Kae Shelby Shares New Single, “This Time” From Unbroken Album
Kae Shelby is an Ottawa-based singer-songwriter who’s traded in her badge for a guitar to pursue her passion for music.
Drawing inspiration from legends like Bonnie Raitt, Joni Mitchell, and Melissa Etheridge, Kae’s latest single “This Time” off her album Unbroken is turning heads.
Produced by Anders Drerup in Austin, Texas, Kae’s music resonates with heartfelt authenticity and relatable storytelling.
First off, care to introduce yourself to our readers?
I am Kae Shelby, a singer-songwriter living in Ottawa, Ontario. I grew up with a passion for songwriting and performing. After a career in policing and safety services, I’ve gone back to what I know my purpose is and that is music! At 60 yrs of age, some would say I’ve passed my prime to bring this music dream of mine to fruition, and me, well my take is this, “your life is your time, are you having the time of your life?” I am having the time of life for the sole reason that not only am I not letting age stop me, but I’m also leveraging every single year of life I’ve lived to write songs that matter. Songs that move people beyond the experience of hearing the music and into the experience of letting the music they hear, heal them, validate them, and bring them joy when it captures the love, they are feeling for someone and can’t quite find the words.
As genres go, I take my queue from how others describe their listening experience of my music. I have been described as a blend of Bonnie Raitt’s distinct bluesy country feel, with equal parts, Joni Mitchell’s folksy vibe, the raw edge of Melissa Etheridge, with a hinted infusion of Canadian Icon Jann Arden’s pop/roots/folky flare.
My first solo album, “Music and Motorcycles” was released in late 2018 and my second, “Unbroken” in October 2023. As a new Indie Artist, Music and Motorcycles enjoyed success with the lead track, “Here I Am” voted Top 5 Song of the Year by Blues and Roots Radio. The song sat comfortably in the Top 10 for seven weeks on CFBX 92.5 Kamloops B.C sharing that space with two Canadian Icons, Bruce Coburn and Jim Cuddy. I was also honored to see this album voted into the Top 20 Album of the Year by Blues and Roots Radio that same year.
Tell us a bit about your most recent release.
“Music and Motorcycles” my first album, saved my life and allowed me to reclaim myself, my identity, my life, and my right to live free of an albeit short but abusive relationship. It was the beginning of a journey from out of the dark, back into the light. I knew instinctively, I was not writing one album, but a trilogy of albums. There was more to this story than just the tragedy, there was also the triumph! And of that realization, with the global pandemic suspending live performances around the world, the only thing left to do as I healed was to write the second in this trilogy of albums. It would fittingly be called, “Unbroken,” the title track of the album.
The first two tracks of “Unbroken” capture the moving out of the darkness, that an abusive relationship shrouds one in with, “Hurt Too Hard” and then “This Time” an anthemic track declaring, “this time was gonna be different, that I’d “paid in full for all of my mistakes.”
“Resurrection Baby” the third track revisits the emotional wounds, not in a victimized way, rather, acknowledging them, for the hell I was able to garner the strength to escape from. This was the first song I wrote for “Unbroken.” It liberated me. It replaced the ill-placed shame that consumed me; my only sin; trusting another human with my heart, only to realize their intentions were to break me down, to the point of no longer recognizing the strong, assertive, and confident person that I was to the point of as the song sings, “begging forgiveness for something I hadn’t done”. It is the song of a resurrected heart. I wrote it from my heart and to give hope to anyone who finds themselves in an abusive relationship. No one plans on this, no one asks for this, no one wants this, and abuse is perpetrated on them. It was to let the listener know not to feel shame, that they are not the owners of the deeds, and as the song says, “set the break, stop the bleeding, and find a way to keep your tired heart healing, rise up to the days to find your soul.”
Track four, “Unbroken” is the emerging into the light. I was indeed becoming, “Unbroken” for having given myself time to heal, and then by happenstance meeting a beautiful entity who blew the doors open on my closed heart, a person I’ve come to know and love beyond the gorgeous smile and sky-blue eyes that caught mine, to see and experience her wonderous spirit. She makes my heart sing and my mind, body, and soul feel safe again. As I write this, “Unbroken” is sitting in the Top 50 on the Canadian Indie Country Countdown (CICC) after entering the Charts in 116th spot.
Tracks five through nine tell the story of living in love, without fear. Track six, “Hope” and Track seven, “Greatest Love on Earth” specifically, immerse the listener in a love that is possible when one becomes, unbroken. The final track on the album, “Way Too Soon” I wrote for my brother, Todd, after his sudden passing. He was young, he was beautiful, he was a brother I loved very deeply, and he left us, Way Too Soon. I dedicate it to him and to my nephew Taylor who also passed, way too soon, in 2022. They shall never be forgotten.
How do you typically go about the songwriting process? Do you have a specific method or creative routine that you follow?
I think I’m a bit of an anomaly when it comes to process. Save for taking vocal lessons as a teenager at Gauvreau Performing Arts School in Sudbury, Ontario, I do not have any formal music training. What I do have however is a love for words, and for writing. Growing up I channeled that into writing poetry. The first poem I wrote: “A Valiant Flight of Freedom.” was published in the Sudbury Star! And there it began!
