Shannon Linton is a Canadian singer-songwriter, classically trained vocalist, and climate activist.After narrowly avoiding a career in opera, she rediscovered her passion for pop music and began performing and recording her own songs, first with Northern Hearts (2019 CBC Searchlight Top 100) and now as a solo artist.
When she is not making music, Shannon is busy raising two children on her family farm. “World’s Strongest Man” is the powerful first single off her upcoming EP, a song that memorializes her grandfather’s strength and love of nature. The song is imbued with reverence and strength, a thrilling listen first thing in the morning. In our interview, Linton explains her affinity for complex harmonies and how she clears her mind before writing songs.
Who are some of your musical influences?
The Canadian women of the 90s music scene were a huge influence on me: Sarah McLachlan, Alanis Morissette, Chantal Kreviazuk, Jann Arden, Sarah Harmer. I grew up listening to them on repeat. I also joined a choir at 16 and have sung in choirs ever since, so harmony is a big part of what I love about music and singing. There’s a special energy buzz that happens when two or more voices find a perfectly tuned harmony. You can feel it through your whole body.
Explain the title of your album.
This song is the first single from my upcoming EP, In Spite of Everything. The title is about finding joy in spite of all the craziness swirling around us these days. It is about celebrating even when things aren’t perfect. I am a climate activist and I can get very worked up, so I also need to remember to enjoy the days I have. Is life stressful and scary these days? Yes. But did the diamond glint of a fresh snowfall take my breath away? Also yes.
I refuse to be a pessimist or to let myself be defeated. My kids deserve more than that and my community deserves more than that. In spite of everything, we will keep going and we will sing as we do it.
Recent release you cannot stop listening to?
Joy Oladokun’s “Sorry isn’t good enough” has made it’s way on to all of my Spotify playlists these days. It’s got a great groove and pulls zero punches with the lyric. I love it.
What 5 albums are you going to make your kid listen to and why?
My kids are 10 and 12, and my daughter knows all the 90s songs of my youth because of TikTok. Honestly, that turned me into a TikTok fan because all my favourite music is coming back around! Don’t believe me? Look at the Superbowl Halftime show!
That being said, I’ve already taken my kids to several Hawksley Workman and Good Lovelies shows, and I am taking my daughter to see the Arkells and Sarah Harmer this summer. Good old Canadian indie and folk music – that’s where my heart is and I love to support local(ish) artists.
Do you have any songwriting tips you can share?
I finally started writing morning pages once the pandemic took away the excuses not to. Now I sit every morning and write two pages of handwritten, stream of consciousness stuff, then tuck it away and continue with my day. Those pages get thrown in the recycling when the book is full, so there is no judgment, no editing, no thinking about it. I find the fifteen minutes I spend writing every morning clears out all the clutter and the to do lists in my brain, and it also lets me hear what I’m thinking about before I get sucked into scrolling Instagram or reading or something else. Later when I sit down to write a song the path seems clearer.