Shetland Audiences will experience a taste of The South next month, when country artists Meaghan Blanchard and Amythyst Kiah play Mareel on 28th July. The event, which is presented by Shetland Arts, is being run in association with Perth’s Southern Fried Festival.
Meaghan Blanchard is a singer-songwriter from Prince Edward Island in Canada. Born into a musical family, Meaghan started writing songs at the age 12, and cites her country singing grandmother as her biggest influence. She is known for moving songs and beautiful captivating voice. In 2104 she won her second East Coast Music Award in three years for her most recent album She’s Gonna Fly, and her latest single Crash has just been released to great acclaim.
Meaghan was also one of the featured performers in the television special The Songs of Gene MacLellan writer of such hit songs as Snowbird and Put Your Hand In The Hand. She also performed for Prince William and Kate on their honeymoon tour of Canada and has appeared at a number of festivals including the Cavendish Country Festival, Mariposa, Deep Roots, Stanfest, Maritime Acoustic, PEI Jazz and Blues Festival, Small Halls , the Indian River Festival and the Rock The Boat festival.
From Johnson City Tennessee, Amythyst Kiah describes herself as a Southern Gothic, alt-country blues singer-songwriter. Her influences are eclectic and span across decades, drawing heavily on old-time, rhythm and blues and country and are channelled through her stunning powerhouse voice into highly distinctive originals and classics alike.
Recently, she performed on Mountain Stage and Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City as a singer and guitarist for the East Tennessee Old Time Pride Band, opened solo for Tim O'Brien and Darrell Scott at the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, VA, and she was solo at the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival 2012 alongside the Ebony Hillbillies and Sparky and Rhonda Rucker.
Tickets will be on sale through Shetland Box Office at Mareel and Isleburgh, over the phone on 01595 745555 or online at www.shetlandboxoffice.org on Friday 12th June.
