- 2 days ago
Internationally renowned singer, songwriter, and pianist Sheléa has just released her brand-new Christmas single, 'Want This Christmas with You.' The festive track arrives on the heels of her recently released five-track EP, Spirit . The accomplished actress and producer, Sheléa also just wrapped the off-Broadway production 'OH HAPPY DAY!" in which she co-starred. Her recent PBS special, 'Aretha! With Sheléa and The Pacific Symphony,' is now airing nationwide--an electrifying tribute to the legendary Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin. Filmed live at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa, California, the concert features arrangements conducted by Emmy Award-winning music director Rickey Minor. Backed by the Pacific Symphony and a powerhouse choir, Sheléa delivers unforgettable renditions of Franklin's classics, including 'Chain of Fools,' 'Say a Little Prayer,' 'Respect,' and 'Natural Woman.' She stopped by the LifeMinute studios to share the inspiration behind her new holiday release--and so much more. This is a LifeMinute with Sheléa.
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00:00Hi, I'm Shalaya and you are watching Life Minute TV.
00:08Singer-songwriter and pianist Shalaya has just dropped a brand-new Christmas
00:13single right on the heels of her recent five-track EP, Spirit. She stopped by the
00:18Life Minute studios to tell us all about it and more. This is a Life Minute with Shalaya.
00:24So we're in New York, it's Christmas time, so I got this new song called,
00:29Want This Christmas With You, and I just imagine everybody just decorating their tree,
00:34dancing around with their family to the song. It's upbeat, it makes you smile,
00:38and I really, really loved writing it with my production and writing partner, Davey Nathan.
00:44I think I even remember when I wanted to be an artist, you know, I just wanted to be an artist
00:49to make a Christmas album. So I just love Christmas music and I just love, like,
00:54adding to the soundtrack of memories for people. I had a wonderful uncle,
00:59a very courageous uncle, who just lost his battle with ALS this year.
01:04But he had it for like 15, 16 years, which is pretty unheard of for that particular disease.
01:11And I remember one of the first times that he was hospitalized, we spent Christmas with him.
01:20And his beautiful daughter, who's my little KK, I love her so much. You know, we were all together,
01:27all the cousins, we were there. And I remember my uncle Chris, which was her dad,
01:32telling us to go sing to the other patients on Christmas. We're a pretty musical family.
01:38And so we just went from room to room singing, you know, for these patients who were spending Christmas in the hospital, you know.
01:48And I remember going downstairs, there was a piano there. We were just all singing and being silly.
01:54And when people would actually come into the hospital, they would like have a smile on their face.
01:59Like they would come in and you could see their faces were a little down.
02:02And they might have had some kids and that were coming to maybe visit someone.
02:06And they would just start smiling. And I just was thinking, this is the real meaning of Christmas.
02:12This is the true spirit of Christmas. And so that's one that I, as an adult, that I always hold dear.
02:19I just dropped an EP called Spirit in August. I absolutely love every single song.
02:33Again, my production partner and writing partner, Davey Nathan, we wrote these songs.
02:39Just came from the heart. I remember the very first song we wrote together and it just seemed to flow.
02:45And we looked up and we had all these songs. And so we've kind of been spoon feeding a single every month.
02:52And now we decided to drop the EP and the next year it will be the full length album.
02:57Some people say it's kind of like a happy Amy Winehouse record.
03:03It has those soulful sounds. But, you know, I'm very much in love right now.
03:09So there's a lot of just songs that really came from me being in love.
03:13So after I had success actually touring the Aretha tribute show in Europe, I did it in the Netherlands, Germany.
03:28Of course I did it in London. I did it a couple times in London at the Royal Albert Hall.
03:33I just said, you know, Aretha is an American artist. I got to bring this show to the States.
03:38And so PBS was so kind and gracious to allow me the platform to bring the show to their programming.
03:46And, you know, just a little plug. We've got to support PBS right now more than ever.
03:51So I just love PBS. That was my 10th PBS special. It's called Aretha with Shalaya and the Pacific Symphony.
03:58And it was just really, really special to do that in the States.
04:02And we're actually developing a tour right now with symphonies across the country to support that program.
04:10This is the day that the Lord has made!
04:14I just finished a run at the Public Theater. For those who don't know about the Public Theater,
04:20that's where Hamilton started and Hell's Kitchen, you know.
04:24And now we're hoping, oh, happy day!
04:26We're hoping that will be our beginning and we'll continue to go to new heights.
04:31But I just had such a privilege of, you know, let me tell you, it was a grind.
04:36You know, doing eight shows a week is not for the faint of heart.
04:40I do feel like, you know, because I have done so much touring, that at least gave me a taste.
04:48Not the full thing, but a taste of what it means to sing that often and, you know, that duration.
04:55So in that way, I absolutely felt prepared.
04:58But Broadway is just, it's just another animal.
05:01And it's really about being present.
05:03And this time I was actually, I played one of the Divines.
05:07I was Mighty Divine.
05:10And it was three Divines, Mighty Divine, Holy Divine, and Glory Divine.
