageant, and you can clearly tell I’m not a pageant girl. In the pageant they specified you needed to bring evening wear. I had no idea what that was, so I showed up in jeans and a white t-shirt while other girls were in fancy evening gowns. I was not cute, and not girly," she laughs, “For my talent, I sang as Shania, and someone found me talented, and that’s how it all happened.”

Shawnee has said that her musical career thus far has been a mix of the hilarious and the fortunate. She eventually worked as a Shania impersonator with her agent until she found herself working with a rock band that was 100% covers of other bands music. She even had the opportunity to open for April Wine.

“I switched from country to rock very quickly, in like, 3.3 seconds,” Shawnee relates, “The unfortunate thing about opening for April Wine was that we opened for them, but I had another gig that night, so I didn’t even get to talk with the band.”

In speaking about her music specifically, she is working on a CD, but she will take her time to release is when the time is right.

“I want it to fit with the time and with the right people. I write, and I don’t think. I have no preference for country or rock, and I find a lot of people really want to label me, and say ‘Oh, you’re country’ when I let out the country twang or say ‘Oh, you’re definitely rock’ when they hear me belt out the gritty rock vocals that are really rock. When I write it’s always a mix between country, rock, and blues.”

Her goal over the next few years is to establish herself not only as an artist, but also as a denizen of Toronto, having only recently moved here. She is critical of the fact that because the Toronto music scene is so large, a lot of people don’t respect it as an art or a business. She does mention that she has several favourite local musicians, such as Brandi Carlile.

In respect to her goals in the future, Shawnee feels that she’s changed over the last few years.

“I’ve definitely changed in the past year because I discovered writing. Before I was just working with cover bands, and not doing my own thing. But what I love the best about music is the performing, especially performing for fundraisers and benefits. If I could just fill my schedule with it, I would just do a circuit of benefits, helping people for the rest of my life. It’s just the best feeling.”

To learn more about Shawnee and hear her music, please visit her website at trig.com/shawneelynne