Shaela Miller might be best known as a country music artist, but her latest album, After the Masquerade, proves that she’s willing to explore different musical territory.
Her 2017 record, Big Hair, Small City was a huge hit, and she was proud of it, but also says, “I didn’t want to do that again.” She bought a synthesizer. She was writing a bit and playing around when she lost one of her best friends, suddenly. “He and I shared a deep love of new wave. I needed to write different music after he passed away, to help me process my emotions.”
In that time of heartbreak, Miller felt drawn to different music, darker themes. “Every record has some sad songs on it, and I have experienced loss before, but this loss was different. To lose a friend is devastating. It helped me grow and understand emotions that we all go through. There are lessons in loss that are a great gift.”
She emerges on After the Masquerade with a growing self-awareness and strength. “I have grown in confidence. We all work through self-doubt. It’s important to me to be making music for the right reasons. Not for approval or to get a hit. That’s cool, but I really want people to listen to my music, to hear it. If you put your true self into your music, from your heart, you will be confident.”
She also acknowledges that being named Alberta’s #1 rising country music star in the 2022 Project WILD contest was life-changing. She received $100,000 to help further her career. “Winning that money was a game-changer. It helped elevate my career. It doesn’t matter how talented you are. You need money to get stuff done: to make a record, to get a publicist, to have music videos, to have a website. There is so much work that goes on behind the scenes. These were things I wished I could have done earlier, but could not afford. I was a hairstylist, and I had two kids, and I was just trying to put food on the table.”
Miller notes CKUA’s support has been crucial to her career development, too. “CKUA playing my music has garnered me so many fans. It’s huge. People say that they know my music from Wide Cut Country with Allison Brock, or they let me know they’ve heard me on Lisa Wilton‘s show, Traffic Jams. That makes me so happy.”
“My home base will probably be Lethbridge forever. Alberta helps me grow in other markets, because I have so much support here. You can climb to a peak of a mountain, and from there you can jump to what’s next. Alberta is a peak, and now it’s easier for me to jump from peak to peak, because of the support from my home province. There’s community here.”
“After the Masquerade” from Miller’s new album of the same name:
