Emily Shackelton is a singer/songwriter living and working in Music City who will be in Moose Jaw on April 29 for a visit with high school students and a performance at the Mae Wilson.
“I think it’s lovely,” Shackelton said of Moose Jaw. “It feels a lot like home. I’m from northern Minnesota, on the Iron Range. So I grew up around a lot of mining and a lot of small towns and Moose Jaw just feels like home. I love the mineral springs, I love the little downtown, I love the restaurants. Love the people.”
Shackelton is part of the four-person line-up for Music Row at the Mae, an event that River Street Promotions has organized to raise money for youth mental wellness in the Prairie South School Division (PSSD).
The money that River Street Promotions donates to PSSD is used for a fund that brings new programming and mental wellness activities to both school divisions in Moose Jaw.
On April 29, Emily Shackelton, Victoria Banks, Phil Barton, and Jeff Cohen will spend the morning with students at the Peacock Collegiate auditorium before heading to the Mae Wilson, where they will talk about how they write their song. They will also, of course, perform them.
Tickets are available from Sasktix.ca and are going fast.
Shackelton said that she is “secretly-not-so-secretly” most excited for the concert at Peacock with the students. She has performed at the Mae Wilson before – this will be her third time in Moose Jaw.
“I always love the (Mae Wilson) Theatre show, I can’t wait to do it again. That’s very much what I do,” she said.
“But, especially just at this time in the world,” Shackelton continued, “and how important mental health is, and just fullness and wellness is for everybody… It just feels so exciting that the high schools are open to having us and we hope and pray that this music has a big impact on kids.”
Shackelton said that if a concert like this one had come to her high school, it would have been profound for her and shown that it was possible to succeed in her dreams.
“I’ve always written songs, always knew I wanted to be a singer and songwriter.”
Shackelton is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. She won the BMI John Lennon Songwriting Competition there.
Her professors encouraged her to move to Nashville, Tennessee, known as “Music City,” where she’s lived for the last 15 years. Several of her songs have been heard on TV shows such as Nashville, American Idol, and Dancing With the Stars.
Among her hits is “Every Little Thing” by country musician Carly Pearce.
The process for songwriting is a combination of study and inspiration, Shackelton said. She has a degree in songwriting, and has worked her entire career in the music industry. However, she said most of her favourite songs just come to her.
“It still feels a little bit like you’re trying to uncover what’s already there. Like the song is already in the universe… at least, the best ones flow that way.”
Many of her other favourites have been co-written, often with the same colleagues she’ll be joining at the Mae.
Shackelton hopes this year’s show at the Mae, the first since the pandemic, is bigger than ever, and that many students will benefit from the money raised.
She said she hopes to “shine a light on it being okay to not be okay and to ask hard questions and to get help, and to ask for help when you need it.”
Her music can be found on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube.
