Show Reviews

 

SHANTAIA

Featured Artist for Undiscovered Nashville's “Pre-Famous”

Thursday March 2, 2023

@ The Clubhouse at Sonny’s in Nashville, TN

(Review by: Jeffrey Kurtis)

As Nashville continues to revitalize its many small neighborhoods that make up the greater Metro area, Germantown’s mighty resurgence is already in full swing.

Just a few blocks Northwest of the neon hustle and bustle of Lower Broadway, the chic neighborhood has become the home of critically acclaimed dining options, highly touted boutique shopping, and several vibey music spaces where the best emerging songwriters gather to share their craft.

Sonny’s Patio Pub & Refuge is one such place. It’s neighborhood bar feel, great food options, and drink menu to tickle whatever you fancy, are all integral parts of the inviting idea that a stranger is just someone you haven’t met yet.

However, tucked just beyond the main bar area and adjacent to the sprawling patio hides one of Nashville’s best spaces to catch songwriter’s doing their thing - The Clubhouse at Sonny’s!

With a pure listening room type feel, in that conversations are kept to an absolute minimum so the songs being played can truly be experienced, The Clubhouse provides an ultra-cozy setting that holds you like a welcoming living room with couches for patron seating, dimly lit lamps, house plants, and canvas paintings full of inspirational quotes such as “you’ve yet to have your finest hour.”

Undiscovered Nashville, whose mission is to discover and promote talented songwriters and artists, hosts their weekly “Pre-Famous” showcase every Thursday night within this incredible ambiance, not only featuring the traditional songwriter rounds, but also placing a half-hour spotlight on one featured artist during each week’s lineup.

Dave’s Highway, Audra McLaughlin, Amanda Cooksey, Becca Bowen, and Ethan Payne have all held their own in that featured placement over the past six months. And now, Canadian country songstress Shantaia sat in that featured position just one week after the release of her brand-new album Exes and Friends.

While Shantaia may still be flying close to that breakthrough line in Music City that falls just underneath the surface, her homeland of Canada has certainly embraced her over the past year as she previewed her album with hot song releases, “Know You,” “Hung Over You,” and “Broke to Brand New,” the latter which gained over one million streams and landed her a first Top 40 hit at country radio.

“This is such a cool space,” boasted Shantaia as she fine-tuned her guitar. “I’ve never been here before, but I will definitely back.”

“I grew up in a really small town and thought that I was missing a piece on the album that was nostalgic and about growing up with my friends,” she said as she introduced “Curfew,” immediately showering the venue with her crisp, clean vocal while wrapping it into her insanely catchy, pop country style as she pushed through the looking back lyric with a fond smile, retracing the coming-of-age era of life’s inevitable twists and turns, part-time jobs, fake ID’s, schoolgirl crushes, etc.

“I’m gonna keep it on the upbeat with another testament to my small-town roots. I’m from a town of 1,000 people. It’s the kind of place where everyone knows what’s going on and they all gossip… but  that’s not always a bad thing,” she knowingly said as she delivered the irresistible groove of “Damaged Goods,” quickly getting toes tapping on the hardwood floor as she took us on a roll your windows down road trip to the heartbeat of her small-town upbringing through the stories of the down-home folk who live there.

“This next song is my current single that I released in January. And for the first time ever, I got on the New Music Friday playlist in the US which was really cool,” she gratefully said as she humbly continued. “I was the only independent artist on that playlist, and the Boot premiered the music video for it and then CMT grabbed it,” she shared as she slowed the pace with “Know You,” allowing her to tug heartstrings as she placed her voice into the emotionally charged, broken-hearted lyric of struggling to let go, driving it to its lowest register to encapsulate the verses before lifting it into the punch of the incredible hook, “I know everything about you, but I don’t know you.”

Being a true songwriter at heart, Shantaia took us straight into the writing room with her through the brand-new song, “Dressed to the Nines,” surrounded by a swampy, grungy guitar riff that pulled hints of blues into her country flare as she sang through clever comparisons that landed on the incredibly gifted hook, “I’m a ten when I’m dressed to the nines.”

“I’m gonna throw it back to the OG song…the one that kicked it all off,” she excitedly said as she stayed firmly planted in the groove heavy side of her ultra-catchy style on “Had A Good Weekend,” getting the crowd to sway along as they mouthed the words to the carefree, lift ‘em up party anthem. 

She closed her half-hour set with “Broke to Brand New,” the song which she told shot everything up to the sky for her when it impacted inside the Top 40 for the first time in her career, as well as giving her the first of her songs to reach a million streams.

The a cappella opening over the first few lines captivated the crowd before she’d smack them into the head bobbing rhythm through the up and down strum that popped the chorus as her stellar vocal electrified the venue and left a lasting impression as she played the final notes.

What’s always so amazing about a performance by a songwriter/artist who’s armed with only their voice and acoustic guitar is how you’ll be able to instantly recognize their purely raw talent within their signature aura. Shantaia flawlessly exuded a confident comfort level throughout her six songs that effortlessly saw her striking every note with stunning, absolute precision.

With each song played coming straight from her new album, and all of them containing an ultra-catchy vibe that screams mainstream radio, it’s simply a matter of time before not only her homeland charts are impacted again, but the rest of the charts and mainstream radio catch up as she takes another step up her success ladder through spot-on performances like this. 

FULL SET LIST

1) Curfew

2) Damaged Goods

3) Know You

4) Dressed to the Nines

5) Had A Good Weekend

6) Broke to Brand New

 

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