05:15And we were very sassy and soulful and really a big part of this show of helping the main character,
05:23which was Jordan E. Cooper, who was also the screenwriter and starred in this Oh Happy Day play,
05:30find his way as he's trying to go from life into death.
05:35So it's really, really heavy, but we kind of brought the joy and brought the laughter
05:40and a lot of really, really good singing.
05:48My earliest memories of just existing in life revolve around music.
05:54You know, both of my parents are very, very musical.
05:57My mom is a great singer.
05:59She also plays piano.
06:00My dad, a great songwriter.
06:02But they went into education.
06:04So my mom's a teacher.
06:05My dad was a principal at one time.
06:07Now he's doing counseling.
06:08You know, so they've always been in education.
06:11In fact, I grew up thinking that everybody's parents had, you know, summers off and Christmas
06:16breaks and a week for a spring break and all that.
06:20So, but like I said, I never thought I would do it as a career because education was what was the focus in my household.
06:27And we were spiritual people as well.
06:30Church was a big part of my identity as well.
06:32So, you know, by the time I was 12 years old, I was the musician for my little church in Bakersfield, California.
06:39And, you know, even earlier I was, my mom says I was harmonizing at two years old.
06:46And I remember this little wooden piano I had and I would be making these little songs for my sisters like around four years old.
06:53So, again, music was just always a part of my life.
06:57It wasn't until I went away to college, I went to an HBCU called Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama.
07:05And there was a girls group there that we kind of developed.
07:09And we had our first taste of like, you know, trying to get signed with a label.
07:14And, you know, we were in the studio and we're writing, producing.
07:17And I remember I told my mom, I said, you know, I think I can drop out of college now because I know what I want to do.
07:23This is it. This is it. Like, this is it. There's nothing else for me.
07:26And she was like, no, we're not going to do that.
07:29So I minor. This just shows you how much I didn't think I would be an artist.
07:34Music was never my major. It was always just my minor.
07:37And so I was changing my major left and right, trying to find myself.
07:41And my mom said, listen, you find out how whatever credits, however much you have in that, you get on out of there.
07:48And so it happened to be music.
07:50And so I ended up graduating from Oakwood with a degree in music emphasis piano, cum laude.
07:57I'm actually kind of proud of that.
08:00But I did. I graduated.
08:02Got that checklist because mom, being the educator that she was, she was not going to let me drop out.
08:08But right after, I kind of started going into songwriting.
08:11And I was with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Flight Time, and I was a part of their camp.
08:15And I was writing for all these different artists, Shante Moore and Vanessa Williams.
08:20I wrote for a film. I wrote for Jumping the Broom.
08:23And I really was quite happy being behind the scenes.
08:27You know, I didn't have to be the star, but it's almost like I believe, my belief system is that God was kind of propelling me, preparing me for that moment.
08:38And I ended up, you know, writing this song for a film called Jumping the Broom called Love Fell On Me.
08:44And that ended up being the title track to my first album.
08:47It was Love Fell On Me.
08:48And Stevie Wonder played harmonica on it.
08:52And, you know, I guess I'm kind of jumping around like, well, how did I even meet Stevie?
08:56But that was through Take Six, very dear brothers of mine who I was featured on their album, singing Someone to Watch Over Me.
09:05And Stevie heard that. And it was just this immediate connection.
09:09I've been so blessed, so blessed to have, you know, had such iconic opportunities to perform at, you know, places like Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the White House twice.
09:32That was pretty amazing. I already mentioned the Royal Albert Hall.
09:36That one was really a pinch me moment because I never even imagined that I would ever play that, let alone like three times in a row.
09:43The last few years I've been at the Royal Albert Hall like every year.
09:47But yeah, I would have to say the White House was probably the most just memorable for so many reasons.
09:56I was doing a tribute to Burt Bacharach and Hal David the first time.
10:01The second time it was a tribute to Ray Charles.
10:03But the first time I brought my dad, I could only bring one person, which was very difficult because I'm very close with my sister, very close with my mom.
10:10But I brought my dad, my grandmother, who is now 94 years young.
10:16They lived in Birmingham, you know, during the civil rights movement.
10:21And so I just knew that this was such a big moment.
10:26This is when President Obama had first become president.
10:28And so that was something that she never thought she would see in her lifetime.
10:32And so I brought my dad and it just was the most beautiful, historic moment.
10:38I felt like I was just walking in a history book, you know, it was it was just so beautiful.
10:44And the second time was just so so life changing because I remember I did this duet with Anthony Hamilton and it was called The Right Time.
10:54And we just set that White House on fire.
10:59I mean, we like tore the place down.
11:02And I just remember seeing while we are singing, while we are singing, President Obama is like fanning Michelle Obama because it's getting so hot.
11:12And I remember I closed my eyes at the end of the show.
11:15And by the time I opened, I see President Obama and First Lady Michelle giving us a standing ovation.
11:21And so that that is just a memory I will I will take with me forever.
11:26And another really sweet memory was the first time I remember we were very we were last in line.
11:32There was like a like a receiving line where you would like have a photo op with with the president, First Lady.
