REPORT CARD
STUDENT: Meredith Shaw
GRADUATED: Branksome Hall, 2000
BEST SUBJECT: Music
WORST SUBJECT: Math
CURRENT JOB: Country Singer-Songwriter
Country radio and iTunes now have their hands on Meredith Shaw’s newest single, “Better Than This”— the full album to follow in 2015.
The singer-songwriter was raised and educated in Rosedale, and it was at her alma mater, Branksome Hall, that her ambition began to take shape.
Apart from dropping her latest album this year, she will also be performing live at Cameron House every Sunday evening in February from 7 to 9 p.m.
In her radio career, for the past four years, she has been heard on boom 97.3, but come 2015, she will be the newest radio personality on 104.5 CHUM FM.
“I always knew [music] was something I loved,” says the crimson-haired songstress.
The Queen’s University grad hit the big time while singing backups for a local band.
Shaw’s pipes caught the ear of Gordie Johnson, the lead singer of acclaimed Canadian band Big Sugar. After the pair’s first meeting, Johnson took Shaw to Willie Nelson’s studio in Austin, Texas. Together they produced her first album, Place Called Happy, which dropped in 2011. Johnson also featured Shaw in two of his national Big Sugar tours.
“I love them [Big Sugar] more than anything. Gordie is a huge mentor in my life,” she says.
In 2013, Shaw teamed up with Canadian icon Joel Plaskett to produce Trouble, a bouncy four-song folk-country EP.
Then in 2014, she joined forces with John-Angus MacDonald, of the Trews, to create a second EP entitled Hardest Goodbye.
One song on her first album, “Girls Who Believe,” sparked a social movement that no one really saw coming.
The song was first featured on Degrassi: The Next Generation and subsequently started a trend on social media, which eventually led to the Girls Who Believe Music Festival, a female-hosted event featuring female performers.
The movement is designed to encourage girls to pursue their passions by providing them with encouragement, inspiration and mentorship.
In addition to her musical and humanitarian efforts, Shaw is also a model represented by B&M Model Management.
She has been featured in national campaigns for companies like the Bay, Sears and Penningtons and has walked in Toronto Fashion Week and appeared on The Marilyn Denis Show, Cityline and Steven and Chris.
What’s more, you can also buy some of her handcrafted stationery and greeting cards at muffymade.com because, yes, she is also an entrepreneur.
So, what advice does she have for the youth of today? Her response is simple: “Say YES!”
It is her belief that people should say yes as often as possible because you never know what an experience can lead to.
