shawnee kilgore

Bio:

"....One of the most wonderfully gifted singer/songwriters I've ever heard..." says Eric Lichter of Dirt Floor Recording Studio. "She connects with her songs, like a punch in the stomach, but the pain is beautiful and you want more..." At the age of 28, Shawnee writes from a place she cannot name, tame, nor keep under wraps. Each song is nothing shy of a carefully crafted vessel built from honesty and starkly soulful lyric and melody that can just as well get her into trouble as out of it. She embodies an innocence and wonder and appreciation of the world that “grown-ups” often tend to lose, yet her music radiates a spirit of infinite wisdom and unconditional beauty. An old soul, one might say.... Recent years have found her sharing the stage with the likes of Justin Townes Earle, Anais Mitchell, Jill Sobule, Mark Erelli, Alyse Black, and local folk legend Robert Blake, whom she was nominated alongside in the What's Up! music awards' "Best Axes of Folk" category last year. In 2007, Shawnee's song "Driving by Your House" won third place in the Gig Harbor Folk Festival's songwriting competition, while her "Song for Change" received an honorable mention for the Peacedriven songwriting award in 2008. People who know her best would say that part of Shawnee’s gift of writing is to take the situations and life around her and weave them into an effortless tapestry of empathy and grace. She can take an entire relationship, boil it down to only its rawest essence, and humbly present it in the soft closing line of a gentle melodic journey. Her mama has finally had to turn to a thesaurus to find more ways to say “awesome.” Anyone who hears her might have to do the same. The radio follow up to the 2007 Soundoff Summer Music Festival awarded Shawnee the unofficial title of the person most people fell absolutely in love with. Anyone who hears her will probably do that, too.

Member Since:

September 12, 2006

Members:

just me...so far.

Influences:

musicians of the moment: ellis (with love), danny schmidt, doc watson, and ellis (with lots and lots of love).... also bob dylan, ani difranco, townes van zandt, anais mitchell, chris pureka, patty griffin, lucero, the weakerthans, iron and wine, beth orton, cat power, woody guthrie, ben lee, tegan and sara, lisa loeb, alkaline trio, good riddance, rise against, the gits. most of my direct influences have been the songwriters that i know and love as friends: thea rosenberg, kevin carlson, erin rubin, willow jon and robin collamer, hollow road, jake hemming, amber darland, casey connor, ron hardesty, robin cutler, kristen allen-zito, phil ziel, lynn tracey. blessed am i to have such friends.

Sounds Like:

the song closing out a criminal minds episode where everyone is breathing their exhausted sigh of relief, shaken as they are by the dramatic intricacies of the human heart and what it will do when it is in pain. i'm the button pusher, the mirror that wants you to look at the heartache, to see it for what it is.....and find peace.

Record Label:

ironing board records