Every once in a while, the universe gives birth to a songbird… a certain kind of songbird. The kind who sings a song unknown to most, but resonant with everyone in some way. It’s a familiar song because the notes are like a code to the soul, and the voice its precious carrier.Sheena’s voice has been compared to greats like Sarah McLachlan, Eva Cassidy, and Norah Jones, although the delicacy with which she almost whispers at times… quivering on gently sustained phrases unique and sweet… creates a sound that is unmistakably hers.
Right from the age of two, the gift Sheena Grobb possessed was beginning to show. A voice so pure, it pierced through crowds and rose above conversations. Sheena could silence a room, even as a child. Her mother’s passion for music was so strong, that singing and playing became as natural as breathing to Sheena. But her skills alone were not what created the songwriter in her. It was the loss of her greatest influence at 8 years old – the passing of her grandmother – that produced emotion so big, that only song could penetrate its depths. And so at 10 years old, Sheena began to write the first of her songs.
Though Sheena sensed her destiny – as did others around her – debuting her first EP Safe Guarded Space on the main stage of the Winnipeg Folk Festival, followed by a nomination for a Western Canadian Music Award in 2007, there was also a dark cloud looming on her horizon. Diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at 16, Sheena learned early that even the most precious of gifts can be lost so quickly. The delicate nuances of her classical piano training and self taught guitar skills vanished for one life-altering month after her first album was released. She struggled for many years to overcome the fears of her own deterioration, and thanks in part to the undying efforts of close friend Kim Nozick, she spent much of her creative energy delving into the inner world of her emotional, physical and spiritual health.
Even still, Sheena released MFM supported album Grow in 2010, produced by 11 time Juno nominee Dan Donahue. Recovering her health remained her primary focus, and despite minimal touring, she attracted the attention of Lindsay Nelko (previous choreographer for So You Think You Can Dance) who produced a music video for song Get Out Alive, in which two of the show’s star dancers Kathryn McCormick and Robert Roldan appeared.
In 2011, Sheena was approached by a couple, Les and Terry Weins, who were deeply impacted by her performance at the Winnipeg Folk Festival in 2006 – so much so, that it prompted them to organize an event to fund another album. It became the gift that would keep Sheena anchored to her music, despite her own reluctance to continue. Three years later, Sheena is releasing The Breakless Heart (Sept 2014). She chose to work with Ervin Bartha at ClearLightSound – an independent home studio with a Kawai 6’1” grand piano and a “creative vortex” as Sheena calls it. Believing in her music and her message so much, after a laboursome three years in the making, Ervin boldly emailed the engineers at Abbey Roads Studios in London to see if they would master the project. They took one listen to the title track and agreed.
Currently, Sheena is telling her story and inspiring others through The Living Compassion Project, where she invites others to share their story with her as she has begun to share hers with others. Sheena has experienced and witnessed the transformative power of storytelling, and this project encourages people to “unlock their life” for their own healing, and for the impact on others. The Living Compassion Project was inspired in conjunction with the release of The Breakless Heart and Sheena’s dear friend Julie Epp who was an integral part of bringing the concept to life.
https://www.sheenagrobb.com/