Shannon Venasse

While she didn't start playing music the minute she was born, Shannon Venasse's ultra-smooth vocals, mature lyricism, and compelling song writing skills have turned her into a worthwhile ambassador of Eastern Canada's music scene. Check out what she had to say to theMOVEMENTZ.



How did you first get involved with music? Did you always know that you were going to pursue it as a career?

I got involved with music when I was in my early 20's. A good friend of mine at the time was dating a person who played the acoustic guitar and I always loved watching and listening to him play. I always thought that I wasn't musically inclined because in high school I was terrible in music class probably due to the fact that I was so shy. Another friend of mine started learning to play and I wanted to jam with everyone. So one day I drove to a guitar store in Toronto and bought my first guitar, a Yamaha acoustic and gig bag. It was a struggle at first for me to learn but I kept at it and got a guitar teacher. Before I knew it I was able to sing along with my guitar and it just progressed from there. I had no idea I was going to pursue music. When I was younger I wanted to become a police officer.



If you had to explain your sound to someone who has never heard it, what would you say?

This is always a hard question for me because I'm influenced by so many different types of music. I generally say it's pop/folk/rock. I notice that when people see a person especially a woman playing the acoustic guitar and singing they automatically call it folk music. But for me each song is so unique to itself and some are more pop/rock sounding, some more folk and some even have a new country sound to them. I would even put myself into the singer/songwriter category. My music is very acoustic guitar driven that's one thing I'm sure of.



Your debut album 'The Lion's Share' was released in 2007. What types of themes/ideas come across in the album?

I was never intending on recording a whole album but I just had so much to say at the time. I was going through a really hard time in my life back then. My mother was dying from leukemia and my partner of 5 years was leaving me for someone else. It was incredibly hard for me to do anything except write songs and be able to sing them. Most of my friends at the time didn't know what to do to help me so they just distanced themselves. I guess the songs were my way of getting them to listen and it was also stress relief for me at the time. If there had to be a theme it would be that life may try to drag you down but you can't allow it to.

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