Country Music Alberta Awards on the Horizon for Local Artist

These two years have been harsh on up-and-coming artists within the industry. 

One month they're pouring their heart into a live performance in front of a crowd and the next they're putting on a couch concert on Facebook live. 

It hasn't been easy.

But for one local artist the hard work and effort she's made over the past 48 months plus, is paying off.

Okotoks' Michela Sheedy is one of five nominees for the 2022 Country Music Alberta Awards 'Horizon Female Artist of the Year'. 

We caught up with the talented country songstress to find out what being nominated means to her, especially in our current climate. 

"It's definitely been a wild two years. I went from playing festivals to playing people's driveways and honestly it was still very, very, very fulfilling, and I released some music and tried to manage through a pandemic and maintain a music career. It was challenging but we made it through and now I am one of thee nominees for 'Horizon Female Artist of the Year' at the Country Alberta Music Awards this year! Which is so crazy." 

To be nominated at this level is an achievement within itself but what exactly does it mean to be the "Horizon Female Artist of the Year"? What exactly does the title entail?

"So this is actually a recent change within the association, normally we would just have 'Female Artist of the Year' but they decided to split the category into, you know, you have your kind of more local emerging artists and then there's obviously those heavy hitters who are down in Nashville who are also from Alberta. So the 'Horizon Female Artist' category is for more emerging artists and then the regular 'Female Artist of the Year' category is for people like Tenille Townes, Lindsay Ell and Mackenzie Porter. So it's just an honor to be on the list with so many amazing artists." 

It's crazy to think that an artist that has been on the country scene for quite some time is still considered as "emerging", Michela you have such a stellar fan-base you've built up through your music and social media. Anything in the works that they can get excited for? Anymore "Lost's" in the pipe? 

 "I have been doing lots of song writing, lots of zoom writes with some of my favorite people. Aaron Pollock he's another Calgary artist who is an incredible song-writer and he's been getting song cuts from people all over the planet and then there's Lydia Sutherland, they're both amazing friends of mine and Lydia is located in Montreal. So we've been writing and slaving away and it's been a little tricky to do so through the pandemic but definitely cooking on some new music, nothing necessarily planned right now because I have to make sure everything is perfect before I release it and music is expensive honey, oh my gosh. But I'm working hard to make people smile, playing some live shows when I can and hopefully music is coming in the near future...wink, wink." 

Now, we already see you as a winner with all that you've accomplished, I mean this is your second time being nominated for this award by the CMAB association but what would it mean to you if you actually walked away with the title this time? 

"Oh man, I mean I'm going to go to these awards and honestly I'm just going to be happy to be there. I'm gonna put on my fancy dress, eat some food, drink some drinks and hug my friends and I'm just blessed to be a apart of that but if I did kind of come out as the victor it would be such a validating experience after all these years of hard work. It's not been the first time I've been nominated and everyone else that is nominated and has won in the past is so deserving but man it would feel really nice to come home with a trophy!" 

And how can people keep up with your musical journey or checkout any live gigs down the road?

"I am performing live these days! I actually have a show once a month at South Block, downtown, Calgary and that usually happens the first Saturday of the month and it's always a good time. I've been playing at Whiskey Rose a whole bunch, music is paused there right now but hopefully that will be back really soon. So live music is happening for sure and if you want to keep up to date with what I'm doing, what music is coming out, where I will be performing, feel free to follow me on social media at Michela Sheedy. I do lots of weird thing on every single platform." 

Michela and her band performing at the 2021 Calgary Stampede.

The 2022 Country Music Alberta Awards go down in Red Deer on March 19-20th and with recent easing of restrictions it's bound to be a party. If you'd like to join Okotoks' Country Star, Sheedy, for a good time you can grab tickets HERE.

Listen to Michela's full interview: