Renowned singer-songwriter Shirley Eikhard is back in the spotlight with her latest album, On My Way To You, and its new single, “Anything Is Possible.”
The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame member is showcasing 12 new songs that underscore her talent as a songbird and performer.
Shirley experiments with modern sounds on this new album and draws on her flair for the pop music that made her a staple in the songwriting scene. The writer behind the Grammy Award-winning song “Something To Talk About” lets the music take the lead; her robust vocals following in turn. “Anything Is Possible” is an instant pop classic, featuring melodic synth and even finger snaps, which tells the story of moving on, growing up, and calling on the human spirit to survive in the face of devastation.
Shirley’s prolific output as a songwriter — she’s written more than 500 songs to date — showcases not only her talent for producing a bop that lasts the ages, but also her abilities as a multi-instrumentalist. A veteran musician, Shirley boasts skill on guitar, piano, bass, drums, percussion, chromatic harmonica, sax, dobro, banjo and mandolin. If the music calls for a new instrument, Shirley challenges herself to learning to play it, perform it and produce it.
Originally from Sackville, NB, Shirley earned Juno Awards in 1973 and 1974 for Best Country Female Artist and has had numerous country and pop hits, including “You’re My Weakness” and “Smilin’ Wine.” Her songs have been recorded by Cher, Anne Murray, Chet Atkins, Ginette Reno, Alannah Myles, and Rita Coolidge.
Shirley was recently inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame for writing the blues-rock hit “Something to Talk About” in Nashville in the 1980s.
She had put the song on the back burner, but one day, she received a surprise phone message from the American blues singer and guitarist Bonnie Raitt, who had discovered the song on a demo tape that Shirley had sent her years earlier.
“I got home, and there was this thing on my machine. There was Bonnie…I was numb,” Shirley recalled.
Bonnie’s recording of Shirley’s composition was a spectacular success, peaking on Billboard’s Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts at No. 5 in October 1991, and at No. 8 on Cashbox. It placed even higher in Canada, at No. 3 on the RPM Top 100 chart and No. 4 on Adult Contemporary. It also made the Top 20 on RPM’s 1991 year-end chart.
“Something to Talk About” netted Bonnie a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and drove the Luck of the Draw album to win the Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance.
“Something to Talk About” also earned Shirley a Juno nomination for Songwriter of the Year, and later. SOCAN Classics and BMI Awards for its status as a radio favourite.
“Anything Is Possible” and On My Way To You are available now.
