Shanade: Artist of the Month at Coventry Music Museum
by AndyHoldcroft, 29 Apr 2017
The latest Coventry and Warwickshire artist to be selected as "Artist of the Month" at Coventry Music Museum is Leamington based singer-songwriter Shanade.
Shanade's music can be heard at the Museum and indeed her latest CD bought there. She has kindly (with the help of her family), been through her professional archive and there is now a display of unique items she has lent the Museum: I urge you to check this out.
To launch her tenure, Shanade gave a Big Lottery-funded "Sounding Off" session at the Museum on Saturday 29th April: answering questions from the MC & Museum founder Pete Chambers BEM as well as from the audience. She also performed three acoustic numbers including a preview of her next release to one of the most crowded sessions of this kind seen at the Museum.
Shanade's talk was refreshing, detailed, insightful and frank. As anyone who has ever attended one of her gigs can testify, she wears her heart very much on her sleeve and is passionate about what she does. She spoke of her pathway from childhood through early musical experiences to where she is now, with all the great experiences she had had plus the issues she had faced. There are so many great moments including high profile collaborations, media & gig appearances and a prestigious scholarship, yet it is equally clear that for Shanade, connection with her roots, core values and community are all important and not to be jettisoned for any career reasons.
Her tireless work in teaching, community work & organising a series of open mic and Singer Songwriter nights (her current one is at Wildes in Leamington on the first Tuesday of each month) are probably as well known to local music lovers as her own music: so it is good to hear that she is working hard currently on recording new original material for release this summer.
I urge you as well as visiting her display at Coventry Music Museum to also listen to her full talk on the Museum's Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Covmusic/You can learn more about Shanade on her pages:
http://www.shanademusic.com/https://www.facebook.com/shanademusic/Details of Shanade's regular Open Stage night at Wildes can be found at
https://www.facebook.com/Songwriters-Open-Stage-Night-Wildes-253686888401333/The accompanying photo shows Shanade adding her name to the Coventry & Warwickshire Door of Fame at the Museum
