Shred Kelly would like to thank The Radio Starmaker Fund for their support of our album Like A Rising Sun. Their support truly kept us going over the past two years, and we are so grateful to everyone at Radio Starmaker for allowing us to grow our project during very uncertain times. We were awarded funding to tour in support of The Dead South in 2020, which was unfortunately cancelled due to the pandemic. Because of the cancellation, we were able to use the funding to grow our online presence and promote the album in ways we would have never thought of before the pandemic, as we typically relied on touring as a means of album promotion.

We were able to work with an amazing marketing and publicity team in Canada and internationally that was able to gain us more commercial radio play than any of our previous releases, and more positive album reviews in Canada and internationally. With Radio Starmaker’s support, we were able to plan a seven-date virtual tour where we hired sound tech, camera operator and purchased the necessary equipment to livestream from our jam room.

We also received funding for our Tiny Concert Tour in the summer of 2021 with On The Road Productions. This tour was made possible by the support of Radio Starmaker, since capacity limits at the time of planning were not certain. The funding gave us the ability to play limited capacity events that could be increased if the pandemic restrictions loosened. It also allowed us to be one of the first bands who was on tour this summer, as the tour kicked off on July 1st 2021. It was such a beautiful time to play music, and we are so grateful to have had that opportunity to play live to our fans. Due to the funding we received we were able to bring a sound technician and tour manager/merch seller which elevated our sound and the quality of show we were able to produce.

Overall, we have been able to sell more albums, creatively connect with fans, have the courage to plan tours in an uncertain touring landscape, and bring a production team with us that has elevated our show to the next level. Over the past two years we have received more positive reviews, interviews, video and audio streams than on our previous recordings. We were also nominated for Rock Artist of the Year at The Western Canadian Music Awards, which is a huge honour. We are re-scheduled to go on tour in November 2021 in support of The Dead South, and are really excited to have the opportunity to support their band and grow our audience internationally.

The entire Shred Kelly team thanks you immensely for the support of our project, and we will continue working hard to grow our band in Canada and abroad.

- Sage McBride (she/her)
Singer/Keyboardist of Shred Kelly