Shiloh Lindsey is the sweetest cowgirl you will ever meet. Her steely voice holds steady even when lilting over her deepest heartaches and hangovers. Lindsey’s music is no top 40 – it is country in its most raw and pure form.
Born in Alberta and raised on a ranch, Lindsey’s family moved to McBride, B.C. when she was eight. Lindsey describes a run-in from her farm days that exemplifies her long history of learning the hard way, “We got in trouble by old man Froese… He owned some property and he had just seeded. I don’t know what they were growing but we went out, drunk teenagers in the car, and did donuts. He came out and grabbed [my friend] by the throat and said, ‘You’re fuckin’ with my shit!’ Farmers – don’t fuck with their shit.”
It was at this time that Lindsey started her musical endeavors. She began singing at age ten and bought an electric guitar when she was fourteen. “I got a lot of encouragement from my friends and siblings – three older brothers and an older sister. I could’ve totally sucked but I was their younger sister so they were like, ‘you’re awesome!’ Meanwhile, everyone else is plugging their ears,” laughs Lindsey.
Lindsey’s first show took place in Dunster, on the outskirts of McBride. “I think I performed half the song and had to walk offstage because there was a boy I had a crush on in the audience so I thought, ‘to hell with that! I’m outta here!’” Lindsey’s interest in the instrument faded until her older brother handed down his acoustic guitar.
In 1998, Lindsey moved to Smithers and briefly joined a band called “Fizzgig” after a creature in the “Dark Crystal.” Throughout the group effort, Lindsey learned that she prefers to work on her musical ventures alone and within the year she returned to solo gigs and moved west once again to Vancouver.
Raised on the likes of Creedence Clearwater Revival and Hank Williams, Lindsey’s music first fell into the alternative folk vein before reverting to what she knew best. “I listened to a lot of Sinead O’Connor and Kate Bush…and then I started writing country. I was sort of against the whole genre and then I just started penning it and it’s been that way ever since. I just absolutely love country. Top 40 country, on the other hand, unfortunately, gives the genre a bad name. There are totally different sections of country.”
Lindsey cites Lucinda Williams and Tift Merritt as modern heroes while her dad’s influence remains strong. “’My Favourite Cowboy’ is about my dad,” says Lindsey as she points to the acoustic guitar on her mantle with his photo shellacked on the back. “Murder ballads are one of my favourite songs to write. I think the first song that’s going to go on the new album is a murder ballad. ‘Hell in the First’ on [For Your Smoke] is written from the victim’s point of view from a chainsaw massacre.”
Although Lindsey resides outside of country’s geographical niche, she feels comfortable in Vancouver’s music scene. “When I first started out, I was opening for punk bands at Pub 340 and people were really receptive, for some weird reason. I guess because country might be the original punk, this is what people say – three chords and the truth.” When asked if she ever wants to migrate south, Lindsey responds, “All the time! It’s like, ‘What the hell am I doing here?’ Although, [Vancouver] is a nice place to come back to. It’s home.”
All this time, Lindsey has been financially backing her records working self-described dead end jobs and working her way into personal debt. “I put [For My Smoke] on my line of credit and then afterwards I couldn’t pay it and had to declare bankruptcy. I don’t know if you can print that but thank you, Canada Trust, for paying for my last record!”
Lindsey excitedly delves into a discussion about her new record, “It’s called ‘Western Violence and Brief Sensuality’ and I got that from watching ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’. It gives you that warning at the beginning when nowadays it’s ‘warning: violence, nudity, drug use,’ and so on.” She praises her backing band on this project, “being a solo artist you’re always hiring whomever you can – they come and they go, but now I have a solid lineup.”
When asked about her hopes for the record she describes them as plentiful. Her two standout goals are to “get some royalties to pay for the damn thing” by having her songs on shows such as “Heartland” and to significantly increase her show schedule. “I definitely want to tour more but I’ve been afraid. I’m shy and it’s hard for me to tell people, ‘I want this, I need this from you.’ When you’re sensitive or whatever you just have to build up the callous. Although I haven’t had to tour on a constant basis, and I’m sure it’d be a hard road as well, it’s something my heart wants to do.”
Shiloh Lindsey’s CD release is June 10 at the Anza Club. Learn more at shilohlindsey.com.
Her first CD “For My Smoke” and her EP “Tired of Drinking” are available online and at Red Cat Records.
— Rebecca Slaven