An Interview with Country Singer Shannon Selig
By Jane Croft
Life’s getting a little bit sunnier with the upcoming release of country singer Shannon Selig’s album Perfectly Imperfect. Set to drop on April 16, this 11-track release combines songs written by the lovely American/Canadian singer/songwriter with pieces from top Music City tunesmiths. The result is a collection of soul-infused music that’s as warm and wonderful as Selig herself, who always knew that music was her calling.
“When I was three years old, I was standing up on every coffee table I could find, singing into a hair brush,” Selig laughs. “My parents both loved country, 80’s rock. There was always music on and I knew that there wasn’t anything else that I wanted to do with my life.”
For someone who’s so fresh-faced, Selig has a long list of accomplishments. She started voice lessons at the tender age of nine, began studying to be an opera singer in college, and then transferred to Berklee College of Music where she studied Music Business.
Photo (with Sam Siske in background) courtesy of facebook.com/shannonselig
She was the winner of the New England Country Music Association Songwriter of the Year in 2013 and 2012, and also won the North American Country Music Association award for Horizon Songwriter both years. Selig was named New England Country Music Association Female Vocalist of the Year in 2011, and in 2012 claimed the win for Horizon Female Vocalist Award 2012 Internationally.
“Country was always a part of me,” Selig says. “I grew up on Collin Raye, Martina McBride, John Denver. I was always convinced I would be a country singer. When I returned to writing my own music, country came back to me and it was no surprise.”
Perfectly Imperfect was a rollercoaster ride in terms of the creative process, according to Selig. From the start, she knew she wanted the album to be positive. The title was inspired by a trying time during the album’s creation when Selig doubted herself and the project’s viability. She turned to a piece that was co-written by one of her former Berklee teachers called “Perfectly Imperfect” and Selig, taking the song’s lyrics and overall message to heart, was inspired to keep fighting.
Photo courtesy of facebook.com/shannonselig
“The words in that song, and what ‘perfectly imperfect’ means, is what I want to represent to the world,” Selig explains. “I am perfectly imperfect. Everyone is. So many people today are striving to be other people, or be what the media tells them to be. I wanted to stand out and say ‘I am not a size 2, I love myself, I’m happy with my work.’ And I want other people to embrace themselves too.”
Selig has a deep connection with all of the tracks on the album, but the one that is sticking out in her heart just a little more these days is “Blossom in the Dust.” She was seated on the floor when she first heard the demo and says a bright smile spread across her face as she listened to this gem of a song.
“It’s about a young girl who grows up in a broken home and is taken to new home. She has to overcome these obstacles and yet she blossoms,” Selig says. “It’s one of those songs that you have to listen to each word because you want to know what happens next. I love how this song highlights the positive. It’s not the hand you’re dealt, it’s how you play the cards.”