The journey to taking a festival stage took Shawn Pallister from Portage to Toronto and back, and she is looking forward to playing her music for her hometown crowd at the Whoop and Hollar Folk Festival on the weekend of August 23 and 24.
Pallister shares how the music journey began for her.
"I started coming up with songs when I was tiny, like 3 or 4, as soon as I could talk, but then I got more into sports and athletics growing up and kind of took a step away from it," she continues. "But then during the pandemic, actually I was met with all this free time and it was like I just had a realization one day, 'Oh my goodness, when did I stop writing songs? I love this so much,' and so, since then, I've just been writing nonstop."
She comments that the situation worked out quite nicely to get involved with the local scene
"I had heard of it for a couple of years, but I'd actually been living in Toronto for the past few years and then moved back. And it just worked out perfectly, I actually got in touch with the organizer, Josh Wright, and someone had had to cancel. So, there was a spot for me and it was like serendipity, I think it was perfect. And perfect that it's the first year that I'm back in Portage, the hometown festival, because I'm from Portage. So, yeah, I'm super excited to be there this weekend."
She notes that the community of Portage is a great place to be from and to bring her music to.
"I feel really ready to share my music with more people, And it feels like there's a super welcoming energy. I think there's such a cool art scene in Portage and people seem really supportive, so I think it's the perfect place to really start to feel more grounded in myself as an artist and what I want to share and like the intention I come forward with when I perform."
Pallister outlines how she describes her style and genre, and what she hopes to convey from the stage.
"I call my genre indie folk pop so it's quite singer-songwriter," she adds. "I'm going to do just a solo set, so I'd say it'll be very intimate. I'll tell stories about how the songs came to be and a bit about my process. I'd say my style is very heart-centred. I try to lead with emotion in songs, so there is some storytelling in the narrative of the lyrics, as well as I love catchy melodies. I would expect people to have a little journey with me and hopefully they can feel the emotions themselves, and experience the music that way."
Pallister also comments that she is very excited to see all the other performers who are planned to take the stage during the festival.
Her music can be found on YouTube, as well as Apple Music and Spotify.