Biography
Shannon Wurst is Americana. Her music a mouth-watering mix of traditional and original mountain tunes with a pinch of bluegrass and a dash of old time, leaving' ya with a hankerin' for a second helping.
Dave Brewer from High Country News in Boone, North Carolina writes, "Ms. Wurst's unique voice is simultaneously sweet and sultry, a versatile instrument recalling a young Dolly Parton, while stirring echos of Australian country singer, Kassey Chambers."
She hails from Alma, Arkansas, the self-proclaimed spinach capitol of the world, a small town in the Ozark mountain foothills. Though she has developed her own style of mountain music, her biggest influences have been women with the same pioneering spirit such as Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Alison Krauss, and Gillian Welch. However, Shannon's closest influences were right in her living room while growing up. "We always had people over for picking parties and house concerts." She has been singing and playing along side her flat picking stepfather, Ed Carr, since she was a teen. Shannon also performs with her dad, Ronnie Wurst, a southern rock musician and singer/songwriter. For most of her life, she had attended The Walnut Valley Festival, where the National Flat picking Championships are held in Winfield, Kansas. This festival seasoned her to staying up all night to play music, playing with a variety of musicians, and regularly performing on Stage 5, the campground stage.
Though she has been known to ramble far from her Arkansas roots to places such as Vermont to dog mush, Colorado to whitewater raft guide, and North Carolina to plant herself in the bluegrass hotbed, she returned to Arkansas to record her first official CD, titled, “Sunday Pie” with her many talented Ozark musician friends. To be released summer 2007, Sunday Pie is a
compilation of original songs, traditional Appalachian songs, and songs gathered from songwriter friends. The project is partially funded by a North Carolina Arts Council grant. Shannon says that Sunday Pie is real music for real people.
"Shannon's style is a mix of young, creative, and good old-fashioned talent that translates into truly top level music. There is not a stage she won't shine on and she will, no doubt, have you and the crowd asking for more," Matt Johnston, Boone Saloon, Boone, North Carolina.
Look for her on tour this summer and treat yourself to some sweet Sunday Pie! Did I mention she can hold quarters in her dimples?