11:39And then it was Burt Bacharach.
11:42And I just remember we were dead last.
11:44Me and my dad were dead last.
11:46And I was late, I'm sure.
11:48And I just imagined that their faces were probably tired of smiling, you know, because I just I know how that feels.
12:00And so I just remember telling them, you know, we're the last ones.
12:05And I will never forget First Lady Michelle Obama opened her arms and she said they saved the best for last.
12:12And she gave me the sweetest, warmest hug.
12:15And President Obama, I remember him saying, so I hear you have an album coming out.
12:19I hear you're about to blow up.
12:21I was like, how do you know about this?
12:24So that's just a beautiful, beautiful moment for me to cherish.
12:28And that one I had my dad with me and, you know, they had a moment as well.
12:32It was it was just pretty iconic.
12:35OK, so growing up, I grew up in a very Christian, somewhat strict home.
12:48And I could only listen to music that was sacred, gospel music.
12:54What's funny is I was able to listen to classical music as well, too, because I did play piano and I was taking lessons.
12:59But but yeah, it was predominantly gospel music.
13:02So I had to play a lot of catch up later on.
13:05So my early memories of music was a lot of gospel music and actually a lot of music from Detroit.
13:11So like the Winans and Commission, Vanessa Bill Armstrong, the Clark Sisters,
13:17which is why that was such a full circle moment when I played Dorinda Clark Cole in the Clark Sisters First Ladies of Gospel, the biopic.
13:24But but yeah, Yolanda Adams, BB and CC.
13:28I mean, a lot of gospel music. Take six.
13:31I literally could just go on and on. But those were those were the ones that I listened to the most.
13:37And honestly, before all of them was my mom.
13:41You know, I remember, you know, as this little kid, I remember this one of the homes we had.
13:46It was it had this little banister and there was our piano, our family piano that was down.
13:51I remember her and my dad like working out a song.
13:53And I just had this beautiful, vivid memory of me like holding the banisters and like kind of like quietly try.
14:00Because I did. I was supposed to be in bed and just watching them work work out.
14:04And they knew I was there, too. I know they did.
14:07But I that's my early. So she was my first American Idol, you know, my mom.
14:13And so I had a lot of great, great music to to to be my upbringing.
14:20Little girl in Bakersfield, California. Yeah.
14:31So I'm really excited just that my husband and I are officially bi-coastal.
14:36So we're in L.A. and we're in New York. We've got a place in both.
14:39And so I'm really excited that I have the opportunity to be exposed to a lot of things happening in New York now.
14:46So December 14th, I'm going to be in this incredible lineup waiting to exhale the motion picture just turned 30 years old.
14:57And so in Brooklyn at the King's Theatre, everybody is going to watch the film, but the music will be live.
15:05The songs from the soundtrack will be live. So it's going to be really, really cool.
15:08It's going to be me, Tamar Braxton, Andrea Day and Deborah Cox, Music Direction by Adam Blackstone.
15:17And that's going to be December 14th in Brooklyn at the King's Theatre.
15:21I'm really, really excited about that. I love that soundtrack.
15:24Of course, all the songs were written by Babyface, written and produced.
15:28And Whitney Houston actually picked out every single person who was on that soundtrack.
15:33In fact, but Babyface, the only one that she didn't want on there was herself, which is hilarious.
15:41She was like, I just want to act. I just want to be in it. I want to sing.
15:44And by the time that it ended, it was like, you know, Babyface was like, of course you have to be on this soundtrack.
15:50And of course she gave us, you know, such incredible songs.
15:53Why does it hurt so bad? Shoop and Count On Me.
15:57So I'm really excited to see that come to life on December 14th.
16:02I don't care about our history. I don't care.
16:11My best piece of life advice, I think as a woman, I think humans in general, but really for women, we are so obsessed about time.
16:23You know, I remember growing up, I was going to get married at this age and I was going to have kids at this age and I was going to do this and that.
16:31And I think what I have been able to accept is that time is really none of my business.
16:41You know, what is my purpose and my focus is just being the best human artist, creator, wife, daughter, sister, friend that I can be.
16:56And just doing my best and not worrying about these benchmarks of I should be here by now.
17:02I should be doing this by now.
17:03Because when you throw all of that out of the window, you really are free to do what you're just passionate about in the moment.
17:11Not worrying about how old you are, younger or older.
17:15You know, sometimes we always focus on the older because, you know, it's hard to get old.
17:20Let's just keep it real, especially as a woman.
17:25But I think when you just throw all of those things away, all those societal pressures, you all of a sudden feel free to do really whatever you want, whenever you want to do it.
17:36And don't feel bound by, wow, is it weird that I'm starting now?
17:41You know, it's okay.
17:42You can start at any time.
17:44Whatever really keeps you up at night or just makes you feel so alive.
17:51It's never too late.
17:53So I don't know if that's succinct enough, but basically, you know, throwing time away.
17:59I've been waiting all here just to let you know that I want this Christmas, I want this Christmas with you.
18:07To hear more of this interview, visit our podcast, Life Minute TV on iTunes and all streaming podcast platforms.
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