By James Murray OBSERVER STAFF

There is a whole new crop of young, talented, determined and focused young women stepping out onto the local music scene. They are homegrown and their music and lyrics are down to earth. Some have already produced indie CDs and are well on their way to establishing themselves as singer-songwriters, while several others are in the process of recording. From hip-hop to country to faith-based, they are making their voices heard and gaining a following.

Kristen McNeilly grew up in Ontario but now lives in the Shuswap. At 17 years of age, she began writing songs as early as seven and playing guitar at age 11.

Between 2006 and 2007 she recorded a number of songs on EPs, but it wasn’t until 2008 that things started to happen. That year, McNeilly came in second place in the Shuswap Idol competition.

“Stepping out on the stage and competing in Shuswap Idol gave me a whole new confidence in my abilities and my voice,” says McNeilly. Shortly thereafter she was in the recording studio working on Walkabout, her first full CD which was released in August of this year.

Her lyrics are faith- based and her message is clear: “I will write down in this song what I cannot say to your face. I will shout it out, scream it to the world.”

Several years ago, Sasha Lewis found herself alone, pregnant, and on a Greyhound bus heading for somewhere, anywhere. That somewhere turned out to be Salmon Arm. Now 26 years old with a young daughter, Lewis feels she has found herself and is ready to make her mark in the world.

“I grew up in a small northern town with a two-room school. Life was different for me then, but it’s a part of who I am. I think all those experiences and all the things that have happened to me since, all help contribute to the feel of my music and the songs that I have written” says Lewis.

“I want to be able to reach out with my music to young girls who are maybe pregnant, or in a situation where they think that the world is over for them and let them know that the world is just beginning to open up for them.”

Lewis is currently working on a new CD to be released in the spring.

Amy Laws is another young woman who is hoping to make her mark in the music world. Although she says she always loved listening to music and singing, she only recently took up learning to play the guitar and writing.

“Music has helped me get through many things,” says Laws. “I want to helps others get through what they’re going through. I hope to do that with my music and my songs.”

Laws, who was also a second-place winner in the Shuswap Idol competition, agrees that “just stepping out onto the stage at Shuswap Idol and singing in front of so many people gave me such confidence in myself. I knew where I wanted to be and where I belong… on stage, singing to an audience.”

For Lori and Gil Risling, who organize and host the annual Shuswap Idol competition on the mainstage at the Salmon Arm Fall Fair, “just seeing so many young and talented people step up onto the stage and, after three days of competition, walk off with a new sense of self-confidence and pride in themselves” makes all the hard work worthwhile.

“I had a daughter who was supported and encouraged so much by both the school programs and the people of the community when she was singing on stage,” says Gil Risling who, with his daughter Shannon, had a very successful music career as The Deuce of Hearts. “You have to give back.”

In giving back, Lori and Gill Risling have not only provided up-and-coming artists such as McNeilly, Lewis, Laws and Keanna Arnason, this year’s winner of the Shuswap Idol Career Enhancement Award, a new confidence in themselves and the music, but have also helped them take a huge step forward in their musical careers,

Keanna Arnason grew up in Los Angeles. At seven she was part a musical theatre group performing show tunes. When she was 10, Arnason was the Southern California winner of the Disney Star Kids talent search. At 15, she bought herself a guitar so she could write her own material. Within the year she was part of a garage band named the Endless Heights.

“That was when I was 16,” she says. “That was also when I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I wanted to be an entertainer – a singer and a song-writer.”

And then came that day in March of last year when her parents told her the family was moving to Salmon Arm, British Columbia – up in Canada.

Arnason says when she first arrived in Salmon Arm, everything seemed so small, so slow-paced, in comparison to what she was used to.

“I still had my music to hang onto though... to remind me of the life I had left behind in LA, and my dream of being a singer,” she says.

“Then one day I heard about the Lunch Box Stage downtown. I thought to myself, why not? Why not sing and play my music to Salmon Arm? So I got myself a gig.”

Since her arrival, Arnason says she has been totally blown away by the whole music scene in Salmon Arm and the Shuswap.

After all, the Shuswap has produced recording artists such a Juno Award winners Greg Sczebel and Richard Underhill from Blue Rodeo, as well as Blu Hopkins and Silver Creek, Ted Crouch, Birchbark and Harold Nix.