My love for words, combined with my passion for music was the perfect recipe for songwriting. The first song I wrote was for a dear friend. He’d read my poetry and asked if I would write his wedding song. I don’t remember the name of it, but I do remember he loved the lyrics! He was an incredible instrumentalist and created the musical arrangement.
And the writing theme began. You see, while I play guitar, I’m much more a lyricist than an instrumentalist. The lyrics typically precedes the musical arrangement. For both of my albums, I have had the good privilege to work with two great musicians, instrumentalists, singer-songwriters in their own right, North Easton and Anders Drerup. My writing process with each has its own distinctions. I am grateful for their listening ear, and their considerate hearts as I share with them the sound I am seeking and then they create the musical magic that together, we knead, and massage into the outcome that is the song.
Looking ahead, what are your plans for supporting this new release? Are there any upcoming tours, music videos, or additional content that fans can look forward to in connection with this project?
I am putting an intentioned effort to bring the songs of this album to radio, campus, community, and commercial, working with RDR Music Group’s, Joe Wood and as well as RadioActive Tracking’s Bill Steele. We are currently tracking the lead single, “This Time,” and are receiving great feedback. Most recently I have found myself in the company of Jelly Roll and Keith Urban on the Yangaroo Most Downloaded Country Song Chart with my led single, “This Time!”
I have a lyric video out for, “This Time.” I’m in a creative process at the moment, for a second lyric video for the Title Track, “Unbroken” and as well, “Way Too Soon”, a song I wrote in memory of my brother’s passing.
I have a CD Release Party in Burlington, Ontario, on Sunday, April 28th from 2-5 pm at Pepperwood Restaurant and Bistro! I’m thrilled to share, local rising country singer-songwriter, Hayley Verrall is opening the show! It’s a 2-5 pm affair, and there will be Kae Shelby Merch along with CDs available for sale.
Of note, 25% of hard copy CD Sales will be donated to the True Patriot Love Foundation. As a former military and municipal police officer, it is my small way of supporting former colleagues who remain in service and those who’ve come after me, in healing from the traumas they are often exposed to in their lines of duty.
Looking back on your musical career, is there a particular moment or accomplishment that you consider a turning point or a highlight?
I’m going to go with the first thing that came up for me and do my best to offer a Cole’s notes version and circle it back to the turning point and highlight.
My first solo debut album, “Music and Motorcycles” was written on the “heals” of a devastatingly difficult, mentally and emotionally abusive relationship. Though not shared publicly at the time of releasing that album, I was still very much in the grips of it despite having written songs that presupposed I was out of it. I can best say it this way, I had escaped it, but I was not yet free.
With the album released, I mailed out a multitude of CDS to radio and waited. One Sunday mid-morning, I was laying in bed under the covers in a darkened room; my go-to place, where I felt safest at the time. I was scrolling through Facebook and happened upon a post from Blues and Roots Radio (BRR) I was tagged in. They were playing my song! I messaged Stevie Connor, owner of BRR to thank him. In that conversation, he asked me to come to his studio to partake in an interview which I did a few weeks later.
What I could not have known is that Stevie and his wife, Anne Connor, music aficionados each in their own right, would take me under their wing, mentor, guide, and support me on this music journey, dream, intention of mine, one that has lived in me as far back into my childhood as my memory is able to take me.
I remember Anne saying to me after the interview and as I sat on their deck overlooking Port Credit, “hey, are you staying in town a few more days? We’re going to Richard Flohil’s 85th birthday party at the Dakota Tavern and we’d like you to join us. We want to introduce you to the industry folks that will be there to celebrate Richard,” who they went on to tell me was a Promoter for the likes of K.D. Lang, Loreena McKennitt and Serena Ryder. I met many amazing Industry Folks under their mentoring wing, that night, not the least of which, Richard Flohil himself. He was gracious in meeting me. He knew me from nowhere and yet gave unconditionally of his time.
And so, that story to impart how it was both a highlight and a turning point, as I continue to enjoy their mentorship and guidance, through their award-winning work in the industry.
Last but not least, it’s time to pay it forward, what upcoming band or artist would you recommend your fans check out?
Oh my, I’m a huge fan of paying it forward opportunities. Here goes!
Through my mentorship with Stevie and Anne Connor, I came to learn of a music event called, “Four Chords and the Truth”, a quarterly series of “in the semi-round” sessions with songwriters. Singer-songwriter, Andrea England founded the event. It debuted on June 18th, 2015, and continues today.
I attended the November 16th, 2023, session and there I heard, singer-songwriter, Kyle McKearney from Northern B.C. From the first note/lyric that came from him, I knew he was going to be my new fave bluegrass-infused country artist. He did not disappoint. In many of his songs, you can feel the long, hard, and purposed journey he has been on, to have, live, and be in the fullest life available to him. It is apparent in his lyrics, in his instrumentation, and palpable song performance.
Kyle is already making his strides on the Canadian Music scene, and I would love to see him have continued and rising success. He’s a singer-songwriter who needs to be heard, for his music can take your heart and soul on a ride that can feel, sound, be familiar, and bring you to that place of realizing you were never alone; on your journey wherever it took you, in your struggles if you had them, in your desire for goodness, and in your will to move through everything it takes to have that….goodness that is.
Kyle’s single, River Rain, is a particularly poignant representation of family, commitment to the love of one’s life, and the family that comes of that love. Thank you for the opportunity to share this with you.
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