Welcome to a journey through a woman's life as an artist. This is the life of Sharon Brooks, and indeed a journey it has been.Sharon Brooks aka Brooksie, is a true artist and one of today’s trendsetters. She represents everything that is a modern female and everything a modern female wants to become. Born and raised in Barbados, her parents filled her ears with the sounds of Motown, Jazz and Soul while her grandparents educated her in the Classical, Gospel and Acappella genres. Her Bajan culture trained her in the styles of Calypso, Reggae, Dub and Dancehall music.Around age 5, Sharon began mimicking the rifts she would hear on the radios and records. After being a member of several youth and church choirs, she began performing publicly and by age 9, was penning her own lyrics to songs and poetry. Problems at home and later school distracted Sharon from music in her teens and needing more and needing more of a physical outlet to relieve the pressures, she turned to volleyball and modelling and for many years forgot about music and writing. It was at this point she attended college and gained a degree in Mass Communications to further a career in journalism.But music was in her soul and while in college, Sharon met her “sisters in song†Harmony. It was a five female a capella group (members including Nicole Griffith, Marisa Lindsay, Sascha Brathwaite & Renee King). They performed locally and backed several artists in prestigous shows like The Barbados Song Festival and more. It was what Sharon had missed and opened the door for her to once again explore her natural talent and love of music. Her sisters encouraged her to enter a local teen talent competition “The Richard Stoute Teen Talent†and at 16, she won! The victory was even sweeter as one of her two songs, was the first original song she had ever written and it was the first time she was performing with a full live band. From here the good became better, and she was offered a position as a back vocalist with the popular Caribbean band Spice & Company. After touring with them for nine months (while juggling studies to complete college), she went on to tour with John King & Jegna and it was with this group that she gained the experiences of working with acts like Beres Hammond, Machael Montano, The Mighty Sparrow and more. Still juggling her music and modelling, Sharon joined her designer Wayne Smith to win The National Ambassador titles in 1995, and then went on to represent her country as Miss Barbados in the 1995 Miss Carival Competition in St. Vincent.At 19, personal interests moved Sharon to Canada where she was fortunate to immediately work as a lead vocalist with “Collective Selective†a Jazz, R&B group led by Henry Heillig, one of Toronto’s leading jazz/blues musicians. With every opportunity gained, Sharon created another one, and soon she was working as a session singer, recording commercials and vocals for other artists. She also began fronting an R&B cover band “Motor City†which eventually led her to living and working in Beijing, China. Turmoil also followed Sharon here, but the determined Caribbean woman channelled all her energy creatively, and began writing furiously. Her misfortunes did not keep her down but inspired her first album “A Taste of Lifeâ€.Upon returning to Toronto, Sharon recruited the services of well known producer and musician Andrew Craig, as well as Henry Heillig to realise her dream. Armed with a cart load of Toronto’s best musicians, including Rich Brown, Adrian Eccleston, Mark McClean, Neil Brathwaite and more (for full album credits click here), “A Taste of Life†was brought to form, from the pages of Andrew’s sheet music. The album is indeed a reflective masterpiece, encompassing Sharon’s love of Jazz, Blues, R&B, World Music and Gospel. For more information, or to purchase the album visit http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/brookssharon .Sharon Brooks has since moved to Montreal and embedded herself within the industry, becoming a sought after vocalist, performer and writer. Her endeavours led her to DNA Productions in Montreal, where she began co-writing her second album with producer David A Sturton. Together the two completed her second album “Defining Meâ€, which also includes collaborations with James DeSalvio of Bran Van 3000, Liquid also of Bran Van, Ghislain Brind Amour(Planet Studios, Montreal), Jude Prophet & Patrice Agboutu (All Good Music), Ben Comeau, Stephen Thomas, Preach Ankobia and Jean Leloup.Brooksie is also a fierce business woman and founded Jairo Entertainment, a management company which provided entertainment services for clients on all levels and also provided a network for Artists to explore and share opportunities of all kinds...one of her motto's - more done in meticulous mass! ?This is exemplified as Sharon’s most recent addition to the line up of Canadian Multi-Musician performing group KALMUNITY Vibes Collective. But it does not stop there, in the summer of 2005, Sharon’s gospel track "Follow You" from her first album was selected for the Montreal Mass Choir's debut DVD recording. Sharon also had the honor of performing with the choir at The Metropolis, one of Montreal's largest and well known venues. Her charisma and on stage presence led her to performing at a hosts of festivals including Barbados On The Water Festival in Toronto with The Everything Irie Jazz Ensemble, Musique Du Monde Festival, Montreal, The Funk N Soul Festival, Montreal and Diverscite, Montreal performing alongside Crystal Waters. Sharon has also performed as a back vocalist for European sensation and UMA Winner Omar and grammy nominated pop superstar Martha Wash. Her track Outside & Inside produced by G&F Productions, was recently picked up for the My Jazzy Soul compilation released in the US. She was also added to the Press Play and Walk Away Compilation…more on these can be found here.News is abound as Sharon is currently in negotiations for her third album. Add to that list, putting the finishing touches on two books, one a children’s book and the other a Caribbean love story, producing a theatre piece, continuous writing and recording for other artists and coaching vocalists. Her passion for the arts, a natural talent of music and a sincere love of life, continues to drive this fervent artist. Constantly creating, being and loving, Sharon Brooks is experiencing the essence of her lifetime, and is a wonderful addition to our soul and music culture.Share On
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