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Hot on the trail of following in the footsteps of Alberta’s own country stars Terri Clark and Carolyn Dawn Johnson is triple talented Mandy McMillan. Mandy sings, plays guitar and piano and writes her own music with a passion that’s as strong as the will of a young eagle determined to learn how to soar in the blue open sky. This little lady’s dream is to make singing country music her full-time career and she is already well on her way. Raised a country girl outside of the pretty little town of Stony Plain, Mandy had always had an ear for music and began singing as far back as she can remember, “Growing up I wasn’t a very good talker so I would sing,” she recalls. In high school she started a band after writing and singing a song for her graduation that ended up receiving rave reviews to the delight of her friends and classmates. Expressing herself through music seemed to be like second nature and she became inspired more and more to see others touched by her songs and the heartfelt messages she conveyed in them. For the next few years Mandy developed her skills and bought her first guitar. She began teaching herself how to play, determined to learn enough to add music and melodies to the original songs she was now regularly creating. Her music and talent began blossoming more and more as she traveled around Alberta performing at various events, music festivals and rodeos with her back up band. They stayed together for almost two years and grew into their own, eventually going their separate ways to pursue their own music endeavors. Mandy was grateful for the experience of playing with a live band, “The experience was fantastic, I learned a lot from the guys!” In Early 2011 Mandy decided it was time to finally become serious about her dream of making it in country music. She headed south to the big city lights of Music City, USA not knowing what lay ahead but yet somehow knew no matter what might happen everything would work itself out. Nashville stole her heart from the minute she set foot on that legendary soil, “It was kind of weird but you know, I just felt like I was really home.” One night she was invited to grace the stage at a club that a friend of hers was showcasing at. The guitar player that was accompanying them took an immediate interest and liking to Mandy’s singing. They became instant friends and he soon asked her if she would consider working with his production company. It was a gold connection for this up and coming hopeful, as this guitar player happened to be Danick Dupelle from the wildly successful Alberta born band Emerson Drive. Over the past few months Mandy has been busy writing, recording, performing and preparing to make a long-term move down South to focus full time on the true love of her life, music. This gifted artist is knocking forcefully on fame’s door and it looks like it’s about to open on up into a bright future of endless possibility.
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