Shannon Wurst's latest batch of tunes were written during the pandemic and showcase a more pronounced country influence in her songcraft. The single “Born To Chase Storms” is a country-fried rocker lavished with lush harmony vocals and rollicking barrelhouse piano. She recorded with Grammy nominated producer Wes Sharon and with members of the Turnpike Troubadours. Its words manage to be both anthemic and self-reflective, especially with the poetic and potent refrain: I was born to chase storms/I can cause a cause worth fighting for/If it's blown to hell, we can build it better than before/ I was born to chase storms. “Those words came to me in my dreams, and are introspective about my nature- ambitious, but full of calamity. To me, it's a song for people who chase their dreams,"  Shannon says.

Born to Chase Storms

BORN TO CHASE STORMS

Her music is best described as Ozark Americana, and it is literally in Shannon’s blood. Her father, Ronnie Wurst, plays country and classic rock in bars across rural Arkansas, and her stepfather, Ed Carr, is a wizard flat-picker who often performs with Shannon. Shannon is steeped in the outlaw country tradition of courageously confessional songwriters with big hearts and loads of hard luck tales. There is a yearning tension in her songs, and they often feature emotive first-person narratives. With her delicately powerful vocals, her songs come off brave in their candor, and sage in their messaging. Shannon has earned favorable comparisons to Margo Price and Lucinda Willams Gretchen Peters —strong female leads blazing their own paths in the Americana genre. 

Shannon has garnered much critical praise, career accolades, and awards. She’s earned standout reviews from Blueground Undergrass and Sing Out Folk Magazine whose John Lupton has gushed: "Shannon Wurst is among the rare breed who can make you sit upright and wonder aloud, ‘who is that?’  She has been commissioned to write music for the end-of-day parade for Bentonville, Arkansas’s non-profit, interactive children's Amazeum museum, and to write music for the Arkansas Arts Council’s 2019 play, Bear State of Mind. Shannon has been a finalist at the Merlefest Christ Austin Contest and the Telluride Troubadour Contest, and she was a winner at the Walnut Valley New Song Showcase. Shannon performs actively in the Ozark region, and beyond, and has opened for Robert Earl Keen, Railroad Earth, and Carlene Carter, and she has performed at festivals alongside Tanya Tucker, John Prine, and Old Crow Medicine Show.