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BIO ::

Angela Harris is no stranger to rural living and hard work. Her roots grow deep in the rustic alpine of the West Chilcotin region of British Columbia, Canada where her parents were BC Trappers, Lumber Millwrights, Loggers, Fire Fighters, Camp Cookers, Highway Pavers, Resort Managers, Farmers and hunters.

As a young girl she would find peace while walking on an old dusty road or backwoods trail. She would stop at fresh water creek beds and green meadow patches, embracing the silence where she would write songs.

Her songs told stories of her life and soon those stories filled the pages of notebooks.

As early as 10 years old, Angela would learn the harmonies to old Country, Bluegrass and Folk songs and soon she was performing as her mother's harmonist. By the age of 13 she had taught herself how to play the acoustic guitar and six years later Angela was fronting her first band and performing in clubs, pubs, rodeos, banquets and coffee houses.

In 1992, she took her guitar and a suitcase full of demos to Nashville, TN to learn the music business and to study the craft songwriting. Over the next 10 years, she commuted between home and Nashville to perform, network, collaborate with hit writers such as Ron Harbin, Richard Wold and Cyril Rawson and was often hired to do the vocal tracks for other songwriters who were pitching their material.

By 1999, she hired Producer John MacArthur Ellis (Ridley Bent, Jeremy Fisher, Dustin Bentall) from Vancouver, BC to begin recording her self titled Debut album, which she released on her own label in the year 2000.

Soon after its release, Angela knew that her rural home was not the best location to launch her music career so she decided to pack up her three daughters and move from her Cariboo/Chilcotin roots to Vancouver, BC. "Leaving home and my family wasn't easy but I just really needed to follow my feet," says Angela.

By 2001 she was well on her way, garnering two charting CANCON singles on Canadian Country radio, 4 BCCMA (British Columbia Country Music Association) award nominations and her single 'T-t-talk to Me' licensed to a the Leo Award winning feature film, Desoloation Sound.

That same year she took her tenth trip to Nashville, TN, solidifying her position as a prolific songwriter and a dynamic vocalist.

In 2002 Angela was invited to perform ‘in the round' at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival - a genre that she had not yet promoted her music in. With a catalogue of new songs and fresh stories to tell, she went ahead and accepted the gig only to find that she was embraced by the Folk/Roots genre and its audience.

By 2003/04, she had written her 2nd album ‘Roots', a tribute record to her life growing up in BC's interior, which she co-produced with multi-instrumentalist, producer and engineer, Eric Reed (Barney Bentall, Sean Hogan, Wyckham Porteous, Ridley Bent).

In 2004, she was hired to teach as an industry professional at Capilano College (now Capilano University) in North Vancouver, BC. in the Advanced Arts and Entertainment Management program. By 2005, ‘Roots' was released in Canada by Maximum/Universal Music Canada, which included her 'Dig Your Roots' Tour - UK 2006 where she secured a UK/Europe record deal with Maximum/Rounder Europe/Proper.

In 2006, ‘Roots' garnered 2 BCCMA Awards nominations as well as a WCMA (West Coast Music Award) nomination for ‘Outstanding Roots Album'.

Over the next 3 years, Angela continued to write, teach, perform, mentor and grow as an individual and an artist. She released her third album ‘Is Your Life as it Should Be' in 2009 on her own label Routes Records, securing major distribution with Maximum Music Group/EMI Music Canada. An album focused on self discovery, reflection and forward thinking, it garnered 4 BCCMA award nominations and charted on the Folk/Roots !earshot charts in the summer of 2009.

The summer of 2010 saw her joining a feature 'Classic Country and Bluegrass' , group called The High Bar Gang as one of the lead vocalists. Her fellow 'Gang' members include Barney Bentall, Shari Ulrich, Wendy Bird, Colin Nairne, Eric Reed and Rob Becker.

In 2011, Angela set out to attain full control of her music and sales, and released herself from all major and indie label support. She co-wrote and co-produced (with Michael Behm, Premier Productions) her first major market single 'Family Matters' and released it independently. Her follow up single is set to be released this fall.

Valuing the art and business of music, Angela has self-managed her career for over 20 years. She is a woman of many hats and focuses on ethical practices and is known as a prolific songwriter, a storyteller, a recording artist, a record producer, a graphic artist, an event manager and a performer.

Angela is committed to her family, friends, fans, and balances her day between her music career and her artist support services business, Fair Wend Entertainment Services.