Indigenous artist remembered for trailblazing path in Canadian country music

Artists and fans of country music are mourning the loss of a significant Indigenous voice.

Shane Yellowbird, 42, passed away unexpectedly Monday.

Singer-songwriter Crystal Shawanda entered the Canadian music scene a year after Yellowbird in 2008. She said he always cheered her on and took on a big brother role in her life.

“I’m still in shock. I still can’t quite believe it,” she said of his passing.

“It felt like we’d known each other our whole lives. It felt like family. It felt like we could relate to each other and it felt safe with each other.”

She said with both of them being Indigenous and breaking into the country music scene around the same time, they shared many experiences.

“A lot of times, you’re the only (Indigenous person) in the room,” she said of that time. “We could relate to what each other was going through.”

That extended to how they understood each other, even coming from different backgrounds.

“You kind of just know that we all kind of grew up with the same kind of obstacles,” Shawanda said.

One of Yellowbird’s obstacles was a bad stutter when he was a kid.

Shawanda said music became how Yellowbird overcame that speech impediment, but not before he gained an intimate understanding of what it feels like to not fit in. It made Yellowbird finely attuned to finding people who felt out of place, to ensure they felt welcome.

“I think that was one of the greatest things about Shane is what a genuinely good person he was,” Shawanda said.

On social media, condolences to Yellowbird’s loved ones have been pouring in, with many people commenting about how much they enjoyed his music or a kindness he had performed for them.

One person shared that she was a fan and had babysat for Yellowbird. One day, he brought her a signed CD that he had purchased for her because he didn’t have any of his own albums with him at the time.

Canadian musician Aaron Goodvin shared a post on Facebook about Yellowbird’s passing.

“He always believed in me as an artist and songwriter, long before a lot of people,” Goodvin said. “A truly beautiful soul.”

“I remember back in about 2003 when I was playing Ranchman’s in Calgary for the final time and Shane was at the show,” another Canadian artist, Aaron Pritchett, recalled online.

“It was there that this tall, dark and handsome with big-assed dimples came up to me (Shane, of course) and introduced himself and said, ‘you just wait. I’ll be up there someday with you!’”

In his breakout year, Yellowbird won the rising star award at the Canadian Country Music Awards and took home three other accolades from the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards.

“He was the first Indigenous male country music artist to achieve what he did,” Shawanda said, calling Yellowbird a “trailblazer.”

Shawanda knows the importance of representation, and she said the work Yellowbird did and accomplished was significant.

“He was representing all Indigenous people and letting Indigenous youth out there know you can be anything you want to be,” she said.

As part of his legacy, Shawanda said Yellowbird would want Indigenous youth to focus on their own healing — something she said they spoke about together numerous times — and to chase their dreams.