"Better Than This" @ Country Radio September 22nd 2014
@ iTunes September 23rd 2014
http://www.meredithshaw.com
Twitter @meredithshaw
Instagram @meredithshawtoronto

For Torontobased singer/songwriter Meredith Shaw, a simple exchange at a beer store turned into a deeply resonant and careerdefining moment. While taking a break from a recording session in Vancouver for her latest single, Better Than This, she popped out to get some cold beverages for the band.

“The guy at the counter asked what kind of music i was making? That question used to result in an essay, but this time I just said, ‘country music.’ That was the first time I had ever said it out loud. He said ‘cool,’ and I walked out of that beer store saying ‘that was great,’ because that’s exactly what I am doing,” Shaw said effusively.

Better Than This sees Shaw confidently launching herself into the country music realm. But she is no ‘Meredithcomelately’ trying to capitalize on the growing popularity of the genre. Her country roots are deep, solid and legitimate – it’s just taken her a few years, one fulllength album, two threesong EPs and a dash of introspection to finally come back home to her first musical love.

“At 14 I booked myself into a studio and recorded a demo and it was sent to a producer in Nashville. He liked it and I flew back and forth to Nashville a few times. So Nashville was the very first place I ever made music in a studio,” she said.

“And I know I have come back to this place very naturally. Every moment of putting these new songs together has felt right. I just feel very at ease and at home.”

The experience whetted her appetite for more, but little did she know the twists and turns her life would take before she headed back to those country music beginnings.

Shaw has evolved into a young woman of many gifts and talents. She is the host of the toprated weekend radio show in Toronto on boom 97.3, a model with a number of successful national campaigns under her belt, a business owner of the gift and custom greeting card company, muffymade, and a philanthropist who started the Girls Who Believe Festival to help girls and young women reach their fullest potential through affirmation and mentorship.

As a musician, vocalist and songwriter she has collaborated with an impressive array of Canadian music industry luminaries including Big Sugar’s Gordie Johnson (for whom she penned a recent top10 hit) who produced her 2011 album Place Called Happy, as well as Joel Plaskett, JohnAngus MacDonald of The Trews, Safwan Javed and Shaun Verreault of Wide Mouth Mason, East Coast fiddle sensation Tim Chaisson and songwriter extraordinaire Patrick Ballantyne. Plaskett produced her threesong EP Trouble in 2013, while MacDonald produced the EP Hardest Goodbye in 2014.
The passion for country music was rekindled over the past few years through writing trips back down to Nashville, working with The Stellas and Carolyn Dawn Johnson among others.

“For much of the past couple of years most of the people I was writing with, talking with, and dealing with on a regular basis were in country music. I know I am in the right place,” she said adding that she had always been drawn to female singers who not only had powerful voices but powerful personalities, regardless of their genre citing the likes of Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Stevie Nicks, Trisha Yearwood, Martina McBride and fellow Canadians Shania Twain and Johnson as key role models.

Songwriter/producer Jeff Johnson has been brought in to produce the music that will eventually become Shaw’s debut country music album. His track record with breakthrough acts like Wes Mack, and his writing credits with Dallas Smith, Madeline Merlo and Small Town Pistols impressed Shaw.

“I saw that he was doing some really relevant, successful stuff. And from the moment we met at the 2012 CCMAs, I just liked him – I really liked his vibe,” she said.

Better Than This was cowritten with Ballantyne, a longtime friend and musical partner in crime, and Johnson, was mixed by Scott Cooke (Dallas Smith, Joey Moi)  and features Shane Hayes on bass, Shania Twain’s fiddle player Jason Mowery, as well as the aforementioned Verreault laying down some spicy lead guitar licks.

“It’s about a relationship where you both know you are better than what is happening right now. It’s not saying that I am done with you, but it is saying what’s going on right now is not good enough,” she said.

“It’s anthemic and strong but there is still hope in song. Love always has to have some hope to keep it interesting.”